The Department of Veteran’s Affairs has refused to allow a pentacle to be inscribed on a millitary memorial for a fallen Wiccan soldier. Who the hell are they to dictate what religions deserve respect? The IRS recognizes Wicca, hell his dog tags even said Wiccan. I hope Mrs Stewart takes keeps fighting until she wins. There is no justification for what VA’s is doing.
From the linked article:
Federal courts have recognized Wicca as a religion since 1986. Prisons across the country treat it as a legitimate faith, as do the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. military, which allows Wiccan ceremonies on its bases.
Game. Match. Set. Time to sue the bastards. Damn shame to treat a veteran and his family like that.
Doh…pit myself for typing out of order. Shoulda been Game. Set. Match.
I never would have guessed Wiccans gained so much popularity since 1990. Ah well, I agree they should just adopt the symbol.
Marc
The VA can go fuck themselves for this. It’s beyond reprehensible.
Damn, I am trying to find the list (with pictures) of which 30 religious symbols ARE allowed on grave markers, but I haven’t found it yet. Google is clogged with stories relating to the one inthe OP.
Interesting.
What’s up with the atomic symbol for Atheist? I guess a blank space wouldn’t have sufficed.
Just speculation on my part, but here goes anyway: I have the impression that it’s supposed to represent a scientific approach to reality.
I also noted that there’s a symbol for the Aaronic Order church. Last I heard, that outfit only has about one thousand people. I’m fairly certain that there are quite a few more Wiccans than that.
No offense to any of those religions and/or sects, but frankly there are a bunch I’ve never heard of, and I wonder how many people belonging to them are currently serving in our military.
And what is/was the criteria for getting your symbol approved? It would appear that there are a number of wiccan/pagan people serving right now, and that should count for something, right?
It’s not like we’re asking them to adopt a rainbow or anything…
One of the ships I served on had a few Satanists. Good Sailors, most of them. One guy wasn’t all that interested in striking for any of the ratings realistically available to him so that–not his religion–was the reason he wasn’t such a good Sailor.
I see that the symbols fo rMuslims and Christian Scientists are not shwon due to copyrights. Just how is a religious symbol copyrighted?
Probably the same way that any other work of art is copyrighted, would be my guess.
I know this thread is a couple of months old, but i wanted to resurrect it to let you know that he’s getting his pentacle.
I imagine that the Feds won’t exactly look to fight the issue very hard.