11.11.2007
Pagans on Veterans Day
This past year has been one of blessings and setbacks for Pagans serving in the military. After years of struggle the government relented under legal pressure and made the Wiccan Pentacle an approved emblem of faith. This allowed Pagan veterans to have the symbol inscribed on their grave markers or tomb stones.
But this victory can seem isolated in a military culture that can often have deep prejudices and hostility towards religious outsiders. This has led to incidents of religiously motivated discrimination and even threats of violence.
"Master Sgt. Kathleen Johnson, 40, a career soldier from north Florida who enlisted in 1985, said many soldiers do worry about invisible things and pressure others to do the same ... Johnson said she has been threatened with failing a mandatory course if she didn't bow her head during prayer. One military chaplain bragged to her about how he had stalled some Wiccan soldiers when they asked for a place to gather until they finally just gave up."
While we won a victory with the Veteran Pentacle Campaign, we also lost in our best attempt so far to have a Pagan chaplain approved. The candidate, who was ideal by military standards, was forced out thanks to the leaking of personal information and the judicious use of military "catch-22s".
"When Larsen came along last spring, Sacred Well's leaders thought they finally had someone the military could not possibly reject: a physically fit 6-foot-4 clergyman originally ordained as a Southern Baptist minister, who holds a master's degree from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Moreover, Larsen had spent 10 years as an officer in the National Guard, finished near the top of his class in chaplain's training and was already serving as a chaplain in Iraq. But Oringderff said that his group, like Larsen, underestimated the institutional resistance. "Each time we advance to a scoring position, they change the rules," he said."
As we seek to fully honor Pagan co-religionists who have served in our country's military, we continue to face an uphill struggle. The military bureaucracy can be hostile to our decentralized notions of religion, and some Christian organizations are trying to establish a permanent place of power and influence within the theoretically secular military.
The good news is that modern Pagans, emboldened by the success with the Pentacle issue, are forming larger coalitions to work towards fully equal acknowledgment and treatment within the military. The coming struggles won't necessarily be easy, but if modern Pagans choose to be involved in our military forces then they should be honored equally and given the same benefits, options, and treatment as any Christian soldier. So honor the Pagans who served our country this Veterans Day, and know that their struggles for acceptance and equal treatment are not only for them, but for all Pagans who believe that our government shouldn't play favorites when it comes to faith.
Labels: Military, Paganism, Veteran, Veteran Pentacle Quest, Veterans Day
10.11.2007
The V.A. and Emblems of Faith
Since the US Department of Veterans Affairs relented on allowing the Pentacle symbol to be engraved on the graves of Pagan veterans, some Pagan organizations have gotten together to work towards getting two more symbols approved: the Thor's Hammer (for Asatru), and the Awen (for Druidry). But will these attempts be any easier than before? A Harvard Crimson editorial analyzes the new post-settlement V.A. regulations and finds they still place an undue burden on believers.
"Although the VA has rectified this specific mistake, it is no closer to a more expansive definition of religious legitimacy. In January 2007, the VA proposed a new set of criteria to determine when it ought to recognize a new emblem of belief. The new criteria seeks to ensure that "there is an immediate need" for a new emblem, and that the belief system is a "genuine and non-frivolous group of religious opinions, doctrines and/or principles believed or accepted as true by a group of persons." The VA has also established a new bureaucratic procedure for applying for new emblems of belief. Although the proposed definition wisely uses the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) definition of a religious institution as one of its many criteria, the new overall process is seriously flawed."
The new restrictive criteria includes prohibiting active soldiers or veterans from petitioning on their own behalf, Constitutionally dodgey requests for "information about the structure" of the soldier's religious organization (something the IRS doesn't require), and prohibitions against "social, cultural, and ethnic" emblems (a fine line for any indigenous faith group). Joshua R. Stein's editorial calls for a complete overhaul on the approval for emblems of belief.
"While it is laudable that the VA has accepted the Wiccan Pentacle and begun to examine their highly entrenched, anachronistic system, this single action is not enough. The system of emblems of belief - which places an undue, indeed unfair, emphasis on one's religious identity - needs to be reevaluated entirely so that soldiers can be remembered in a way most appropriate to them."
While I hope I'm wrong, I fear that needed reevaluation will only come in the wake of further lawsuits, very likely from a modern Pagan faith.
Labels: Military, Paganism, Religious Freedom, The Harvard Crimson, Veteran, Veteran Pentacle Quest
4.24.2007
Dare We Call It Conspiracy?
While I'm pleased that victory has finally been accomplished in the Veteran Pentacle Quest, I was somewhat disappointed that the issue didn't go to court. Why? Because now we'll never have direct proof of anti-Wiccan/Pagan bias by VA officials. Before a trial begins a process of "discovery" happens in which both parties hand over (or are forced to hand over) documents and materials relevant to the case. Before the discovery process happened in this case the VA tried a stalling tactic.
"The VA argued in a motion filed Jan. 19 with the U.S. District Court in Madison that the lawsuit should be put on hold until after the department finalized its new rules related to accepting new grave marker symbols. That process could take up to 12 months but the VA would make a decision on the Wiccan request within a month after the process ended, the government's motion said. The Wiccans' attorney objected, arguing that nothing commits the VA to finalize its rules within that time frame, or take up the Wiccan request at all."
Luckily the judge sided with the plaintiffs and a trial date was set for June 29th 2007. The discovery phase moved forward. It was during this point that Americans United allegedly came across some damning evidence.
"Lawyers familiar with the case said that some documents suggested the VA had political motives for rejecting the pentacle ... During his first campaign for president, then-Texas Gov. George W. Bush told ABC's 'Good Morning America' in 1999 that he was opposed to Wiccan soldiers practicing their faith at Fort Hood, Tex. 'I don't think witchcraft is a religion, and I wish the military would take another look at this and decide against it,' he said. Lynn, of Americans United, said references to Bush's remarks appeared in memos and e-mails within the VA. 'One of the saddest things is to learn that this wasn't just a bureaucratic nightmare, there was a certain amount of bigotry,' he said. 'The president's wishes were interpreted at a pretty high level. . . . It became a political judgment, not a constitutional judgment.'"
Pagan academic Chas Clifton echoes these claims at this blog.
"From what I heard last November from the spouse of one of the lawyers involved, Americans United pretty well had the VA nailed for violating their own regulations and were counting on the potential embarrassment of a court trial to scare the VA into doing the right thing. It looks like that legal strategy worked."
But we will never get hard proof thanks to the terms of the settlement.
"The settlement stipulates, however, that the plaintiffs must not keep or disclose any documents handed over by the government during the discovery phase of the lawsuit."
Now the VA can claim the moral high ground by stating they settled "in the interest of the families involved", and to save the taxpayer's money. But if it was in the interest of "families involved" it certainly is a sea-change from the past nine years of struggles against the stonewalling tactics of the government agency. There is an illusion that our military is purely "secular", and while that may be true to a point, it doesn't acknowledge the very real persecutions and setbacks imposed upon openly Pagan soldiers by an overwhelmingly Christian (and conservative) chaplaincy and command structure.
So in my mind this victory is a bit bittersweet. I wish we could have gone farther in this case and gotten documents and testimony into the public records. I certainly don't blame AU, Circle Sanctuary, and the other plaintiffs for taking the settlement, it was the promise of a sure victory in a very long struggle. But I fear that government agencies will continue to use Bush's anti-Pagan comments as unwritten policy, an excuse to disenfranchise minority religions. As for the VA, one wonders what will happen when Asatru organizations start applying for a gravestone symbol.
Labels: Military, Paganism, Pentacle, Veteran, Veteran Pentacle Quest, Wicca
12.11.2006
Christmas Wars + Veteran Pentacle Quest = Editorial Goldmine
Getting an advanced college degree must be good for something, just look at how Mary Zeiss Stange, professor of women's studies and religion at Skidmore College, and a contributer to USA Today managed to tie the Christmas Wars and two Pagan-related stories into one editorial! It seems to be yet another rote editorial on the "controversy" over stores saying "Happy Holidays" instead of "Merry Christmas" until it becomes all about Paganism.
"Gone are the days when folks who worried about rampant materialism cautioned that it was time to "put Christ back into Christmas." Now it's time to put Christ back into Kmart. And so, as Wal-Mart spokeswoman Marisa Bluestone has bravely proclaimed, "This year, we're not afraid to say 'Merry Christmas.'"...Of course, if you are a Jew celebrating Hanukkah, or a Muslim marking Eid al-Fitr, or a neo-pagan Wiccan for whom the Winter Solstice (Dec. 21) is a major observance, you probably had appreciated the more inclusive acknowledgment that the end of the year is a festive time for you, too. Indeed, particularly if you are Wiccan, the matter of being un-included this holiday season must especially sting. A group of Wiccan families is suing the Department of Veterans Affairs for the right to bury their fallen heroes in military cemeteries in graves marked with a pentacle, the five-pointed star that symbolizes their religion, much as a cross does Christianity or a Star of David, Judaism."
Did you see that? She managed to dis crass consumerism tainting the Christian holiday, remind people that non-Christians really do live and work in America, and then point out how modern Pagans are getting metaphorical coal in their stockings courtesy of the Veteran's Administration. Strange tops off this editorial concoction with the "cherry" of ancient pagan elements still present in modern Christmas celebrations.
"For Christmas is, in its origins and its symbolism, perhaps the most pagan-inspired of all Christian holidays. Its dating derives from the ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia, which was determined by the winter solstice, that astronomical point in the year after which the periods of sunlight on Earth lengthen...These pagan-derived symbols and customs are precisely the elements of Christmas that Christian activists are pressing to preserve and promote, in venues such as Target and Macy's."
How to close such a editorial? Why with the hope for peace (and justice) on earth and goodwill towards mankind (and womankind) of course.
"...nothing could be more in keeping with the "Christmas spirit" than to embrace and celebrate religious diversity. And nothing could be truer to the spirit of the First Amendment than to honor American war dead as they and their loved ones would wish. No single group of self-proclaimed Christians holds a premium on the meaning of this magical season. And no government agency should decide what "qualifies" as an appropriate religious symbol. And so, no offense intended, but season's greetings."
That is how you write an editorial on subject(s) that have been covered to death and keep it fresh. Pagan editorialists take note. Oh, and season's greetings.
Labels: Christmas, Mary Zeiss Stange, Paganism, Pentacle, VA, Veteran, War on Christmas
