[Vision2020] A New Witch Hunt

[Tom Hansen]

An editorial from the July 10, 2006 edition of the Army Times -

For you Wiccans out there.  You know who you are.

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A New Witch Hunt
Search for recognition falls victim to misconceptions about Wicca

By Charles C. Haynes

The current flap involving Wiccans in the military is a conflict that should
never have happened. But years of foot-dragging by the Department of
Veterans Affairs have turned an easy case into a major controversy complete
with charges of discrimination and threats of lawsuits.

All VA needs to do is announce that the pentacle - a five-pointed star that
symbolizes the Wiccan faith - has been added to the list of 38 "emblems of
belief" approved for placement on government headstones and memorials. No
big deal, end of story.

Instead, VA keeps saying that it is "reviewing the process" - and will make
a decision at some indeterminate time in the future.

Roberta Stewart has been hearing this bureaucratic mumbo jumbo for the past
eight months. She just wants to honor her husband, Patrick, a soldier in the
Nevada National Guard killed in combat last September in Afghanistan. Sgt.
Stewart, who was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart,
among other honors, was a Wiccan.

But Stewart's request to have a pentacle engraved on her husband's memorial
plaque has been repeatedly denied pending review of the VA policy. His space
on the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial wall remains blank.

Eventually, VA will have no choice but to allow the pentacle. Nevada
politicians from both parties, as well as advocacy groups from the left and
right, are demanding the change.

Then there is the small matter of the First Amendment: It's clearly
unconstitutional for the government to deny the Wiccan symbol while
permitting symbols of many other religions.

If approval of the pentacle is inevitable, why is VA taking so long to make
a decision?

For Roberta Stewart, it has been a long and frustrating eight months. But
other Wiccans have been pushing for VA recognition of the pentacle for more
than nine years. (According to the Defense Department, some 1,900
active-duty service members identify themselves as Wiccans.)

At first blush, the years of VA stonewalling doesn't make sense. A glance at
the 38 approved emblems suggests that any religion can make the list. In
addition to all of the world's major faiths, a number of obscure sects are
represented, such as Eckankar, a New Age group that espouses out-of-body
travel. Atheists have a symbol, too. If VA is applying some kind of
religious test to keep out the Wiccans, it's hard to fathom what it might
be.

Before last fall, VA blamed the rules. Applicants had to provide
documentation from a central authority certifying a symbol as representative
of that religion. Because Wiccans have no recognized head or hierarchy,
their applications were rejected. Rules are rules.

Bipartisan outrage over Sgt. Stewart's case inspired a new set of rules.
Now, applicants are required to provide historic background and
documentation of use to get a symbol approved. Roberta Stewart has filled
out all of the forms. But she's still waiting.

So what's the problem? VA isn't talking. But the delay may have to do with
the fact that Roberta Stewart went public. Putting atheists on the list when
no one is paying attention is one thing, but announcing recognition of the
Wiccan pentacle in the glare of the media spotlight is another.

Few people have even heard of Eckankar, but almost everyone has an opinion
about Wiccans. Unfortunately, most of what people think they know about
Wicca is false. Wicca is a nature-based religion centered on a belief that
the divine permeates all life. Wiccans have nothing to do with black magic
or satanic worship, but try explaining that to a misinformed public.

VA is probably remembering the last time Wiccans in the military made
headlines. About six years ago, news reports of Wiccan ceremonies at Fort
Hood, Texas, and other bases provoked some conservative Christian groups to
call on Christians not to enlist or re-enlist in the Army.

Under the First Amendment, the Army had no choice then, just as VA has no
choice now, but to accommodate Wiccans in the same way it accommodates other
religious groups. But any "acceptance" of witches - who have long been
demonized in Christian history - is certain to stir up trouble for the
military.

It's also possible that VA lawyers are beginning to realize that any
guidelines for government-sanctioned "emblems of belief," however carefully
crafted, are unworkable. In a nation where people are free to choose in
matters of faith, the government should stop trying to figure out which
symbols are "acceptable" and instead allow each family to choose whatever
symbol best represents their convictions.

In other words, cut through all of the bureaucratic red tape and jettison
the "emblems of belief" list entirely.

Meanwhile, however, VA should act immediately to honor Roberta Stewart's
request and fill in the blank space reserved for Sgt. Stewart. After all, if
we can't live up to religious freedom at home, we have no business asking
soldiers to die for religious freedom abroad.

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho

"Patriotism is not a short and frenzied outburst of emotion but the tranquil
and steady dedication of a lifetime." 

--Adlai E. Stevenson, Jr.