Visit a national cemetery, and you will see any number of federally recognized religious symbols adorning headstones. The Star of David is OK with Uncle Sam, as are over a dozen variations of the Christian cross. Even the atomic symbol used by some atheists gets a thumbs-up from the government.
But a Wiccan symbol representing earth, air, fire, water and spirit isn’t recognized by the federal government for veterans’ grave markers.
A federal lawsuit filed earlier this month accuses the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs of violating the constitutional rights of Wiccans because the government does not allow its symbol on headstones in national cemeteries.
Wiccans worship the Earth and believe they must give to the community. Some conside themselves “white” or good witches, pagans or neo-pagans. Approximately 1,800 active-duty service members identify themselves as Wiccans, according to 2005 Defense Department statistics.
Roberta Stewart, a widow of a soldier killed in Afghanistan last year, has campaigned to see the Wiccan pentacle placed on the tombstone of her
husband, Nevada National Guard Sgt. Patrick Stewart.
Stewart, whose husband was awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple Heart, said she had the plight of other families in mind when she decided to file the lawsuit. Joining her are Karen DePolito, of Utah, whose husband, Jerome Birnbaum, is a Korean War veteran who died last year; the Wiccan Circle Sanctuary in Barneveld, Wis.; and Isis Invicta Military Mission, a Wiccan and Pagan congregation serving military
personnel based in Geyserville, Calif.
“I honestly think there must be some people who don’t want to acknowledge that the Wiccan religion should be entitled to the same rights as other religions,” Selena Fox, a senior minister of the Wiccan Circle Sanctuary, told the Associated Press earlier this month.
In 1985, the District Court of Virginia ruled that Wicca is a legally recognized religion and is afford all the benefits accorded to it by law. A federal appeals court upheld that decision a year later.
The current lawsuit claims the VA has made “excuse after excuse” for more than nine years for not approving the pentacle, and argues that constitutional rights of freedom of speech, religion and due process have been violated by the department’s not acting on requests to allow
the symbol.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court in Madison and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit in Washington, seeks an order
compelling the VA to make a decision.
Legal papers filed by attorneys for Americans United for Separation of Church and State, a religious liberty watchdog group, said it makes no sense for Wiccans to be excluded.
The Army allows Wiccan soldiers to list their faith on dog tags, Wiccan organizations are allowed to hold services on military installations and the Army Chaplains Handbook includes an explanation of the religion,
attorneys said.
Permitting Wiccan symbols to be placed on soldiers’ headstones may not be a popular decision, but it is the right one. Our troops are on the job to protect our freedoms, and some pay the ultimate price to safeguard those rights. To prohibit those soldiers from practicing their own personal beliefs when they are buried is unthinkable!
