| Blank Stones: Pagans in the military ponder what kind of memorial they'll get for their service. |
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| Written by Morgan Lee Beard | |
| Monday, 18 September 2006 | |
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A Wiccan soldier's death while on active duty in Afghanistan has put a new spotlight on an issue Pagans have been struggling with for nearly 10 years: The Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) refuses to allow Pagans to have a symbol of their faith on their headstones when they die. Sgt. Patrick Stewart, who served on active duty during Operation Desert Storm, enlisted in the Nevada National Guard after September 11, and his unit was deployed in 2005. On September 25, 2005, he and one other member of his unit died when their helicopter was shot down over Afghanistan. The government was to have issued a memorial plaque in his honor, which would be mounted on the Wall of Heroes in Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery near Reno, Nevada. But when his widow, Roberta Stewart, requested that the Wiccan pentacle be put in the spot reserved for the symbol of the soldier's faith, the VA denied her request, saying that the pentacle was not on their list of approved religious symbols. She chose to leave her husband's spot on the wall blank rather than put up a plaque with no pentacle. Circle Sanctuary, a Pagan spiritual community based in Wisconsin, filed an application with the VA on Roberta's behalf to have the pentacle approved as a headstone symbol. The request was filed in January, and the VA acknowledged receipt, but since then has put the request on indefinite hold. The VA's response to all queries is that it is reviewing its procedures for approving headstone symbols, and the application is being considered, but they cannot give a definite time frame for approval. Circle Sanctuary is only the latest in a long line of Pagans to hit this particular stone wall. The first group to file an application was the Aquarian Tabernacle Church in 1997; in 2001, they finally received the response to the effect that the VA was waiting for approval on new policy guidelines. Other applications followed, and one by one they were all given the same answer. In the same time period, six other religious symbols were approved for use on military headstones. The most recent of these, the Sikh symbol, took only three weeks to approve in 2004. They joined 37 other approved religious symbols, approximately half of which are some denomination of Christianity. Other approved symbols include the Baha'i nine-pointed star, the Eckanar EK, the symbol of the Izumo Taishakyo Mission of Hawaii (also approved in 2004), and the Atheist atom. Why are Pagans having so much trouble? "There is a political and religious climate in Washington that makes such an approval a bad career move," explains Charles Arnold, the national coordinator of the Pagan Veterans Headstone Campaign (PVHC), founded in 2003. "If you ever want a promotion to a good-level position, you had better attend at least one or two prayer breakfasts or meetings a week." Still, the pressure is on. Roberta Stewart's crusade to give her husband a Wiccan memorial has made local and national news, particularly after Memorial Day. Denied the opportunity to speak at the Northern Nevada Veteran's Memorial Cemetery service, Roberta held her own memorial for Patrick on May 30th. Approximately 200 people attended, including many members of his old unit -- wearing civilian clothes so that they wouldn't violate military rules by attending a "protest" in uniform. Circle Sanctuary has continued to campaign on behalf of the Stewarts as well as other members of their community. They have garnered statements of support from Senator Harry Reid (D-NV), Representative Jim Gibbons (R-NV), and Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn (R) as well as Patrick's unit commander and chaplain. The Americans United for Separation of Church and State has lent its full support to Circle Sanctuary. In a letter to the VA in June, they wrote: "There is absolutely no legal support for the Administration's practice of maintaining a list of officially-approved religious symbols -- much less its exclusion of any religious symbol from the officially provided markers for military grave sites." Coverage in the mainstream press has been largely positive as well. Even Christianity Today ran an editorial in its June 5th edition supporting the cause: "By refusing to place the Wiccan symbol on Sgt. Stewart's memorial plaque, while permitting symbols of other religions and non-religions, the government is clearly engaging in viewpoint discrimination -- which is a shoddy way to treat someone who has died in service to his country. . . . the only way that freedom can prevail for Christians is for Christians to stand up and fight for the minority beliefs and religions of others." The press has been good for the campaign, says Arnold, but he urges all Pagans -- not just veterans -- to stand up and speak out. "We are targeting members of both houses of Congress, as all members of the House and one-third of the members of the Senate are up for reelection this year. They control the purse strings. They control the oversight committees. They are the ones with the power." Approval of Pagan symbols on headstones may be a long time coming, says Arnold, but he has vowed to fight on until at least three symbols -- the Wiccan pentacle, the Druid awen, and a symbol for Asatru -- are accepted by the VA. If you want to help, Arnold suggests contacting your local candidates for the Senate and the House of Representatives and donating volunteer time and money to any candidate who publicly supports the headstone campaign. There is also an active Yahoo e-mail list devoted to this cause: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Pagan-Headstone-Campaign.             |
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