First US Military Wiccan dies in Combat.....

international | rights, freedoms and repression | news report

Thursday July 06, 2006 04:27

by stand-in temporary assistant to the arch druid of barcelona - & environs

Sgt Patrick D. Stewart died last September 25th in Afghanistan while serving the US military in Afghanistan. He was attached to the Nevada national guard and the helicopter he was travelling in was target of a rocket-propelled grenade. He was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and Bronze star, a distinguished veteran who had served in the US military mission to Korea and active combat in Operation Desertstorm.

Sgt. Patrick D. Stewart like any other distinguished combat veteran gets a memorial in his home town, though his body was cremated and his ashes scattered by his widow Roberta Stewart in Reno.

Last May 31st she organised a memorial of her own to protest a decision by the US "department of Veterans Affairs" who have refused to honour her husband's wishes that a pentacle be put on his stone. This constitutes a breach of the 1st amendment, as Wicca has been accepted by Federal Courts as a religion since 1995.

Mrs Stewart July 4th in Fernley Nevada addresses a crowd of supporters.

"Whatever one's opinion might be about the Wiccan faith, there should be no doubt in anyone's mind that the First Amendment to our U.S. Constitution provides for religious freedom for all individuals of all faiths -- whether they are Christians, Jews, Muslims, atheists, Wiccans and others," wrote constitutional attorney John W. Whitehead a noted figure in Christian evangelical circles in an online essay for ChristianityToday.com on June 5.

he went on to write "... 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."

At present a total of 37 "faith" symbols are used for War Veteran Memorials in the USA. The majority are christian based variations of the cross, Kathurlicks like to see the bloodied body of Jesus hanging there all in pain, whereas Protestants prefer a plain cross to symbolise resurrection. Jews and Muslims of course have the Star of David and Crescent Moon respectively. Mormons and Masonic symbols have long been accepted. Since Wiccans applied 7 years ago to see the pentacle included in faith based symbols on burial or memorial markers, the US war veterans department have moved to add a Buddhist wheel, a star with nine points for Baha'i believers and even invented a symbol for atheists which looks somewhat like an atom, but the pentacle has not yet been seen.

Sgt. Patrick Stewart's widow and mother to his two children (also wiccan) is quick to point out that his faith was registed on his military ID or "dog tags" as they are informally known. She insists everyone knew he was wiccan.

Speaking to a rally in support of her petition and her dead husband's wishes on US Independence Day she said :-
"Today, we have honored his memory and the freedom of all faiths in the manner in which he would have wanted,"
"In that spirit, we call for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to end its discrimination and be held accountable for upholding the freedom of religion ... (that has) been granted to all of us as unalienable by the rights of the United States' Constitution."...."In life, Patrick was my heartmate, my best friend and my confidante," she said before ending the service with a moment of silence for all of America's fallen soldiers....."He was a compelling and passionate man, a brave person who stood tall and proud. He was strong in his convictions, and he loved his country," she said. "He loved the freedom of the great outdoors, of the mountains and the wide-open skies. He loved the freedom that was the foundation of America"

A retired US military chaplain Rev. Maj. Bill Chrystal added :-
"Let us honor them by fighting for the rights they held so dearly," Chrystal said. "In Pat's case especially, may we never tire until all are free to worship as they please and, when the time comes, to rest under the symbol of the faith that sustained them in life and gave them hope in death."

There are some who believe that the US military is shy to include the symbol because of its association amongst fundementalist christians, (many of whom enlist) with devil worship.

Wiccans thought would be quick to discount such allegations. The Rev. Selena Fox is pastor and senior minister of the "circle sanctuary" one of the USA's oldest and most established Wiccan worshipper groups, and claims that 2 other Wiccan widows also wish see their husbands' markers bear a Pentagram. If so, Sgt Stewart was the 3rd Wiccan to die, but only the first to be officially dog tagged.

Jo Schuda a spokesperson for the Veterans Assocation has argued that lack of a central hierarchy (perhaps on the lines of an annual druidic meeting near lambay volcano) has hampered the religious denomination in its dealings with the US military. However the lack of a "wiccan pope" or "chief rabbi wicca" has been overcome she insists and claims 2 requests for Pentagrams will be honoured by October.

Wicca is a peace-loving religion and preaches pacific solution to conflict, except when dealing with left hand path insurgents who resist the emergence of democracy.

bless you all.

here endeth the lesson.
passeth the plate
.:.