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June 8, 2006 - Circle Times Update
Public Support Grows for Veteran Pentacle Quest
Several hundred people attended the Sgt. Patrick Stewart Freedom for All Faiths Memorial Service in Fernley, Nevada on Memorial Day, May 29, 2006. They honored the life and ultimate sacrifice of Sgt. Stewart, who was killed in action in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan last September. This special service also honored America's religious diversity and the importance of upholding religious freedom for all.
This event and the call to the VA to add the Pentacle to its authorized emblems of belief list has received widespread media coverage -- in the press, on radio, on television, and on the internet. Media coverage has not only been local and regional, but national and global, with both the Associated Press and United Press International carrying articles which have been picked up by hundred of media sources.
The quest to have the Pentacle approved by the US Department of Veterans Affairs so that it can be on the memorial plaque of Sgt. Stewart as well as on the markers and headstones of other deceased Wiccan veterans was one of the featured top stories on CNN radio on May 29 and on CNN television's Headline News on May 30, broadcast across the USA and worldwide.
Other national/global media coverage included an interview with Rev. Selena Fox on the television news program, "The Most" which aired on the MSNBC network on the afternoon of May 30. The following evening, on May 31, Roberta Stewart appeared on the Alan Colmes radio show, broadcast nationwide on Fox network affiliated radio stations, on XMsatellite radio, and on the internet. This talk show also included calls from some of the Wiccan leaders who have been part of the quest to get the VA to approve the Pentacle -- Rt. Rev. Pete Pathfinder Davis of the Aquarian Tabernacle Church and Rt. Rev. Davron Michaels of the Correllian Nativist Tradition, as well as Selena from Circle Sanctuary.
This week, John W. Whitehead, founder of the Rutherford Institute, has publicly spoken out on behalf of Pentacle approval and religious freedom in his June 7 editorial, "Whose Freedoms are We Fighting For?" His editorial also appeared in the June 5 edition of Christianity Today.
Today, Americans United for Separation of Church and State (AU), issued a press release: "Americans United Asks Veterans Affairs Department to Respect Religious Diversity, approve Pentacle for Wiccan Soldier Killed in Afghanistan." This press release includes excerpts from the letter AU sent to VA officials yesterday urging approval of the Pentacle.
For links to additional media coverage:
For info on how to help this quest:
http://www.circlesanctuary.org/liberty/veteranpentacle/howyoucanhelp.htm
Circle Times: Thursday, June 8, 2006