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The US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) was created to provide support to all those who have served in the US Armed Forces and their families. Funded by taxpayer money and part of the executive branch of the federal government, the VA is supposed to abide by the US Constitution, including upholding religious freedom. Why then does the VA continue to discriminate against the Wiccan religion and Wiccan veterans and their families?
Despite repeated requests to do so over the past decade, the US Department of Veterans Affairs still has not added the Wiccan symbol, the Pentacle, to its list of emblems of belief that can be included on memorial markers, headstones, and plaques it issues to honor deceased veterans. The VA has added emblems of belief for other religions and belief systems to its list during this time while keeping the Pentacle pending.
Graves of deceased Wiccan veterans in public and private cemeteries across the nation remain unmarked. The grieving process of families and friends of these veterans have been complicated and prolonged as a result. Furthermore, the VA’s on-going discrimination has caused undue stress to veterans still alive and to troops on active duty, including those putting their lives on the line in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The VA’s discrimination is wrong, unjust, and illegal. We are continuing our work on the Veteran Pentacle Quest. Thanks to everyone who has been sending us support.
A summary of the history of the first nine years of this religious freedom struggle is included in my article, "The Story of the Veteran Pentacle Quest" published in the Summer 2006 issue of CIRCLE Magazine (pages 47-55) and on-line:
www.circlesanctuary.org/liberty/veteranpentacle/QuestStorySummary.htm
(See also David and A. C. Aldag’s article in this issue.) In this report, I summarize more recent developments.
Americans United
Founded in 1947, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, also known as AU and Americans United, is a religious liberty watchdog group headquartered in Washington, DC near Capitol Hill. More information about its sixty-year history of protecting constitutional rights is on-line: www.au.org.
Americans United began supporting the Veteran Pentacle Quest on June 7, 2006 when it wrote a letter to Secretary Nicholson, head of the US Department of Veterans Affairs, requesting that the VA authorize the Pentacle for use on grave markers so that Sgt. Stewart and other deceased Wiccan veterans could be properly honored. The following day, AU sent out a press release announcing its support of the Quest. I began communicating with AU staff. AU attorneys began research into possible administrative, legislative, and judicial approaches for getting the Pentacle approved.
On August 1, 2006, AU officially began to represent Circle Sanctuary and one of our church members, Roberta Stewart, the widow of a Wiccan veteran and war hero from Nevada. In an August 3 press release, AU announced their representation of us and a variety of media sources across the country carried the news.
September 11 Remembrance
Sgt. Patrick Stewart, Roberta’s husband, was the first Wiccan soldier to be killed in action in the War on Terror. Also known as Operation Enduring Freedom and the Afghanistan War, it was begun in response to the terrorist attacks on the USA on September 11, 2001. Sgt. Stewart, who served in the US Army from 1989 through 1996, re-enlisted in the Army National Guard in November 2001 and was deployed to Afghanistan early in 2005. On September 25, 2005, Sgt. Stewart and four other soldiers flying the Mustang 22 mission were killed in action in Deh Chopan, Zabul Province, Afghanistan when their Chinook helicopter was shot down from the sky by enemy fire.
On September 11, 2006, a variety of services were held across America and around the world in remembrance of the fifth anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks in America. Roberta Stewart was among the special guests at the 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony held in her hometown of Fernley, Nevada. More than one hundred and fifty citizens attended this service which was held at the Out of Town Park, the same location where we held the Sgt. Patrick Stewart Freedom for All Faiths Memorial Day Service on May 29, 2006.
The 9/11 Remembrance Ceremony in Fernley included the dedication of a special memorial honoring Fernley citizens who had been killed in the line of duty since September 11, 2001. The first of the three fallen heroes to be honored that day was Sgt. Stewart. His sacrifice was honored with a wreath and his name on the memorial. Roberta, with military escort, cut the ribbon as part of the unveiling. Later that day, she took the wreath honoring her husband to the nearby Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery. She placed it next to the spot on the Wall of Heroes that was still blank due to the VA’s continued refusal to authorize the Pentacle for use on its memorial plaques and other markers.
The blank space awaiting Sgt. Stewart’s plaque with Pentacle was next to the memorial plaque for his friend and comrade in arms, Chief Warrant Office John Flynn. Flynn was Christian and his plaque, bearing a Christian Cross, had been on the Wall of Heroes since February 2006. The VA’s discrimination against the Wiccan religion was blatantly illustrated by the unequal treatment of these two Nevada soldiers who died together protecting American troops.
John Tyson, a well-known journalist and a veteran himself, was the master of ceremonies at the 9/11 Remembrance service. Speaking out in support of the Veteran Pentacle Quest, he dedicated the entire ceremony to Roberta, Sgt. Stewart, and the Quest. Television and press covered this event. That afternoon, we released a Circle Times e-bulletin with news about the service, including Tyson’s public support. That evening, Roberta emailed our bulletin to media, state and federal elected officials, and others she had been in touch with about the Quest.
Governor’s Gift
The following morning brought an important breakthrough in the Quest.
No longer willing to wait for the VA to approve the Pentacle for use on VA-issued memorial plaques, Nevada Governor Kenny Guinn, a Republican, took action. He decided to have the State order a plaque with Pentacle for Sgt. Stewart so that this war hero from Nevada would at last be properly honored at the veterans cemetery.
On behalf of the Governor, Tim Tetz, the Executive Director of the Nevada Office of Veterans Services, called Roberta Stewart on Tuesday, September 12, 2006, and offered this gift to her. Roberta gratefully accepted and then called me with the good news. We both were ecstatic about this development in the Quest. We then got the text and a Pentacle image to the Governor’s office so that the process of ordering and producing the plaque could begin. The Pentacle graphic we submitted for Sgt. Stewart’s memorial plaque is the same one created by Jerrie Hildebrand, Assistant Director of Lady Liberty League, that we had on file with Circle Sanctuary’s application pending with the VA.
The next morning, Wednesday, September 13, the Governor’s office publicly announced its gift. In a press release, Tim Tetz stated that this intervention was made possible because the Nevada Attorney General had determined that the state had sole discretion over state veterans cemeteries. News began spreading nationwide and internationally. Hundreds of press, radio, television, and internet media sources picked up the story.
Americans United Executive Director Barry Lynn, Roberta, and I all released statements to the media in which we not only thanked the Nevada Governor and his staff for the gift, but also called for the VA to approve the Pentacle without further delay. We emphasized the need for the VA to end its nine years of discrimination against the Wiccan religion so that all deceased Wiccan veterans also could be honored with government-issued grave markers, headstones, and plaques that included the Pentacle as their emblem of belief.
Although there were some initial glitches with production, Sgt. Stewart’s plaque with Pentacle was completed and installed in November just prior to what would have been the Stewart’s third wedding anniversary on November 22.
On Saturday, December 2, Lady Liberty League held a public dedication of Sgt. Stewart’s plaque with Pentacle at the Wall of Heroes at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Fernley. I facilitated the ceremony, which brought together Pagans and those of other religions to honor Sgt. Stewart, give support to Roberta and her family, bless and celebrate the plaque with Pentacle, and energize the Quest.
Following the dedication, we hosted a reception to celebrate this important breakthrough. More details about the Dedication are on-line and in this issue.
World Congress
On Friday, September 15, Lady Liberty League Media Liaison Paula Johnson spoke at the World Congress in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. This international conference, "A Congress of World's Religions After 9/11, A Global Congress" was sponsored by McGill University and the Council for a Parliament of the Worlds Religions. Paula’s paper analyzed media coverage of the Veteran Pentacle Quest. and was part of a session on Media and Religion. More than one thousand delegates from all over the world and from many religions attended this academic conference, held from September 11-15, 2006. Representing CIRCLE Magazine, Paula also was part of the corps of international press reporting on the congress. Her report on her perspectives and experiences appears elsewhere in this issue.
Lights of Liberty Candlelight Vigil
In late September, I flew to Nevada to give support to Roberta and her family and friends during the time of the one-year anniversary of the death of Sgt. Stewart and his four comrades. During the morning and afternoon of September 25, 2006, I assisted with a private memorial for family and troops at a Nevada National Guard installation.
In the evening, I facilitated a public memorial, the Lights of Liberty Candlelight Vigil, at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Fernley. Joining me were Roberta and Rev. William Chrystal, pastor of the First Congregational Church of Reno, Nevada, and the US military chaplain who had been providing support to Roberta and her family since Sgt. Stewart’s death.
We held the vigil at the Wall of Heroes at the veterans cemetery and family, friends, members of the local Pagan community, other Quest supporters, and media attended. Across the nation and around the world, many joined in sending spiritual support in vigils of their own.
During the vigil, we kindled three tall white votive candles, set atop the Wall, which served as our altar.
We lit a candle of Remembrance to honor the lives, service, and sacrifice of Sgt. Stewart and the other 4 soldiers of the 113th Aviation, D Company Mustangs who were killed a year ago. We kindled a candle of Thanksgiving to celebrate that the Nevada Governor and his staff had taken action and ordered a plaque with Pentacle to honor Sgt. Stewart. The vigil culminated with the lighting of a candle of Religious Freedom to bring a successful conclusion to the Quest.
American Freedom Rally
The next morning, Tuesday, September 26, we held an American Freedom Rally at Powning Park in the city of Reno, about 30 miles from Fernley. We selected this location because of its downtown location and its symbolism. It not only was near the courthouse, it included a recently dedicated veterans memorial to Nevadans who had died in the War on Terror. Sgt. Patrick Stewart’s name was among those honored on this memorial. In the center of the park was a small replica of the Liberty Bell that had been a ship’s bell in the past. Roberta and I created an American Freedom altar around and below it, with photos, some of Sgt. Stewart’s medals, candles, flowers, and other symbols. I sounded the bell during the rally as we called for freedom and justice for all.
As at the vigil in Fernley the previous night, this rally began with a tribute to Sgt. Stewart and his four comrades for their sacrifice and service. Roberta, Chaplain Chrystal, and I each spoke, We thanked the State of Nevada and its Governor for doing what the VA had failed to do - to order a plaque with Pentacle on it to honor Sgt. Stewart. We again issued a public call to the VA to add the Pentacle to its list without further delay. At the conclusion of the rally, I read the letter that Americans United had sent that morning to the VA, demanding that the VA give equal rights to veterans and their families or face litigation.
Following the rally, Roberta, Rev. Chrystal, and I met with various reporters. The Associated Press covered the rally and a news report about possible litigation by AU was out within hours and soon was picked up by many media sources across America and elsewhere. Reno television news stations ran reports throughout the day.
ACLU Files Federal Lawsuit
On September 29, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) filed a lawsuit against the VA in a specialized federal court, the US Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims in Washington, DC. The ACLU filed the lawsuit on behalf of several plaintiffs, including two international Wiccan churches, the Aquarian Tabernacle Church (ATC) and the Correllian Nativist Church International.
The Aquarian Tabernacle Church is headquartered in Index, Washington and is headed by The Right Reverend Pete Pathfinder, who was the first to submit a request to the VA to add the Pentacle to its emblems of belief list. He made that request on August 27, 1997, but his request has remained pending with the VA ever since. Rev. Davron Michael, the church’s administrator submitted the Correllian’s Pentacle application to the VA, on January 4, 2005.
The ACLU also is representing three individuals in this lawsuit - Scott Stearns of Washington State, Patricia Corneilson of Kentucky, and Kathleen Egbert of Maryland. Scott Stearns, an ATC member, is a retired disabled US Navy veteran. Patricia Darlene Howell Corneilson is the mother of James Price, a Wiccan soldier killed in action in 2004 in the Iraq War. Kathleen Egbert is the daughter of World War II veteran Abraham (Abe) Kooiman and Rosemary Kooiman, founder and High Priestess of the Nomadic Chantry of the Gramarye, a Wiccan group in the Washington, DC area. Abe, who died in 2002, and Rosemary, who died in 2006, are buried in Arlington National Cemetery under a headstone that still awaits the inclusion of the Pentacle.
This ACLU lawsuit seeks to compel the VA to approve the use of the Pentacle on the memorial markers it provides to honor deceased veterans. Although we did not officially join as plaintiffs, I along with others associated with Circle Sanctuary and the Lady Liberty League provided background information and other support to the ACLU for this lawsuit. In mid-November, the VA filed a motion and asked the Court to dismiss this lawsuit on jurisdictional grounds. The ACLU countered this, but the VA continued to press for dismissal. On February 2, 2007, a judge assigned a panel of three judges to hear arguments, but no date has been set.
Order of the Pentacle
At Samhain, we began forming the Order of the Pentacle, an association of Wiccan and Pagan veterans and those on active duty who have the Pentacle as their emblem of belief, who support the Quest to have it added to the VA’s emblems of belief list, and who want the Pentacle included on their VA-issued headstones, marker, or plaque after death. Wiccan and other Pagans who attended our Samhain Festival and who expressed an interest to join the Order of the Pentacle took part in a ritual that founded the group. Later that weekend, some joined with Roberta Stewart and me in the dedication of a memorial place at Circle Cemetery honoring Sgt. Stewart. Assisting was Jill Medicine Heart Combs from Ohio, who placed American flags there and at the gravesites and memorial places of other Pagan veterans in our cemetery.
On Veterans Day we opened up membership in the Order of the Pentacle to the larger Pagan community and veterans and spouses of many places and paths joined. The Order of the Pentacle now had more than 160 members, including those from all branches of the US Armed Forces. Members of the Order of the Pentacle have been helping the Veteran Pentacle Quest through networking and by speaking out. Statements by some members are included on the Veteran Pentacle Quest website.
AU Files Federal Lawsuits
On the morning of November 13, 2006, Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed lawsuits on behalf of Circle Sanctuary and others against the US Department of Veterans Affairs in two federal courts. AU sued in the United States Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit, in Washington, DC, and in the US District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin.
Americans United filed these lawsuits on behalf of Circle Sanctuary and two of our church members, Roberta Stewart of Nevada and Karen DePolito of Utah, both widows of war veterans. Roberta’s husband Sgt. Patrick Stewart, was a veteran of Desert Storm and Operation Enduring Freedom. Karen’s husband, Jerome Birnbaum, was a veteran of the Korean War. Both deceased Wiccan veterans served in the US Army. The other plaintiff represented by AU in our lawsuits is Isis Invicta Military Mission, which was the second group to apply to the VA for Pentacle approval. Rev. Rona Russell, founder and Priestess of the group, applied to the VA in September 1998, and twice more in 1999. Despite her repeated attempts to get the VA to approve the Pentacle, the VA failed to do so and stopped communicating with Rona about this matter.
AU National Press Conference
We announced both lawsuits in a press conference held by Americans United at the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Roberta and I flew to Washington, DC and spoke at this press conference along with Rev. Barry Lynn, Executive Director of AU, and the lead AU attorney in our case, Richard Katskee.
National television, radio, and newspaper reporters attended the press conference and later published reports. The international television network, CNN, carried the press conference live on the internet through its CNN Pipeline. Religion and Ethics News Weekly mentioned our lawsuits in the next edition of its nationally syndicated program broadcast on public television stations across the country. Stars and Stripes and other US military newspapers serving troops around the globe published articles.
Associated Press reports were picked up by a variety of newspapers and other media sites. Dr. Todd Berntson, a Wiccan filmmaker, filmed the press conference as well as some of the follow-up media work that Roberta and I did afterwards. His film clip of Rev. Barry Lynn’s remarks is on-line at our website and also is being used as part of a full-length documentary film about the Quest. (See www.herodenied.com)
AU Lawsuits Update
On January 5, 2007, the VA responded to our lawsuit filed in the US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit and moved that our case there be dismissed. On January 12, our attorneys requested an extension for the filing of our response and on January 23, it was granted.
The VA had to file its response to our lawsuit in the Federal District Court of Western Wisconsin by Monday, January 22, 2007. Just before this response was due, the VA released its latest version of its proposed procedures for adding emblems of belief to it list. These proposed procedures were published in the Federal Register on Friday, January 19. In the VA’s response to our lawsuit filed on January 22, the VA made a motion asking the judge to stay - that is, delay hearing - our case until after its latest rule revision process was complete.
On Wednesday, January 24, our AU attorneys filed a response that asked the judge to deny the VA’s motion. Shortly thereafter, the VA responded to this with additional argument for the stay, and in so doing, indicated that its procedures revision process might take another year.
Fortunately, the judge denied the VA’s motion to stay the case. On Friday, January 26, he met by phone with our attorneys and the attorneys representing the VA and issued a projected timetable for our case. The Associated Press and other media sources carried news about the judge's decision.
This case is proceeding. On January 31, there was the filing of initial disclosures by attorneys for both sides. On February 5, the process of discovery began. The judge set trial date for June 29, 2007.
VA Proposes New Procedures
The VA proposed new procedures for adding new emblems of belief to its list were made public on January 19 when they were published in the Federal Register. The public has until March 20, 2007 to review and critique them. The VA will consider comments, possibly make revisions, and will then publish the final version of the procedures in the Federal Register. Thirty days later, they will go into effect.
These proposed procedures do nothing to assure that the Pentacle or emblems of other religions will be approved and added to the list. Instead, these procedures will legalize the VA's discriminatory practices which have kept the Pentacle from being added to the list and therefore, from being included on the grave markers of deceased Wiccan and Pagan veterans.
These procedures do not require that the VA ever make a decision on an emblem addition request, and there is no time limit for decision making. The vague wording in the procedures can be used to permit the VA to select without objective criteria what symbols it wants to authorize and which it wants to reject. And, once the VA makes a decision, it becomes final, with no provision for appeal.
Please speak out with your concerns about these proposed procedures before March 20. See our website for details about how to get a copy of the proposed procedures and how to submit a comment. Please let others know about this.
Please help the Veteran Pentacle Quest in other ways as well. See the update on page 56 for the latest on how to help. Thank you for your support!
Rev. Selena Fox
Senior Minister, Circle Sanctuary
For More Information:
www.circlesanctuary.org/liberty/veteranpentacle
Circle Sanctuary
PO Box 9
Barneveld, Wisconsin 53507
Phone: (608) 924-2216, Fax: (608) 924-5961
Email: liberty@circlesanctuary.org
References:
This report was compiled from a variety of sources, including direct experience, media reports, and communications with Americans United for Separation of Church and State, American Civil Liberties Union, Roberta Stewart and her family and friends, Karen DePolito, Rona of Isis Invicta Military Mission, Pete Pathfinder David of the Aquarian Tabernacle Church, Davron Michael of the Correllian Nativist Church International, Lady Liberty League staff, and other Quest supporters.