Veteran Pentacle Quest in Federal Courts

Today, Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed
litigation in two federal courts today against the U.S. Department
of Veterans Affairs (VA) over its refusal to include the Pentacle,
the Wiccan symbol of faith, on its official list of emblems for
government headstones and markers.

The AU press release is on-line:
http://www.circlesa nctuary.org/ liberty/veteranp entacle/13Nov06L
awsuit
Release.htm

Americans United is representing Circle Sanctuary and two of its
members who are widows of two combat war veterans: Roberta Stewart,
whose husband, Sgt. Patrick Stewart, was killed in combat in
Afghanistan in 2005, and Karen DePolito, whose husband, Jerome
Birnbaum, is a veteran of the Korean War and who died a year ago.
Also being represented by AU in this litigation is the Isis Invicta
Military Mission, a Wiccan and Pagan congregation serving military
personnel.

The filing of the litigation was announced this afternoon at the
National Press Club in Washington, D.C., by the Rev. Barry W. Lynn,
Americans United executive director; Roberta Stewart; the Rev.
Selena Fox, Circle Sanctuary's senior minister and high priestess;
and Americans United Assistant Legal Director Richard Katskee.

The press conference was carried live on CNN pipeline on the
internet:
http://www.cnn. com

AU filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western
District of Wisconsin and another in the US Court of Appeals for the
Federal Circuit.

Attorneys for Americans United argued in legal papers that it makes
no sense for the Wiccans religious emblem to be excluded. The US
Army and other branches of the US Armed Forces allow 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.

At 7:10 pm Central Time tonight, Rev. Selena Fox and Roberta Stewart
will do a short interview on "The Chris Duel Show" broadcast on
radio KTSA, 550 am, out of San Antonio Texas. There will be live
streaming audio for those wishing to tune in from throughout the
United States and elsewhere should go to www.ktsa.com. The show
host is already taking calls about the topic.

At present this story is the third most popular story on the CNN Top
Story page. We invite you to spread the news with others of all
faiths and continue to stay tuned as this story develops.

The Associated Press, Stars and Stripes, Marine Times, and more than
one
hundred media sources in the USA and several other countries have
news about this story on their websites. More coverage will be
happening tonight and later this week.

For more info about the Veteran Pentacle Quest:
http://www.circlesa nctuary.org/ liberty/veteranp entacle

HOW TO HELP

Please continue to send spiritual support for success in this Quest.

Please view various media coverage on-line and add supportive
comments.

Please spread the word -- encourage others to view media and speak
out on behalf of Wiccan and Pagan rights for veterans and their
families.

Thanks!

Circle Times: Monday, November 13, 2006

Government's refusal to recognize Wiccan symbol leads to lawsuit

By The Associated Press


MADISON, Wis. — The Star of David is OK, as are more than a dozen
variations of the Christian cross.

Even the atomic whirl used by atheists gets the thumbs-up from the
federal government.

But a Wiccan symbol representing earth, air, fire, water and spirit?

Forget it.

Blame it on government red tape or religious discrimination, Selena Fox
is tired of fighting to get her religion's symbol recognized by the
federal government for veterans' grave markers.

So now she and other followers of the Wiccan faith are taking the
government to court.

A federal lawsuit filed Monday accuses the U.S. Department of Veterans
Affairs of violating the constitutional rights of Wiccans because the
government does not allow its symbol on veterans' headstones in national
cemeteries.

``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,'' said Fox, who is senior minister of the
Wiccan Circle Sanctuary in Barneveld, Wis.

Roberta Stewart thinks she knows why Wiccans have been denied.

``I believe it's the misconception of devil worship and the way the
pentacle has been misused,'' she said.

The widow of a soldier killed in Afghanistan last year, Stewart has
waged her own personal war to see the pentacle placed on the tombstone
of her husband, Nevada National Guard Sgt. Patrick Stewart.

Stewart, whose husband was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, was
rejected by federal veterans' officials when she sought approval to
affix the pentacle to the Veterans' Memorial Wall in Nevada, but state
officials said they would erect a plaque with the symbol.

Even though she is getting the symbol for her husband, Stewart 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; Circle Sanctuary;
and Isis Invicta Military Mission, a Wiccan and Pagan congregation
serving military personnel based in Geyserville, Calif.

The 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.

In memos and letters cited by the lawsuit, Lindee L. Lenox, director of
memorial programs for the veterans agency, said the government was
reviewing the process for evaluating and approving new emblems and would
not accept new applications until the review was complete.

The VA issued a statement Monday that outlined the procedure under way
to create uniform standards under which new symbols can be accepted, but
did not comment on the lawsuit itself.

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.

Wiccans worship the Earth and believe they must give to the community.
Some consider 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.

An increasing number of Wiccans are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan,
while a number of older veterans are getting closer to death, making it
imperative that the government act soon, Fox said.

Three cremated remains of veterans are unmarked in the Circle Sanctuary
cemetery, Fox said, a situation she called ``ridiculous.'' She said
three headstones at Arlington National Cemetery are also awaiting the
symbol.

All Stewart said she wants is government approval of the pentacle,
nothing more and nothing less. She wants the lawsuit to send a message,
she said, that the government can't pick and choose which faiths appear
on headstones.



Please repost this where others may know and feel free to contact the
WPPA to show your support at:

Wiccan/Pagan Press Alliance, c/o Black Forest Publishing, P.O. Box 1392,
Mechanicsburg, PA 17005-1392.

I'm passing this on from Circle Sanctuary.
brightest blessings



the Pentacle.

The Order of the Pentacle is a new Pagan Veterans association.

It is open to Wiccans and those on other Pagan paths who have the
Pentacle
as their emblem of belief, who have served and/or are serving the US
Armed
Forces, and who want the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to add
the
Pentacle to its emblems of belief list so that it can be an option to be
included
on veteran grave makers issued by the VA.

The Order of the Pentacle also is open to spouses of veterans who have
the
Pentacle as their emblem and want it on the VA's list.

The Order of the Pentacle has formed in order to provide additional
support
for the Veteran Pentacle Quest.

There is no membership fee.

TO JOIN
email: pentacle@circlesanc tuary.org
or fax: (608) 924-5961
or mail: Order of the Pentacle, PO Box 9, Barneveld, WI 53507

INCLUDE
(1) your full name
(2) your contact information (postal address, phone number/s, preferred
email),
(3) plus some basic info about your military service - what branch(es)
of
the US military you served in, your rank(s), and when (what years) &
where
you served.

In the future, we may summarize and publicize some general demographics
of
the membership, such as the number of members and number of branches of
military and range of locations and eras served in order to point out
the diversity
of military service of Wiccan/Pagan veterans who have the
Pentacle as their emblem of belief.

However, we will keep your name and the associated personal information
you
send us private, unless you specifically indicate it is OK to share this
as
part of our work.

From time to time, we plan to update those in the Order of the Pentacle
about the Pentacle Quest with special emails.

We also suggest that you join our Circle Times e-list, if you haven't
already done so, in order to get updates we send that way. You can
sign-up
on-line at the Circle Sanctuary website or by emailing:
circle@circlesanctu ary.org.

If you know of others who are eligible and might be interested in
joining
the Order of the Pentacle, please forward this email to them.

SPREAD THE WORD: post this invite to lists, websites, blogs, and other
places.

Thank you!

Circle Times: Veterans Day, November 11, 2006 >>

Hi Poet

In had seen this before and posted it around.

Hi Poet

In had seen this before and posted it around.

Hi Poet

In had seen this before and posted it around.

Hi Poet

In had seen this before and posted it around.

Sorry some F'ed up stuff in my computer.

My feeling on the matter is that the Cemetery doesn't want any vandalism
going on there. They may fear tha t if a pentagram is allowd then
someone will start to desicrate the cemetery. So they have opted to deny
the use of the Pentagram there. I don't have a problem with it since I
don't make it habit of visiting cemeteries anyway, but some folks will.
My question is what does the deceased wishes are?

This is such a b.s. refusal on the part of your government. If I
remember my history lessons correctly (and I went to American schools)
the Constitution gaurantees the rights of all religions. I hope that
they get what they seek in court. Makes me wonder if I'd have been
allowed here.

Remember karmafury. A lot of minorities have suffered in the past of not
getting social status of equal rights. Blacks, Irish,Porto Ricans,
Hispanics, Native Americans,Etc....

But all have gained status in time. I feel so will Pagans/Wiccans too.

You must be patient and stead fast to change.