April 24, 2007
Now there are 39 approved religions
Last year I wrote about the posthumous injustice suffered by Sgt. Patrick Stewart who died in Afghanistan and was denied the religious symbol of his choice on his headstone. Back then the Department of Veteran’s Affairs had a scant 38 approved religious symbols allowed on headstones for dead soldiers, and Stewart’s Wiccan Pentacle was not among them.
Normally it takes just six months to get the VA’s approval for a new symbol, but Americans United for Separation of Church and State said they worked for ten years to get the Wiccan symbol approved. The delay is attributed to discrimination against a religion often mistakenly thought of as witchcraft.
This is a tiny bit of justice won in a fight that didn’t need to be fought, but will certainly be tried again. Of course Wiccan soldiers deserve to have their religious emblem on their headstone, they deserve it because there should be no limits on what can go on a headstone for someone who died in voluntary defense of his or her country. Go here to see the 39 symbols. (They already added the Pentacle, and be sure to check out the Atheist Atom and the 15 cross variations.)