A very good summary of the situation. As the article pointed out, this fight has been going on for over a decade. Every time another Wiccan veteran dies, the next petition circulates. Wiccans and other Pagans have been working tirelessly, slogging through oceans of red tape, for years and years.
Why then, [Pagans] ask, has their religion been snubbed when more than 30 others – including such relatively obscure ones as Seicho-No-Ie, Eckankar, Sufism and Humanism – are permitted? Even atheists have their own approved symbol, which features an atom and the letter ”A” in the center.
This always baffles me. It never seems like religious prejudice when you read that, because these are not well-loved groups in conservative corners. Here’s one reason:
In a step interpreted as partially smoothing the way for Pentacle approval, the VA’s National Cemetery Administration amended a rule last October that had been a bureaucratic roadblock. Until then, applicants had to submit a letter from a ”recognized central head” of the faith attesting to the fact that the requested symbol in fact represented the religion.
Because the Wiccan faith and its related sects are substantially decentralized, that requirement was essentially impossible to meet. Now, the National Cemetery Administration asks for a letter from ”a recognized leader.”
Hmmm, wonder who we can get.
Buckland? Janet Farrar? Isaac? You? Me? What constitutes a “leader” in this case? Having published books? If that’s the criteria, then SRW can put in a petition, along with Oberon.
Is it having a group that works at things? In that case, there’s Maven (hissssspit) at B&B in Dallas….
Who qualifies?
“Recognized leader” should actually be loose enough to be effective. If someone runs a group, if someone can get a group of people to agree that they are a leader, that’s usually all that’s required. At least, this has been so in other “recognized leader” situations. So you and Isaac, anyway. 😉
And SRW. “Leader” and “respected leader” being two different things. There’s plenty of room for all kinds. You can be recognized by any small subset, that’s the advantage.
While Iam glad that Wiccans in the states have finaly begun to see a sucessfull conclusion to this issue I think we have to be very clear on the fact that we have no one clear leader and we don’t want one.
I think our greatest strength is the diversity of visions within the same family that permits us to be very different while still serving the same Goddess and God and if we permit the state to define what our leadership is we will loose that advantage.
Yes. My reading is that they’re saying any leader, not a unified leader of all.
Well if they insist that we have a leader they can deal with why not refer them to the Goddess cause that is the only leader of all of Wicca I will recognise.