War Hero's Widow Denied Appropriate Marker for Husband's Grave

This is going to be long.  I'm not going to cut it either, because this is important to me, and it ought to be important to *all* of you.  Something distressing has been brought to my attention, and I feel that as clergy myself, I must make a statement on the subject.  I don't often mention that I am clergy, and because the Gaian Faith is much more reserved than some others as regards to clerical activities in the general public, and so on, it's easy for my non-Gaian--non-Wiccan friends to forget that I am not only a priestess and an elder, but also a coven founder and founder of a branch as well.  Not to mention that in recent years, I have really been more solitary and in fact private in the practice of my faith due to discrimination and ridicule from various quarters.  Many of you will know however, that one of my jobs required me to provide proof of the legitimacy of my practice of wearing permanent earrings which are not to be removed, and rings that also should not be removed either.  (Exceptions would be made in cases of repair or cleaning etc. and the ring must be replaced immediately after.) Not only that, but after providing this first level of proofs, and having that be acceptable for several weeks, I was then asked to provide proof not only that I was a member of my religion, but a 'member in good standing' of the coven I founded.  This resulted in my branch of the Gaian Faith being officially founded and registered with Sacred Earth Society under the umbrella of Wicca.  (The Gaian Faith is not really Wicca... though it is loosely associated with it in some of the basic practices and tenets, and most of our symbolism is in common... however, since Wicca is officially recognized by the US government to the degree that Army Chaplains are given an explanation in their handbook about the faith, it seemed best to register it that way at the start.

Or so it seemed.  But now, we have learned that the VA is not permitting the widow of a War Hero killed in Afghanistan last year to have his religious symbol, the pentagram added to his official plaque at the cemetery.

FERNLEY, Nev. — Nevada National Guard Sgt. Patrick Stewart gave his life for his country when the Chinook helicopter he was in was shot down in Afghanistan in September.

But those wishing to honor Stewart, who should have his name on the memorial wall at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Fernley, would have a difficult time doing so.

The space reserved for Stewart is vacant. Stewart was a follower of the Wiccan religion, which is not recognized by the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Stewart’s widow, Roberta, said she’ll wait until her family’s religion — and its five-pointed star enclosed in a circle, with one point facing skyward — is recognized for use on memorials before Stewart’s plaque is installed.  (More on this)

This is just an outrage, so I searched for more information.  I found some comments about the article on Drudge, and when I saw someone comment the following (typos and misspellings left intact on this btw:

"Wicca" is not a religion. It claims to be, but is really just a group that believes in witchcraft. My mother got involved with these nuts shortly before she died in 1990, and I was horrified to see some of the trash they publish and claim to believe when I went through her stuff after my father was killed a few years later. But, religion- (WEBSTER)- a belief in and worship of God or gods; a specific system of belief or worship built around God, a code of ethics, a philosopy of life, etc.

Belief in magic and witchcraft is not a religion anymore than membership in the KKK is a religious experience.

I could not leave this unanswered.  This is my 'retort':

So... what some of you seem to be saying here is that if *you* don't think it's a religion, then it must not be?  Or do you mean that if it’s not YOUR religion, then it is automatically to be dismissed and discounted as invalid?

Wicca is recognized in the army chaplain's guide as a religion.  The word ‘magick’ (It is spelled this way to differentiate it from sleight of hand ‘magic’.)  is used as a tool to explain acts of great faith such as healing the dying, walking on water, parting the Red Sea, etc. We believe these acts happened because of faith.  Those who perpetrated these acts had faith, absolute faith that it could be done.

Wiccans have that faith as well, and call the manifestations of that faith 'magick' because it is a simple word that every one understands. I think it is a poor choice because it is too simple, and too often misinterpreted.  What Christians–primarily, but also those of other faiths–do not seem to grasp is that when they form a prayer group, and bring about a miracle (healing a sick friend, keeping a parishioner from loosing their house, etc) we also call that magick.  It is the raising of the energy of the psyche to a specific purpose by focusing on it, and with (hopefully) the help of the deity in which we have faith, it comes to pass.

How are we so different?  We care about our friends, love our families. We go to school, complain about our jobs, pray for those in need.  We care for our planet, and try our best to live by the moral codes set out by our faith, to be the best people we can be, make the best amends we can when we fail in that endeavor.

I often hear the phrase "'Freedom *of* Religion does not mean 'Freedom *from* religion'". Well that’s true... but it’s a two way street. It also means that you are not free from OUR religion, nor do you have the right to pretend we don't exist, that we aren't real just because you don't *want* us to be.  Sgt. Stewart was Wiccan.  His wife is Wiccan.  He died in defense of our freedoms, including our freedom of religion, and now such a simple thing as having a marker *appropriate* to his own religion is being denied.  Now suppose the shoe were on the other foot and it were a Christian soldier being told that the symbol of the cross could not be placed on his marker?

Christians... How would you like it if I claimed that *your* religion was not a real religion, that it was a two thousand year old fractious cult.  What if I pointed out that there are so many different groups and beliefs, often fighting with one another over who is right and who gets the final reward, that one could hardly tell what they believed as a whole?  How would you like to have a religious symbol on the marker of a beloved family member that wasn’t a symbol of your faith? Or be forced to leave it off, while others were allowed to have them?  I’ll tell you how you would feel.  You wouldn’t like it.  Not one bit. 

We don’t like this and we are many.

-Ishte

Please pass this around... let people know that an American Soldier, a war hero who sought to save us from those who hate us for the freedoms we have, is being denied the very freedom he fought and died to protect for the rest of us. In Nevada, there is a blank section of wall, where his name, and his memorial, his symbol of faith should be,  because here in America, there are those who would also like to deny *certain* American's the right to religious freedom.  When a freedom is taken from one American, it's not far down the line when an excuse is made to take one from another.  We have enough of our freedoms under serious erosion.  We can't bear to have our very first on impinged upon like this. It's a deplorable situation.  This has to end.