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PostPosted: Tue Dec 05, 2006 5:36 pm
  

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Arlo Fanatic

Joined: Nov 11, 2004
Posts: 2010
Location: Left-of-center
This from the Associated Press:

After fighting the federal government for more than a year, the widow of a soldier killed in Afghanistan finally got to see the Wiccan symbol placed on a memorial plaque for her husband.

More than 50 friends and family of Sergeant Patrick Stewart gathered to dedicate the plaque Saturday at Northern Nevada Veterans Cemetery in Fernley, about 30 miles east of Reno.

Stewart's widow, Roberta, and Wiccan leaders said it was the first government-issued memorial plaque with a Wiccan pentacle -- a five-pointed star enclosed in a circle.

They praised Governor Kenny Guinn for his role in getting the Nevada Office of Veterans Services to issue the plaque.

But they criticized the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, saying they would continue pressing the agency to allow the Wiccan symbol for plaques and headstones at veterans' cemeteries.

Last month, Americans United for Separation of Church and State filed a federal lawsuit on the Wiccans' behalf claiming the VA's actions amount to constitutional violations of free speech, freedom of religion and due process. A Wiccan group in Wisconsin is part of the suit.

The VA recognizes more than 30 symbols, including more than a dozen variations of the Christian cross and the atomic whirl used by atheists, but not the pentacle.

VA officials have said they are rewriting rules for approving emblems, but the process requires a public comment period.


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 05, 2006 6:22 pm
  

Senior ArloNetizen

Joined: Sep 12, 2000
Posts: 353
Thanks for the update, Captain! I'd heard about that several months ago and wondered how it would be resolved.

Hopefully the rules can change soon...I think its the least we can do.


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 05, 2006 6:37 pm
  

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Joined: Nov 11, 2004
Posts: 2010
Location: Left-of-center
Aye, Fitzy. It's still up in the air as to what the VA's going to do. That means a Wiccan or Pagan service person still can't get the Pentacle symbol on their gravestone if it's through the VA (ala Arlington). Stay tuned. This ain't over by a long shot.


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