Honoring Sgt. Stewart:
Wiccans Are Americans Too
By Charles C. Haynes
First Amendment Center
The current flap involving Wiccans in the military is a conflict that should never have happened. But years of foot-dragging by the Department of Veterans Affairs has turned an easy case into a major controversy complete with charges of discrimination and threats of lawsuits.
All the VA need do is announce that the pentacle - a five-pointed star that symbolizes the Wiccan faith - has been added to the list of 38 "emblems of belief" approved for placement on government headstones and memorials. No big deal, end of story. Instead, the VA keeps saying that it is "reviewing the process" - and will make a decision at some indeterminate time in the future.
Roberta Stewart has been hearing this bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo for the past eight months. She just wants to honor her husband, Patrick, a member of the Nevada National Guard killed in combat last September in Afghanistan. Sgt. Stewart, who was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, among other honors, was a Wiccan.
The VA should act immediately to honor Roberta Stewart's request and fill in the blank space reserved for Sgt. Stewart.
After all, if we can't live up to religious freedom at home, we have no business asking soldiers to die for religious freedom abroad.
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