KLAS-TV.com:
Family and friends of a Nevada soldier killed in Afghanistan a year ago marked the anniversary of his death by holding a demonstration in Reno.
The small group gathered in the early morning chill Tuesday at a downtown veterans memorial to remember Nevada Army National Guard Sgt. Patrick Stewart and four comrades who died Sept. 25, 2005 in Afghanistan.
"We remember them today and the sacrifices they made for us," said Stewart's widow, Roberta.
For her, the past year has been a mix of grief and resolve to have a Wiccan pentacle -- a five-pointed star surrounded by a circle -- placed on her husband's plaque at the state Veteran's Memorial Wall in Fernley.
She won a partial victory two weeks ago when state veterans officials granted use of the symbol after the Nevada Attorney General's Office concluded federal officials have no authority over state veterans' cemeteries.
And the bad news:
American Civil Liberties Union:
The American Civil Liberties Union today filed a lawsuit to protect the right of veterans and their families to choose religious symbols to engrave on headstones in federal cemeteries. The lawsuit was filed on behalf of two churches and three individuals to compel the government to approve a long-pending application for use of a Wiccan symbol on the headstones of service members.
"The government has no business picking and choosing which personal religious beliefs may be expressed. All veterans, regardless of their religion, deserve to have their faith recognized on an equal basis," said ACLU of Washington staff attorney Aaron Caplan.
The lawsuit was sparked by the failure of the National Cemetery Administration (NCA) of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to take action on several applications to approve the pentacle of the Wiccan faith as an emblem of belief. The agency provides headstones free of charge to mark the graves of eligible veterans, upon application by a veteran or the next of kin of a deceased veteran. An emblem of belief is included on the headstone only if it is on the list of symbols approved by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs.
The NCA has approved 38 emblems of belief for veterans, encompassing a wide variety of religions. Headstones have been engraved with different forms of the Christian cross, the six-pointed Jewish star, the Muslim crescent, the nine-pointed Baha’i star, and symbols for atheists and secular humanists, among others.
Yet the agency has refused since the mid-1990s to act on requests by Wiccan families and clergy to approve use of the pentacle. In the meantime, the agency approved additional emblems of numerous other religions and belief systems as a matter of course, usually in a few months.
So, what's the deal here? If atheists can get a symbol, why can't an actual religion? The answer demonstrates the danger of government involvement in religion and is a textbook example of the reason for the separation of church and state...
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Tags: news politics religious right religion christian Wicca Military constitution Afghanistan free speech Sgt. Patrick Stewart Nevada
