Galatia Forums

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13148204/

This by the way, hinges on not-news as it refers you to the movie for details. I don't like this one bit.

did you see the link to the story about the Wiccan who died in the war and can't have his faith expressed on his tombstone?

Yes. That did not suprise me to be honest. I assumed DAV only reconized the big three (C,J,I) or maybe the big five religions (Con, B). However, it turns out they reconize around 30 religions, but Wicca is not one of them. (Scientology better not be one of them) To have you religion reconized, it appears to take quite a bit of paper work, and knowning government bueracracy, it does not suprise me that this has not gone through. Moreover, soldiers are told to fight for "God, Corp, and country", so if someone in the "process" thought of Wiccans as "godless", I could definitely see them slowing down the "process".

Also, the people complaining about freedom of religion are going to get no where. The framers intend us to simply have no State mandated religion, so that we could live in a free religious society without persecution. Inactivity and paperwork are miles away from religious persecution, this story will be dead by the time you finish reading this post. By the way, ask Serban if you want to know about State religion.

Possibly, the attempt to keep a the number of religious symbols available had been clearly aesthetic? Possibly it was limited because the government does not wish to become a meter that tests which religions are valid? Possibly it is a purposeful snub, as some people felt the Wiccan Symbol was to close to the assumed devil worshoping symbol? Possibly a bunch of very misguided people filled out the paper work and declared that they were thier own religion and the gov't said "Ah, the hell with it"? I wonder if the DAV will ever comment.

Well, I wrote a whole big thing, but it did not post for some reason. However to sum up, I think I figured it out. You may not agree with my answer, but I bet you it has something to do with it.

The 5-pointed-star is the symbol of America. It is on our flag. We paint it on our best planes, ships, and tanks. It is on our highest medals like the Medal of Honor and the Silver Star*. It is incoporated into the symbol of the air force. Finally, it is put on the highest of commanders, the General.

I imagine the military makes all attempts to avoid confusion on rank, branch and earned honors when it comes to building and maintaining military memorials. Suffice to say, Wiccans may need a new symbol, maybe a big "W" with two thumbs on either side.

On an aside, this is probably why buddists use a wheel instead of a swastika.

*There is also a Bronze and Gold Star.

just so that you know Scientology does not get to put up a symbol either, but Athiest do.