Christians Should Support A Wicca's Right Of Expression

[kerwin]

By SCOTT SONNER, Associated Press Writer Thu May 25, 7:14 PM ET

RENO, Nev. - Nevada officials are pressing the Department of Veteran Affairs to allow the family of a soldier killed in
Afghanistan to place a Wiccan symbol on his headstone.
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Federal officials so far have refused to grant the requests of the family of Sgt. Patrick Stewart, 34, who was killed in Afghanistan last September when the Nevada Army National Guard helicopter he was in was shot down.

"Every veteran and military member deserves recognition for their contributions to our country," said Tim Tetz, executive director of the Nevada Office of Veterans Services.

The state's top veterans official said Thursday that he was "diligently pursuing" the matter in cooperation with Gov. Kenny Guinn, Sen. Harry Reid (news, bio, voting record), D-Nev., and Rep. Jim Gibbons, R-Nev.

"Sgt. Stewart and his family deserve recognition for their contributions to our country," Tetz said.

"It's unfortunate the process is taking so long, but I am certain Sgt. Patrick will ultimately receive his marker with the Wiccan symbol," he said.

Stewart, of Fernley, who was posthumously awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, was a follower of the Wiccan religion, which the
Department of Veterans Affairs does not recognize.

Wiccans worship the Earth and believe they must give to the community. Some consider themselves witches, pagans or neo-pagans.

The Veterans Affairs' National Cemetery Administration allows only approved emblems of religious beliefs on government headstones. Over the years, it has approved more than 30, including symbols for the Tenrikyo Church, United Moravian Church and Sikhs. There's also an emblem for atheists — but none for Wiccans.

Stewart's widow, Roberta Stewart, said she's hopeful she'll receive permission to add the Wiccan pentacle — a circle around a five-pointed star — to her late husband's government-issued memorial plaque.

While Memorial Day services are scheduled Monday at the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery in Fernley, Roberta Stewart plans an alternative service at Fernley's Out of Town Park. She's calling the ceremony the Sgt. Patrick Stewart Freedom for All Faiths Memorial Service.

"This is discrimination against our religion," Roberta Stewart said.

"The least his country can do is give him the symbol of faith as he would have wished," she recently told the Daily Sparks Tribune.

The Rev. Selena Fox, senior minister of the Wiccan Circle Sanctuary in Barneveld, Wis., is among those who have been pushing the federal government to adopt the emblem. She said the Veterans Affairs Department has been considering such requests for nearly nine years with no decision.

"While this stonewalling continues, family of soldiers who gave the ultimate sacrifice are still waiting for equal rights," Fox said by telephone.

"Sgt. Stewart was shot down by terrorists. He deserves to be recognized. I'm holding out hope that my ancestors who fought in the Revolutionary War did not do so in vain and that the freedom of religion on which our country was founded will prevail," she said.

Officials for the National Cemetery Administration in Washington, D.C., did not immediately return telephone calls seeking comment.

Veterans Affairs Department spokeswoman Jo Schuda told the Las Vegas Review-Journal last month that the application was being processed but there was no new information on whether it will be approved.

Stewart enlisted in the Army after he graduated from Reno's Wooster High School in 1989 and served in Desert Storm and in Korea. After completing his active duty, he enlisted in the Nevada Army National Guard in 2005 and went to Afghanistan with Task Force Storm.

I firmly believe that everyone should have the right to express their religion even if that religion is counter to mine. The Veterans Affairs' National Cemetery Administration should allow a Wicaan religious symbol to be put on the gravestone and Christians should back up the decision. They should back up the decision because the believe that you should do unto others as you want them to do unto you and Christians want to be free to express their own religion. They should not back up the Wicca religion which is new age paganism.

The Veterans Affairs' National Cemetery Administration reconized atheism as a religion.

[T.J.]

I believe that wiccans are a huge part of the problem in this nation for they have opened the door to the demonic realm..they may say...."oh it's only white magic..or majik as they like to write",,,,


but this nation has been flooded with new age practices..mystiscism, wicca, satanic covens and the like.....

the Bible is under attack but the satanic bible is no problem......

don't say Merry Christmas or put up a nativity but by all means make wicca a religion due of praise......

allow teachers to show a child the Koran and to dress up like a muslim and "pray to allah" but do not post the ten commandments or let them pray in the name of JESUS......

H E L L O

this country was settled by puritians.....it was granted Independence by war fought on the backs of those who believed in God, Jesus and the Bible

as christians in england threw off the yoke of state sanctioned lifeless anglican DEAD CHURCHES full of liturgy but no faith......they came to America...to WORSHIP FREELY,,,and it was not to mother earth, gaia or any other false god bandied about..it was to the GOD OF THE BIBLE

of course....the wiccan symbol is what is needed now more than ever in AMerica......why not a pentagram.....hey in davinci code there's a dead men in a pentagram.....yes..this conversation is needed.....more than ever America needs to turn to more paganism, satanism, earth worship, new age, one world hippe peace love religions..throw in some hedonism and blasphemy and you got a good nation boys and girls.....

How Ron Howard could go from "Happy Days" to the Da Vinci Code is beyond me.....maybe it's because we've told Jesus to leave and never come back.......

You can have the world...I'm looking for the return of the True Jesus (of the Bible........ not some global guru)

[kerwin]

Do you remember what Joshua said to the Hebrew people. He told them to follow whatever gods that they chose to but that him and his household would worship the Lord. The Wicca religion follows a false god and it is up to Christians to preach the good news of the true God but in the end each person can choose to follow a lie as Christians are not to use force to gain converts.

[T.J.]

who is forcing anyone? we simply bring up the NAME OF JESUS and people start freaking out.....

but my premise of the puritans holds up.....this nation was settled by God-fearing believers....If they had not come to America you'd be living in a tent and hunting deer for your supper.

So wicca can scream for it's rights and muslims can build 20 million mosques in this nation...

at the end of the day it comes down to the Indians and the Pilgrims.....

one group was already here worshipping the earth and gods of the earth and the other group came over worshipping the God of the Bible.

So if it all goes back to worshipping the earth , sun, moon and stars or "a force" ,mohammed, or gaia or the worship of animals...we're gonna go right back to wearing buckskin and cooking over a fire..because this nation will not survive. It's one nation under ONE GOD..the Living God Most High...

[kerwin]

If the people of the United States choose to reject God then there is not much I can do about it. If that rejection causes society to collapse then that is result of the deed. The main point I am making is that it is Christian should allow others to practice their beliefs. I am also saying that Christians need to evangelise so that individuals like this soldier do not die without hearing the gospel of Christ. The two are not mutually exclusive.

We had American Indians who were not Christians in the United States at the time of we became a country. God is over them also.

[specter]

Do you remember what Joshua said to the Hebrew people. He told them to follow whatever gods that they chose to but that him and his household would worship the Lord.

THAT is as much of a twisting of the Scriptures as I've ever seen. SATAN said similar things to Jesus to get Him to sin (and die).

Joshuah said:
"And Joshua said unto all the people [of Israel], . . . choose you this day whom ye will serve; . . . but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Josh. 24:2, 15).

Yes, he "ALLOWED" them to make a decision, but the decision has consequences--for both THEM & the nation. To allow some to practice outright witchcraft would bring judgement on us all. What Joshuah was saying, was a WARNING more than anything.

They DON'T have my stamp of approval.

[kerwin]

Choosing to disobey God does bear consequences. That is the way it is. The United States and the rest of Western Civilization abandoned God a long time ago. They are now being overcome by developing nations. You snooze, you loose.

[back to basix]

So wicca can scream for it's rights and muslims can build 20 million mosques in this nation...

at the end of the day it comes down to the Indians and the Pilgrims.....

one group was already here worshipping the earth and gods of the earth and the other group came over worshipping the God of the Bible.

So if it all goes back to worshipping the earth , sun, moon and stars or "a force" ,mohammed, or gaia or the worship of animals...we're gonna go right back to wearing buckskin and cooking over a fire..because this nation will not survive. It's one nation under ONE GOD..the Living God Most High...

So T.J.
Do you believe your religion is the ONLY one appropriate for the U.S.A.? Look at your post. Should everyone leave who believes the path the God is not the exact same as yours?

You really think that? As THAT is what you wrote.

Your post demands abandoning the FIRST admendment ! For shame

[T.J.]

the amendments do not seem to count in this country..nor our constitution...nor our borders..just people being TOLERANT of whatever others want to do....

MEANWHILE all that is right and good in this nation slides down the drain....because Christianity is looked at as "intolerant" because we say...YES...there is only one way to eternal life.....Thru Jesus Christ the Lord.

I am not into "religion",........CHrist is the savior and the messiah...of all peoples and all trapped in religious systems

He said I am the way.....no other religious leader said that....He said I am the RESURRECTION and the LIFE....no other guru, strumming a sitar said that......Jesus never said empty your mind and become one with the universe....He said ...Follow Me....He never said worship the creation around you......He said, if you've seen ME...you've seen the FATHER

how can "all ways...all paths" of faith and beliefs be TRUTH? I mean....TRUTH..would seem to overide NON-TRUTH......right? TRUTH would seem to override HALF-TRUTH and DECEPTION and A MIXING OF VARIOUS WAYS TO BELIEVE...if it is TRUTH.....IT MUST STAND ALONE.....

[T.J.]

Jesus said " I am the WAY........THE TRUTH........THE LIFE........"

does that not seem to sum it up?......................

everyone is looking for the way to God...to peace....to salvation....to hope....to joy.....to eternal life....Jesus said I AM THE WAY........


TRUTH.....everyone is looking for it....wanting to know what form it comes in.....is it in people...a sunset...a butterfly.....an idea...a way of thinking?

Jesus said I AM THE TRUTH............

LIFE

People want to live it....have a good life...a life that counts...that means something...why were we born.....just to die? what does LIFE even mean?
what is BEYOND LIFE? nothingness? darkness....rotting? WHat's it all about...this LIFE?

Jesus said I AM THE LIFE.......

when you find Jesus and make Him your Lord...you find...THE WAY....THE TRUTH...and THE LIFE......

It's exclusive...HE IS THE ANSWER TO THR QUESTIONS OF THE HEART.....

JESUS...THE WAY THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE !!

[specter]

The Founding Fathers were never so "tolerant" of other religions as you might think--and they understood the First Amendment better than you, I suspect. They knew "rights" come from God alone and not the "people" or "governments" And because those rights are from the One God, we have a RESPONSIBILITY to that God. If we abandon Him, our "rights" will evaporate into the wind.

A Nation that had the True God, then abandoned Him for the creation (satan, mother earth) has a special guilt, and will go the way of the American Indians because of it.

BTW: Jesus said "I am the Way...No man can come to the Father except through Me." Real Christianity isn't "equal" to any other religion

[T.J.]

right on specter...I agree

[back to basix]

The Founding Fathers were never so "tolerant" of other religions as you might think--and they understood the First Amendment better than you, I suspect. They knew "rights" come from God alone and not the "people" or "governments" And because those rights are from the One God, we have a RESPONSIBILITY to that God. If we abandon Him, our "rights" will evaporate into the wind.

A Nation that had the True God, then abandoned Him for the creation (satan, mother earth) has a special guilt, and will go the way of the American Indians because of it.

BTW: Jesus said "I am the Way...No man can come to the Father except through Me." Real Christianity isn't "equal" to any other religion

Do you believe in self-proving comments?

Both you and T.J. did not answer my question directly or indirectly.

And as a side note, how do you really know what Jesus said? It was written a couple of hundred years after the occurance.

So here is the question again for reference:
"Do you believe your religion is the ONLY one appropriate for the U.S.A.?"

[specter]

Yes.
(I'm editing my comments here because SOME will say I believe Christianity should be IMPOSED on non-believers on a PERSONAL level. That's not what I'm saying. But It MUST form the basis of all our laws.)

I can cite you so many examples that PROVE that was PRIMARILY the view of the founders--but not today. It WAS also a prerequisite for holding office in many cases. You'll have to do your own homework.

[T.J.]

YES !!