This fucking pisses me off, First Amendment my ASS!!!

[Solon]

Almost Ten Years of Watiing - The Pagan Headstone Campaign

The current plight of the family of Sgt. Patrick Stewart, in attempting to put his "Emblem of Belief" on his grave marker is just the most recent of many attempts by Wiccan and Pagan groups, including the Correllian Nativist Church, Inc., to have the Pentacle approved to be placed on the markers of deceased veterans.

As most people are no doubt aware, various groups have been fighting for YEARS (almost a decade in fact) to have the Pentacle approved. Each time anyone tries to do anything about this, they run up against a stone wall. So, I got angry about it and decided to try to figure out what I could do, if anything. Step one was to get information, so I filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the National Cemetery Administration. In July of last year, I received a huge FedEx box with just about everything I wanted in it.

I went over approximately 250 pages of information provided by the National Cemetery Administration as a result of my FOIA, in documents dating back to 1996. My findings were quite disturbing. During time periods when some groups were told that regulations were being promulgated, other groups' requests for Emblems of Belief were being approved. Further, some groups were granted Emblems without having filled requirements stated as necessary to other groups.

http://www.witchvox.com/va/dt_va.html?a=usva&c=words&id=10603

Read the whole article, I implore you, it will shock you at how fucking callous Christian persecution can be. This article are for those who saw the initial articles about Sgt. Patrick Stewart who died in Iraq and probably thought it was an isolated incident. Systematic discrimination, plain and simple, fucking "Land of the Free, Home of the Brave". :grr:

[Mythsaje]

1. What are you bitchin' about?

Don't you know it's the CHRISTIANS who are being persecuted in this country... :sarcasm:

Seriously...this is bullshit.

[Solon]

2. This is the reason I go ballistic when a Christian complains about...

being "persecuted" or some other Bullshit like that, news flash for them, they AREN'T persecuted, and wouldn't know jack shit about it unless they are a Christian or Animist in Sudan or a Wiccan, Pagan, or Atheist in this country. The ONLY good thing I can say is at least they haven't tried a serious effort to wipe us out physically, yet. That's perhaps the best we can hope for right now.

[Mythsaje]

3. They piss me off with that crap too...

I used to debate them until I finally came to the conclusion that they're operating entirely without a clue. The history of their religion is one of persecuting others...only the Romans ever persecuted them seriously. Well, the Romans and each other, that is. And the way I see the whole Roman thing is this...Rome was notoriously tolerant of different religions. So how obnoxious did the early Christians have to be to piss off the Romans?

Just wondering.

[tocqueville]

4. Christianity is the western variation of Talibanism... nt

[bowens43]

5. Christan fundamentalism

is the greatest threat we face. They will, if allowed , replace our Constitution with some type of 'Biblical Law'. Make no mistake they want to force everyone to live by their rules and their misguided morals.

[Bassic]

8. Well, at the very least that

is true for Fundementalist Christians. Like the Talibans and other Muslim extremists, they are corruptign the base of their faith to allow for such hatred of everyne and everything who is different.

It stinks.

[hootinholler]

6. K&R

[Strong Atheist]

7. K&R! nt.

[BlueEyedSon]

9. What do atheists get?

[darkmaestro019]

10. I don't know. They ought to get

none, or the Atom sort of symbol, maybe...whatever they want is what they should bloody well get!


Hypothetically, if it were me, I would rather be buried somewhere ELSE than laid to rest under a sign that didn't speak for my faith (please nobody do the thing where you snipe that you don't have "faith" in reason. English is not very specific, but most know what I mean. Faith in the sense of where your philosophical allegiance lies)

No one who has earned a place in that cemetery should have to make a choice like that.

[Solon]

13. Read the article, she talks about some of the other groups...

that were accepted without controversy, one includes a Humanist organization. Plus an Atheist symbol, the A in the middle of an atomic structure is an accepted symbol already.

[Steepler0t]

15. Atheist Headstone

Atheist

The rest here http://www.cem.va.gov/hmemb.htm

There are some very small groups represented.

[eppur_se_muova]

16. Personally, I'm hoping for organ donation to exhaustion, then cat food.

If you don't believe in an afterlife, why waste resources on a grave?

[The Backlash Cometh]

11. If I were a pagan...

If there is one "religion" out there that has a right to claim that it is being persecuted, it is paganism. Assuming that those who believe in it are not out sacrificing goats or doing the kind of criminal activity associated to Satanism, I just don't understand why they haven't organized and used all of the arguments used by American Christians to come out of the darkness. Use the well-tread tracks of the Christian Right to show the world what real persecution looks like. I think it will also serve to shut up the Christian Talibans.

[Solon]

12. Actually, that would be Santeria, or Vodun who sacrifice chickens...

and sometimes Goats(think "Kosher" slaughtering), Levayian Satanism doesn't participate in that type of stuff, more or less an agnostic "religion" if you will, but quite legal, in fact, I believe they have a few chaplains in the US Navy, though don't quote me on that. What you are thinking about are teenagers who kill cats on Halloween, or some other crap, who think Satanism actually involve worshipping Satan and they practice what I would call "Hollywood Satanism", which isn't real to begin with.

[Solon]

17. Wanted to make a comment on organization...

First off, their are organizations out their, like the Pagan Prison Ministry, Pagan Headstone Campaign, as mentioned in the article, Pagan Veterans, and many others covering a lot of other aspects of public life. The problem comes, of course, from half misconception and half size. I could give an example with your post itself, you used Paganism as if it were a FAR reaching, singular, religion, when it is nothing of the sort. I don't mean that as an insult, but just an FYI.

Paganism(Neo-paganism) is a word that would be on par with the word Monotheism, and just like the word Montheism, the members of a Paganistic relgion have several different religions they belong to. The largest, by far, is Wicca, the others are members of Reconstructionist religions, Hellenic, Roman, Babylonian, Kemetic, Celtic Druidism, etc. Then there is Asatru(Norse Heathenism) who, if you called them pagans would be insulted, they are HEATHENS. Basically, trying to organize Pagans is like trying to organize cats, get 10 pagans in a room, and you will get 12 different opinions about how to organize.

For a more complete explanation, look here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paganism

Also note, that using this term is considered inaccurate in many cases, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Animists, and Aboriginal Relgions can also be considered Pagans, technically making it the largest single group of religions on the planet.

[LisaLynne]

14. Freedom of Religion Means ALL Religions...

Of course, that's just a slogan and the majority, unfortunately, in this country don't really seem to believe it. This is crap and I agree with what you said earlier -- it's one of the reasons that I get so mad when I hear Christians (especially like Falwell and his ilk) complain that Christianity is persuecuted and being "warred" against. Yeah, right. Whatever.