In 2004, Thomas Jones and Tammie Bristol were ordered by a judge “to shelter the child from involvement in and observation of these non-mainstream religious beliefs and rituals”, referring to their practice of Wicca. Both parents were Wiccan. Their son was 9 years old at the time of this decree, and attended a Catholic school.

The question in this issue became whether or not the court had the right to make a decision on what religion their children will follow. Custody typically dictates that a parent has the right to make those kind of decisions for their children. In some cases where parents share custody, and religious education and practice cannot be agreed upon, the courts can make stipulations. They can establish that children not be exposed to one parent’s religion or the other until a certain age when the children are more mature.

The father commented “This was done without either of us requesting it and at the judge’s whim. It is upsetting to our son that he cannot celebrate holidays with us, including Yule, which is winter solstice, and Ostara, which is the spring equinox.”

This decree was overturned in mid-2005.

An article on Religioustolerance.org commented that maybe the judge was unaware of many things: the nature of Wicca, that many non-Catholics attend private Catholic schools, that some people consider themselves Wiccan and Christian, and the above all…the First Amendment.

As nativity scenes popped up for the holiday season, some government groups considered whether or not they should allow these religious symbols to be displayed on government property. In the news as of late have been two groups that said yes. This was conditional to allowing other groups to display their own holiday religious displays.

In the United States, nativities scenes were set up at City Hall in the cities of Olean, NY, and Green Bay, WI. In both cities, the displays were eventually joined by pentacles, permission granted by both city governments to put them there. In both cases, the pentacles were vandalized. The Green Bay pentacle wreath, donated by Circle Sanctuary, was torn down, and the Olean pentacle was run over by a truck. The Olean nativity scene was relocated down the street to the yard of a church.

The Green Bay council received 6 requests to put up displays. After the holiday pentacle was vandalized, the mayor put a moratorium on religious displays outside of city hall until the matter could be discussed. Whether or not the president of the council should have been allowed to put up the nativity in the first place is the question that they considered. After a vote, where the mayor was the tie breaker, the council decided to leave the nativity up through the holiday.

The controversy does not end there. The Freedom from Religion Foundation indicated that they were not satisfied with the decision, and filed a lawsuit against the city at the end of 2007. According to the foundation’s president, plaintiffs on the lawsuit include a Lutheran, a Buddhist, a Unitarian Universalist, a Wiccan and an Episcopalian. The suit alleges that the council president used his office to display the religious symbol, instead of placing it on his personal property.

No soothsaying, no fortune telling, no palm reading, no clairvoyance, no crystal ball gazing, no mind reading, no card reading. If you take cash, check, or charge for these services, that is all against the law in Livingston Parish. This according to an ordinance that was passed on May 10th, 2007.

The ordinance violates the right to free speech, alleges a lawsuit that was filed by a local business in U.S. District Court on Tuesday. Gryphon’s Nest Gifts Inc. also stated that the ordinance “promotes Christian mythology over paganism.” The suit asks the court to declare the ordinance unconstitutional, to issue a permanent injunction prohibiting the parish from enforcing the ordinance and to assess damages.

The owner of the shop that filed the suit said that messages from the divine through the prohibited methods should be treated in the same manner as a message from God to a Christian priest. He also commented that anyone who uses “fortune telling to steal money should be arrested under laws against fraud.”

On Monday April 23^rd, The Americans United for Separation of Church and State (Americans United for short) announced that the Bush administration conceded to put the pentacle on the list of approved symbols. This list is specifically for inscription on government-issued memorial markers for deceased veterans,

The settlement agreement brings to a successful conclusion a lawsuit Americans United brought against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in November. The agreement was filed today with the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin. The litigation charged that denying a pentacle to deceased Wiccan service personnel, while granting religious symbols to those of other traditions, violated the U.S. Constitution. This marks an end to the 10 year battle between various groups and the VA.

According to the Executive Director of Americans United, (quote) “This settlement has forced the Bush Administration into acknowledging that there are no second class religions in America, including among our nation’s veterans. He also stated that the refusal of the federal government to approve the pentacle was built on a bias that could not stand up in court.

In the lawsuit, Americans United represented Circle Sanctuary, a prominent Wiccan organization.

Roberta Stewart, whose husband, Sgt. Patrick Stewart, was killed in combat in Afghanistan in 2005.

Karen DePolito, whose husband, Jerome Birn-baum, is a veteran of the Korean War who died last year

Jill Medicine Heart Combs, whose husband is severely ill.

and the Isis Invicta Military Mission, a Wiccan and Pagan congregation serving military personnel.

Americans United’s attorneys allegedly uncovered evidence that the VA’s refusal to recognize the Pentacle was motivated by bias toward the Wiccan faith. President George W. Bush, when he was governor of
Texas, had opposed the right of Wiccans to meet at a military base
in that state. According to Americans United, President Bush’s opinion of Wiccans was taken into consideration when making decisions on whether to approve the Pentacle.

Under the terms of the settlement, the federal government will recognize the right of Wiccans to have the pentacle made available as an emblem of belief for inscription on headstones, grave markers and memorial plaques. The VA has already added the symbol to its list of available emblems of belief.

In addition, the VA will make markers bearing the pentacle available to the families that have requested them. Those listed on the lawsuit are to have the pentacle inscribed on headstones within 14 days of today.

This victory in the fight for complete religious freedom comes 2 months after a military chaplain was fired for converting to Wicca.

I have actually tried to write a blog about this subject several times, but it will not post for some reason. I was extremely angered when I read about the Army chaplain that was fired in February, becuase he converted to Wicca. Now, I can understand how legally the Army can let go someone who changes denominations in the middle of their stay. They hired him as a Pentacostal minister and not a Wiccan priest. But, it should not be possible for them to fire him when there are no Wiccan chaplains at all in the military.

Wiccans are just like any other people. If there is a need for Catholics and Pentacostals and Evangelicals to have a person in the military to which they can seek religious advice, then Wiccans should have the same option to go to someone in the military for religious advice. Though I have never been in the military, it seems very clear to me that the military is a major life commitment. To many people, religion holds a similtar weight. What better kind of person to give advice to military Wiccans than a Wiccan in the military?

If the response had been that there were only a couple of hundred Wiccans in the Armed Forces, then they could have just said there were not enough Wiccans enlisted to warrant their own chaplain. But, there are nearly 2000 in the Pentagon’s record, and sure to be more. There have been reports that more than 130 groups are approved to have chaplains in the military. I want to see this list. When I dig it up, I will disect it and make a full report.

It just makes me angry. This after putting off requests to add the pentacle as a choice for the headstones of deceased veterans. How can a whole part of the government shut out a whole religion?

Okay, so this latest Harry Potter news is not for the die-hard fan, who gets their Harry Potter updates texted to their cell phone. These tidbits I have collected over the last month, and are for the average fan, like myself. Just waiting for another gosh-darn book, because it’s been long enough already.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be the seventh book in the Harry Potter series of novels by J. K. Rowling. It will feature the final adventures of Harry Potter as he attempts to bring an end to his nemesis, Lord Voldemort. The title for the seventh book was announced in late December via the publisher and a special Christmas-themed hangman puzzle on Rowling’s website. She has stated that the final volume relates so closely to the sixth book of the series that she feels almost as though they are two halves of the same novel. She has also stated that she has no intention of writing any further stories about the Harry Potter characters, meaning that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows will be the last book in the series. However, she has said that an encyclopedia of the Wizarding world based on her copious notes may be published in the future, possibly for charity similar to her two other Harry Potter charity books. As of 2007, she has been working on the Harry Potter stories for over 17 years.

Next summer, Daniel Radcliffe, who plays Harry, is hoping to shed his innocent label and set to appear nude in a play. The role is on a London stage in the Tony award-winning play, Equus. Radcliffe will play a boy being treated by a psychiatrist for his pathological fascination with horses.

And, according to EW.com, Harry and Cho will have a kissing scene in the next movie. It seems as if I am going to have to go reread the book, because I cannot remember that…

Some pagans are boycotting Books-A-Million after a petition has been circulated in reference religious discrimination on the part of one manager. Here is what the petition says.

For over five years Books-a-Million store #781 onUS Highway 19 North in Port Richey, FL has supported a small local group. On the 2^nd Saturday of every month, they hosted a Psychic Fair at the Joe Muggs Cafe inside the Books-a-Million bookstore. The Psychic Fair offered Tarot readings for interested people. This was not only a community service to the Port Richey area, but a place for those persons with an interest in New Age or Metaphysical topics to come together, talk, commune and buy new books. Five years ago one psychic reader began the Psychic Fair with a reading here and there throughout the day. Now six readers cannot keep up with the demand. The readers are constantly busy from Noon to five o�clock, bringing many regulars back month after month. This fair has really built a sense of community in this area.

On Friday evening, October 13, 2006, the host of the Psychic Fair received a phone call from Alexis Brown. The store manager of this particular Books-a-Million told the host that the store could not longer permit the Psychic Fair to meet there. The event was scheduled for the following morning, Saturday, October 14th. Allegedly, Books-a-Million corporate had received over 150 letters of complaint from a local Christian Fundamentalist group. These people had just become aware of the Psychic Fair; and, after five years, Alexis had been instructed by corporate to not allow it to continue. If this was truly the case, she could have had the common courtesy to let the event coordinator know a few days in advance, not less than 18 hours in advance, so that an alternate location could be obtained and the Psychic Fair participants could be notified. Instead, the manager called late Friday evening, telling the coordinator she could not show up the next morning! Not only was this spiteful, rude and inconsiderate, it was downright disrespectful to the fair’s coordinators and many of Books-a-Millions’ customers. Many dollars had been spent advertising this event and half a dozen readers were booked to show up for readings. Dozens, if not hundreds of patrons of the psychic fair (also potential book-buyers and cafe patrons) were planning on attending this event.

I have put a link to the full petition on our website. Go to firelfyacademy.org and click on PODCAST. As of the last time I checked, it had 1070 signatures. I am 1042.

Another lawsuit has been filed against the Veterans Administration compelling them to make the pentacle a choice as a symbol of faith on soldier’s headstones. Roberta Stewart, the widow of a soldier killed in Afghanistan last year, has waged her own personal war to see the pentacle placed on the tombstone of her Wiccan husband, Nevada National Guard Sgt. Patrick Stewart.

Stewart, whose husband was awarded the Bronze Star and Purple Heart, was denied approval by federal veterans’ officials. She sought to affix the pentacle to the Veterans’ Memorial Wall in Nevada. However, state officials said they would erect a plaque with the symbol.

Stewart said she had the plight of other families in mind when she decided to file the lawsuit. Joining her is Karen DePolito, of Utah. Her husband, Jerome Birnbaum, is a Korean War veteran who died last year. Backing her in this case are Circle Sanctuary; and Isis Invicta Military Mission…which is a Wiccan and pagan congregation serving military personnel based in Geyserville, Calif.

The VA provides headstones, plaques, and bronze markers free to mark graves of soldiers at the request of survivors. Presently, there are nearly 40 recognized symbols that families can choose to have engraved on a loved one’s headstone. However a symbol of pagan or Wiccan faith is not one of them.

The Stewart lawsuit is not the first of its kind. At the end of September, the ACLU filed a suit against the VA on behalf of the Aquarian Tabernacle Church. They hoped to compel the VA to act on a 1997 application filed by the ATC to include the pentacle as a symbol of faith on the headstones of fallen soldiers and deceased veterans.

Throughout all of this time, and numerous requests by several different groups and individuals, the VA has given many excuses to why the applications could not be processed. Originally, their excuse was that they needed more information, and that their criteria were being revised. However, no specific set of guidelines were in place at the time of the original application. Once that was all over, the VA then stated that Wicca did not have a central organization. During this time, many other applications for various symbols of faith have been approved.

The VA issued a statement Monday that outlined the procedure under way to create uniform standards under which new symbols can be accepted, but did not comment on the lawsuits themselves.