The Department of Defense measure restricting religious choices

 I try to avoid political posts here, but this could not pass.

A few days ago, I received word that the US Department of Defense had "streamlined" their list of accepted faiths in the US military from over 200 religious designations to just 31, and of those, 22 were Christian. Not making the cut were Wiccan, Paganism, Shamanism,  Magick, Asatru, the Troth, Heathenism, Druidry, and several other earth-based paths.

This smells an awful lot like an unconstitutional Establishment of Religion. 

It is troubling, because my husband, Dave, was enlisted prior to our faith being considered as acceptable in the military. He was discriminated against. While Christian soldiers were exempt from duty and allowed to attend their religious services, Pagans were not. In fact, the Pagan personnel were actually ordered to attend Christian church. Pagans were not allowed to wear religious insignia, have their faith on their dog tags, or celebrate their holidays. 

The dog tags issue was frightening, as their unit was about to go fight in Operation Desert Storm in 1989. Often, if someone is unconscious -- or dead -- the dog tags tell what religious service is appropriate. Dave did not want to have Christian last rites or burial -- he wished to have his own faith observed. He asked the right personnel -- a sympathetic sergeant -- and got "WICCA" engraved on his dog tags. (We are not Wiccan but it was close enough.)

Wicca has been in the chaplain's manual as a legit, recognized religion since the 1970s. It has been used to show various courts and government bodies that earth-based religion is a real, sincerely held belief. 

In 2005, we joined the fight to have the pentacle accepted as a symbol on a deceased soldier's grave marker. It took a DoD mandate and a court case to have that happen. Our tiny contribution was to get the VFW and American Legion on board. Many Pagan and Wiccan leaders and congregations joined that cause.

​Since those days, there are now "open circles" held on military bases, places for our religious gatherings, sweat lodges, classes in Earth-based religions, access to lay chaplains, books, and other accomodations. 

Under the new mandate, all of that could be wiped away. Including the entry for Wicca in the chaplain's manual.

So what am I gonna do? Fight it, of course. I've written to over 200 faith leaders, authors, publishers, and legal organizations. My friend Rev. Janet Callahan from Detroit Pagan Pride and Spiral Moon Family Circle has created a forum on Discord to discuss this issue. https://spiralmoon.org/ with the channel #solidarity  You can read my letter there. 

Rev. Oberon Zell of Church of All Worlds, who actually was the first to use the term "Pagan" back in the 60s, has established an organization to promote unity amongst earth-based faiths. The website has great ideas for talking to government bodies, neighbors, and the press. It's called Pagan Solidarity Alliance https://pagansolidarity.us/ 

Dave and I will be on Hex Offenders with Christian Day and Shannon Marie Daost on Wednesday, June 20, at 9 pm EST, along with other military Pagans and faith leaders.   https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLSWByslEPBGKRETEFHQNw0N0fFE5J4lt-

Next comes writing letters to congressional and state representatives and Veterans' and Military service organizations. Please join me in this endeavor.

Faith Leaders Rev. Selena Fox of Circle Network and the Lady Liberty League, Starhawk of Reclaiming Collective, and Rev. Jerrie Hildebrand of CUUPS (the Unitarian Universalist Pagans) are joining with Americans United for Separation of Church and State and other legal organizations to work on this problem. The Pagan legal advocacy organizations The Military Religious Freedom Foundation (MRFF) and the Open Halls Project are on top of the situation. 

​HERE is the Discord group address:  https://discord.gg/Yqx68reUY and the channel is called #solidarity

​

---