Should Wiccans in the military should be allowed to have a symbol of their faith on their gravestone?

Question

This is a serious question. If not why?

There are currently 34 approved symbols. One soldier in NV was buried and the state approved the symbol. Yet the VA continues to refuse to approve a symbol and have done so for 9 or 10 years. The VA has approved other symbols while they ignored the request from Wiccans.

Answer 1

the VA allows the symbol for Athiesim (a belief that by it's very nature should have no symbol)

they allow the symbols of over 30 other religions. it is simple discrimination to not allow the penticle as a marker of faith on a military gravestone.

one arguement that i have heard against it is that good Christians should not be forced to walk past the symbol of the devil to see their loved ones.

well folks the penticle is actually rampant in military graveyards.

our nation's highest honor the Congressional Medal Of Honor
is an inverted Penticle. as well as several lesser awards.

Sgt. Patrick Stewart got his Penticle on his grave due to his families determination and willingness to go public about it. there are still over 80 dead soldiers that do not have the symbol of their faith on their gravestones dating beck over 50 years. that the VA has tied up in red tape.

we are supposed to be a country of the free. yet we openly discriminate against the people that fight to keep it that way.

Answer 2

Not only "Yes" but HELL YES.

And the fact that the VA has been stonewalling them for nine years or more is ridiculous.

Note for Vinslave - the governor of Nevada authorized a pentacle on a memorial plaque for Patrick Stewart, but that only applies to that one memorial - they basically overrode the VA on that.

"On September 13, 2006, the Attorney General of the state of Nevada opined that the state government had jurisdiction over state veterans' cemeteries, including the Northern Nevada Veterans Memorial Cemetery where Stewart was buried. State officials said they would authorize the use of the plaque with the Wiccan symbol. It was installed over the weekend of November 18-19, 2006." (Wikipedia)

The VA still has not approved the pentacle for inclusion on the Available Emblems of Belief list.

Answer 3

YES! I believe that a person has every right to have whatever symbol they choose for their headstone!! An NO the Satanic Beliefs are NOT a part of Wicca/Witchcraft, that is a "old wives tale" started within the Christian Belief System...Wiccans/Witches do NOT believe in Satan nor does he exist!! Satanism is considered the Left-Handed Path to most Wiccans/Witches...an this religion does NOT fall in the Paganism section it's a religion all its own!! An "students" of the Craft or young Wiccans are taught NOT to follow the Left-Handed Path, but they are taught to 'respect' it as with ANY other religion!!

Answer 4

Absolutely NO. The graves of NO soldier should be marked with ANY religious symbols at all. That means NO CROSS, NO STAR OF DAVID, NO OHM, NO PENTACLE, etc. Every soldier should be cremated, or buried in an UNMARKED grave- or one that perhaps says "Here lies an American Soldier".

The secular nature of the government is such that NO money from public trust should ever be spent to erect ANY religious statue of any kind.

Now, it is reasonable that a soldier's family be compensated for the death of that soldier, if it is made part of the contract. It is also reasonable that this money be spent to give the soldier a religious burial and grave- AT PRIVATE EXPENSE ONLY.

Answer 5

This is like asking whether a christian should be allowed to display their cross on their tombstone! While most wiccans (very much unlike christians) do not find their faith through symbols, and many of them vary from person to person depending on the path they follow and what they have found works for them spiritually, I see no difference between allowing a cross and say a pentacle. To deny a fallen soldier the right to have the protection of his faith in death is ludacris!

Answer 6

If a Wiccan dies while serving in the armed forces and the family decides to have them buried in one of the national grave sites the grave will only be marked by a white cross. But if you are buried any where else then you just have to follow the codes of whatever cemetery you want to be worm food in. But the military has wiccan churches on several of their bases so I don't believe they would care.

Answer 7

Someone had posted in here, a long time ago, that some Wiccan guy actually HAD been buried with a pentacle on his stone... I don't know what's going on, but it might be changing for the better so that anyone can have whatever symbol of their faith logically.

_()_

Answer 8

ABSOLUTELY!!!! If others of different faiths are allowed to proudly display their symbol of faith, Wiccans should be allowed to do the same. It is their symbol and it is sacred, just as the Cross or Star of David is sacred to the Christians and Jewish. They should be allowed to have it displayed on their monuments just as everyone else's is.

Answer 9

Wicca is recognized by the gov. as a religion. Of course they should be able to use the symbol on their grave. After all they do die honorably for their country just like any christian with a cross on his/her grave.

Answer 10

Yes.

If they're not allowed to, then no other religion should be allowed to have an emblem on the grave stone.

Those who would deny such the right to Wiccans/pagans are traitors to the American ideal.