Monday, April 23, 2007

VA Allows Wiccan Symbol on Grave Markers

According to the AP, the Veterans Administration will allow the families of Wiccans to place a pentacle on their loved ones' gravestones, settling a lawsuit filed last November.

The report states:

The pentacle joins 38 religious symbols the VA already permits on gravestones. They include commonly recognized symbols for Christianity, Buddhism, Islam and Judaism, as well as those for smaller religions such as Sufism Reoriented, Eckiankar and the Japanese faith Seicho-No-Ie.
Is there any doubt that this is the right result? If the VA allows adherents of 38 other religions to put their symbols on their gravestones, what possible rationale could there be for forbidding Wiccans from doing so? When the government permits someone to express his faith in this way, it does not endorse his religion.

Hat tip: Baptist Joint Committee's Blog from the Capital.

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