Pagans and the Military

[nacho_cheese]

I'm doing a paper on Paganism in the Military for my Legal Studies program, and I'm looking for additional information. So far I'm focusing on military chaplaincy with Don Larsen, the Pentacle Quest (for which I am still trying to find the Supreme Court case number, if one exists -- I did find one for Wisconsin on the same page), and DFGL with

Comments

[moonwolf23]

Don Larsen was not discrimination. His Baptist sponsor removed their sponsorship, thereby negating his chaplaincy. It's out of the military's hands until he gets a new sponsor and they get their paperwork in.

You may also not find what your looking for in civilian court cases. You may have to look at Jag and the Umcj.

[nacho_cheese]

I beg to differ. :) Everyone is going to interpret this differently, but [o]n July 6, he applied to become the first Wiccan chaplain in the U.S. armed forces. By year's end, his superiors not only denied his request but withdrew him from Iraq and the chaplain corps, despite an unblemished service record (taken from the article above).

Thanks! I'll see if I can get my hands on some JAG and UMCJ records.

[moonwolf23]

Ummm

I googled this, on non Pagan sources. He was withdrawn from Iraq, because when he applied to be a Wiccan Chaplain the military called as is the procedure his sponsor(a Baptist church) and they called him going are we hearing what we think we are hearing? He told them yes he has converted to Wicca but he is still acting in compliance with the Church until he gets his new sponsor in order. They revoked their sponsorship, as is their right.

In order to be a Chaplain you need to be sponsored by a religious org.

REad the bottom of the the seattle times article.

============================
Once chaplains are accepted into the military, they are paid, trained and deployed by the government. But they remain subservient to their endorsers, who can cancel their endorsements at any time. That is what happened to Larsen, according to unclassified military e-mail messages.
================

It was pentecostal, sorry. This btw should have been on the first few paragraphs not buried on the bottom. Grumbles about sensationalist

[nacho_cheese]

Issue with all this is, the Sacred Well Congregation has been trying to become a sponsor for several years, both for Larsen and for Drewry, mentioned above. Their paperwork has taken several years to "process" while other chaplains from a wide variety of faiths are approved.

Comparatively, there are approximately twenty Jewish chaplains to accommodate its 4,000 adherents, and about a dozen Imam chaplains for approximately 3,500 Muslim servicemen and women. On a smaller scale, some faiths with smaller numbers do have chaplains, including six teachers for around 650 Christian Scientists, forty-one Mormon chaplains for the 17,500 Mormons in uniform, and one Buddhist chaplain for around 4,500 Buddhists. (I'm still searching the internetz for where I found this particular information!)

Oh, if you could have your husband look into it, that'd be great. :) This is really the only question I have (in the OP), so feel free to pass it along to him.

[nacho_cheese]

... I don't really know how to interpret this comment, so I'll leave it well alone. Thank you, though!

[nacho_cheese]

Just so you know, you're talking to a moderator for this community. Not touting any "importance" here or anything, but I have a good handle on what is and isn't appropriate.

[sara_super_id]

There is the issue with the veterans being able to have a pentacle on their graves from a few years ago. Also there is Circle Sanctuary that does a lot with veterans and soldiers. http://www.circlesanctuary.org/ministries/military/

[nacho_cheese]

Yup, that's the Pentacle Quest. :) It has a pretty strong section in my paper. Circle Sanctuary has a small one, too, but I think I may expand on them, especially since you provided a link to that. Thank you! :)

[thistle333]

You could look for a copy of Faith and Magick in the Armed Forces: A Handbook for Pagans in the Military by Stefani E. Barner. Stefani is a military wife.

[pierceheart]

The pentacle quest never went to SCOTUS - it was settled.

Check out pagan veterans headstone campaign on yahoo groups for info.
One of the litigants used to be on that group, until she died.