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Governor Mike Johanns
State Capitol Building
Lincoln, Nebraska 68509
Dear Governor Johanns,
My name is Jason Blodgett-McDeavitt. I am the president and high priest of the Order of the Red Grail, Church of Transformational Wicca, a non-profit church registered with the Nebraska Secretary of State and with the Internal Revenue Service.
In recent publicized comments surrounding your proclamation of May 22, 1999 as "March for Jesus Day," you stated that you "wouldn’t hesitate" to sign similar proclamations for "the Jewish faith, Hinduism, whatever." Like myself, you apparently believe all people should be encouraged to publicly demonstrate their faith, whatever that faith might be.
The Summer Solstice, the day of longest light, will soon be upon us. This is a day held holy by a number of Earth Religions, not the least of which are the Druids, who annually gather at Stonehenge on the Salisbury Plain in southern England. In the spirit of ecclesiastical equality, we ask that you proclaim the day before this year's Summer Solstice, Sunday June 20th, as "Earth Religion Awareness Day" to help dispel many of the misconceptions and negative stereotypes surrounding this ancient religious practice.
Wicca or Witchcraft-as is true of all earth religions-has nothing to do with the worship of Satan or the Devil. Tracing our roots back much further than the Judeo-Christian tradition, we celebrate the very same cycles of nature and rhythms of life as our own pagan European ancestors celebrated for millennia. In our rites, we honor the fertility of the earth and its people, the seasons of planting and harvest and the web of life that is so beautifully depicted in the floor mosaics of our own State Capitol Rotunda and main hallway.
On Sunday, June 20, we will be commemorating this year's solstice holiday in part by hosting an Earth Religion Awareness Day at the State Capitol. Your proclamation of this event will make a bold political statement for religious tolerance. There are many followers of earth religions in the state of Nebraska, not to mention those Native Americans who practice their tribe's traditional beliefs. A state proclamation by you, on the heels of the "March for Jesus" proclamation, will assure these Nebraskans that they are not considered "second-rate citizens" by their government.
Thank you for your prompt consideration and response to this request.
In the Service of the Lord and Lady,
Jason J. Blodgett-McDeavitt
President and High Priest
Order of the Red Grail
Church of Transformational Wicca
A non-profit 501(c)(3) organization
Whereas: The Summer Solstice is considered holy by many Earth centered religions, including Druids, Asatrus, Mithriasts, Neo-Shaman, Wiccans, Witches, Goddess worshippers, and many other Pagans, as a day of celebration and prayer for bountiful harvests in the fall; and
Whereas: Earth centered religions are a part of our European history, predating monotheistic religions, and focusing on the agrarian cycles of planting and harvesting, the celestial cycles of the sun and moon, and the life cycle of birth, death, and rebirth; and
Whereas: Earth centered religions are a form of positive spirituality which predates the belief in a being of ultimate evil, such as Satan, whose origins can be traced to the beliefs of early Zoastrianism; and
Whereas: the state of Nebraska is home to many worshippers of Earth centered religions; and
Whereas: the United States Constitution, under the First and Fourteenth Amendments supports the right of all peoples in the United States to practice their own belief system and to enjoy this in each their own manner; and
Whereas: Earth Religions are afforded the same Constitutional rights and privileges as any other religious entity within the United States; and
Whereas: Lawyers, Law Enforcement Agencies, and our elected officials have the obligation to protect the rights of all people in their religious endeavors, no matter what they may be, without bias or prejudice; and
Whereas: Participants in Earth Religions are taxpayers at the City, State and Federal levels; and
Whereas: religious diversity within a community can only strengthen that community and allow it to thrive; and
Whereas: no community can survive without the open, active and proud participation of all of its members; and
Whereas: each and every participant in the Community is deserving of respect because of that diversity and not in spite of it;
Therefore: let this Summer Solstice act as a reminder of the precious tradition of freedom of religion—any religion—within the great state of Nebraska and the contribution Earth Religions have played in this tradition.
I, Mike Johanns, Governor of Nebraska, do hereby proclaim June 20, 1999 as “Earth Religion Awareness Day” in Nebraska and urge all citizens to honor the constitutional principle of freedom of religion, and to contemplate with reverence the contributions of Earth Religions in the state of Nebraska.
NOTE: As of this date, May 15, 1999, Gov. Johanns
says he will not sign this proclamation, proving his private beliefs matter
more than the Constitution he has been sworn to uphold.