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From The Public Pulse
Killeen, Texas - Every full moon for the past two years, a few dozen off-duty soldiers have gathered at a campsite at Fort Hood, America's largest military post. By day, they are privates and sergeants in the U.S. Army, training for deployment to Korea, Bosnia, Kosovo. But at these lunar assemblies they trade in their Army fatigues for hooded robes, chant to the lead of their chosen high priestess, and dance around a fire well into the night.
They are America's first official Army witches, with all that double duty implies: buzz cuts and pentagram rings, moon tattoos under uniforms. One typical dog tag reads: NAME: Philip Campanaro. UNIT: USAG III Corps. RELIGIOUS PREFERENCE: Wicca.
After two years in peaceful obscurity, the Fort Hood wiccans - their beliefs a blend of pre-Christian paganism and New Age earth worship - suddenly find themselves amid a brewing controversy. Last month, a photograph of one of their moonlit rituals made it into the local papers, leading some national Christian leaders and one congressman to begin denouncing their practices as satanic.
Now the military finds itself explaining what had been a little-known but routine lifestyle policy: supporting soldiers who want to practice what the military calls, without passing judgment, "minority" religions.
Two summers ago, the Army approved the Fort Hood Open Circle as its first official wiccan group. Without much fanfare, Fort Hood officials gave them a grassy campsite for their sacred ground, sanctioned their choice of high priestess - even loaned them an Army chaplain for moral support.
Twice a week, the wiccans hold evening classes on subjects such as lunar cycles and the meaning of a coven. On full moons and eight sacred holidays, they and dozens more witches from the surrounding area watch the high priestess lift her dagger over a ball of salt and honor the blessed earth. The events are posted on base and open to anyone interested. Except for a few letters from irate fundamentalist Christians in nearby Killeen, the rituals attracted little notice.
Then in March, they invited a photographer to witness their Spring Rite ceremony. Several weeks later, the Austin American-Statesman newspaper ran photos of the high priestess and several others leaping over the campfire, the men shirtless, the women in witchy robes. Within days, Christian groups were calling the base and threatening to stage a march in town and disrupt the rituals, forcing the Army to beef up security around the campsite.
Since then, witch skittishness has spread as far as Washington. "Please stop this nonsense now," Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., wrote to Lt. Gen. Leon S. Leponte, the commanding officer of Fort Hood. "What's next? Will armored divisions be forced to travel with sacrificial animals for satanic rituals? Will Rastafarians demand the inclusion of ritualistic marijuana cigarettes in their rations?"
Barr is threatening hearings and legislation, yet so far the Army brass at Fort Hood is shrugging. In the new equal-opportunity military, where diversity is strength, minority religions are not merely tolerated but welcomed. As long as a group does not interfere with discipline, the military will help it find an off-base leader and a place to practice its beliefs, explained Fort Hood spokesman Lt. Col. Ben Santos.
Far from clashing cultures, the wiccans and the military coexist cheerfully. To the Army, the wiccans are part of a proud American tradition, proof that "people with different religious beliefs are all working together successfully," said Santos, role models to fractured nations like Bosnia and Kosovo.
To the wiccans, the military is an adopted home, far more tolerant than the world outside. "Most people think of (soldiers) as mindless robots who kill babies," said Marcy Palmer, the Fort Hood high priestess. "But we see more discrimination in the civilian world. The military is actually much more sensitive."
In the two years since Fort Hood approved wiccans, open circles have popped up at other military bases: Fort Polk in Louisiana, Fort Wainwright in Alaska, Kadena Base in Okinawa and Fort Barrancas in Florida. A high priestess was just approved in Germany, and another has applied on the Kosovo mission.
The Fort Hood Open Circle was conceived when a group of wiccans outgrew their living room meeting space. A staff sergeant among them asked the Army for help and looked into the requirements for official recognition. They needed an off-base sponsor, and chose the Sacred Well Congregation of San Antonio. They needed a high priestess to lead them and selected Palmer.
For a group out to dispel images of broomsticks and black magic, Palmer proved the perfect choice: A six-year veteran of the military police, Palmer had won a soldier-of-the-year award and now works at the pediatric section of the Army hospital.
"We are at the end of one age and the beginning of another," said Palmer at a Wednesday class. "Our time has finally come."
Palmer was raised a witch in Seattle, and the lifestyle is as familiar to her as breakfast cereal. Most wiccans worship Mother Earth and Father Sky. And no, she said, they don't sacrifice animals or cast evil spells. Sure, she keeps a pet wolf in her back yard, but he's penned up like a common dog.
Still, in Palmer's series of interviews with Army chaplains, some thorny subjects came up. For example, most wiccans prefer to conduct their rituals "skyclad" - their poetic word for naked. And naked is not allowed on the base. Army policy won on this score.
Then there were the athames, those 9-inch daggers used at the high altar on sabbats. On those the chaplains compromised. As long as they were not used to cut anything, the Army would allow their use in ceremonies.
A few more rules: Pentagrams were OK, as long as they were unobtrusive - one small ring, or a necklace worn inside the uniform. No candles in the barracks and avoid tattoos.
At the twice-a-week classes, wiccans work through the difficulties of life as an Army witch. Wiccans, to give one glaring example, are pacifists. Yet many of them fought in Desert Storm and are likely to be shipped to war zones again.
David Oringsderff, a 30-year Army vet and founder of Sacred Well, the Open Circle's sponsoring congregation, tried to explain the contradiction. Christians, he pointed out, also believe thou shalt not kill. In his view, the wiccans are at least more honest: They believe everything they do comes back at them threefold, so they prepare to pay a price.
"We accept responsibility for our actions and don't have the devil to blame things on," Oringsderff said. Wiccan soldiers may kill in the line of duty, "but with no malice in our hearts and no pleasure in the act."
Witches in the military? This is nothing new folks. There have been Witches in the armed services for years. There have also been Quakers, Mormons, Jews, and Catholics. Seems to me you can think back not to long ago, and each of those religious groups have been the target of their own "witch hunts".
This is a country where we have religious freedom. I am a Witch. I have friends in many diverse faith groups. Years ago I even played that entre game into the Occult -- Dungeons and Dragons -- with a Deacon of a Southern Baptist Church in North Carolina. He knew I was a Witch, I knew he was Baptist. We trusted and cared for each other, and that was that.
We have the capacity in the country to look beyond the theological differences and create a truley universal society. Brightest Blessings.
I'm glad that the military is doing this. It makes alot of sense... most out there that are murderers and commit crimes seem to be very commited to a church, and call themselves christians... I don't think that's very christian myself. I am a fellow wiccan up here in Washington State, and I think that everyone is SAFER with us, since we know that if we do something, that it's going to come back at us. No one is going to be harmed by us, and there is no reason why people should be scared of us. We don't make people do things, and we don't sacrifice animals. We don't "worship" any devil, because we believe that there is no such thing. And it's about time that the public is forced to notice us, instead of having us selectively forgotten. To all who helped bring this about, I say Thank you very much... it's about time!
Bright Blessings,
Its about time! Paganism is a Religion Folks. Belive it or not. People put all there heart into the Mother Goddess. It is the Ignorant that choose to say we are Satanic. People Naturaly Fear what they do not understand. How can anyone that Worships the land be what people to presume as Satanic. Get over it! Im a Pagan Priest and No one is going to tell me that I cant PRactice what I belive. Were Ever I go I carry the Faith with me. If I did not Practice and Belive were ever I was I would be Turning my Back on the Goddess. People Please open your Eyes and your Hearts. YOu dont have to Believe in it just let us believe in ourown way. Let us be what we know we are.
(The writer is president of the Free Congress Foundation, based in Washington, D.C.)
What is it going to take, you believers in God? You said virtually nothing when God was kicked out of the classroom. The idea of saying a prayer was old-fashioned, anyway. You really did not protest much when the National Endowment for the Arts desecrated a crucifix.
When network television and Hollywood portrayed clergy as sex offenders, con artists and hypocrites, you went to the movies anyway.
Now comes the U.S. Army. If you are part of the Wiccan "religion," in other words paganism in its ancient form, you are welcome to practice your "faith" on a par with Judaism and Christianity. There are even Wiccan "chaplains." And the Army recognizes the "Church of Satan" as another legitimate group.
The Free Congress Foundation organized 10 other groups to call for a boycott of Army recruitment. Two of the large pro-family groups initially said they would join this effort but within 24 hours had backed out. Of the 10 other groups, two others, like Free Congress, are secular in nature.
Where are the others? Have we become so used to hiding our views, to negotiating what we believe in lest we offend someone, to looking the other way that an out-and-out attack on our Judeo-Christian heritage doesn't matter anymore?
We have a volunteer military. The draft was abolished in the post-Vietnam era. Boycotting is also a voluntary act. Why should young believers voluntarily enter an organization that now puts false pagan "gods" on a par with the true God from ages of ages? Why should parents, who necessarily worry about their sons or daughters entering the military anyway, send them off to some camp where covens of witches will be busy trying to recruit them?
News accounts tell of a high priestess at Fort Hood plunging her knife into Mother Earth to celebrate the seasons. How long will it be until a high priestess is plunging a knife into a young lady who must be sacrificed in some satanic ritual?
Do we just accept what is happening as normal? Or do we believers finally say we've had it. We are not going to let pagans claim an equal footing with God. Institutions that go that route are institutions that will have to function without our young people. If we really love them, as we all profess we do, then we can't take what is happening here as business as usual.
Yes, service in the Army could kill them. But an enemy's bullet will not kill their soul. Fooling around with pagan and even satanic religions could do just that.
If the Army hears from enough people who are bound for the other services because they can't be part of an Army that recognizes false gods, the Army will be forced to back off. If the Army backs off, the other branches of the armed services won't move in that direction.
To do this, however, is going to require some backbone. Yes, and those who advocate it will have to say that, in fact, they believe that their God is the true God, the God of life. And our God is not on the same footing with pagan notions that bring, ultimately, only death. If we get our act together and stand up on this, we can win. If we fail to stand up, come judgment day, what will we say when we are asked if we were ashamed to admit that we were believers?
Paul Weyrich and his organization are taking a classic "knee-jerk" stance regarding Witches in the miliatary. Historically, every oppressed religion has had the same attributions placed upon them that we in the Wiccan community have to dispell. That we are in league with the Devil is one of the big ones. Well, according to historical sources, so were the Knights Templar, so are/were the FreeMasons. Heck, depending on your perspective, both the Jews and the Catholics have also been in league with the Devil. All the Mormons, Quakers, and other "fringe" religious followers who were murdered by opposing religions that disagreed with them were, to the folks that burnt, crushed, tourtured, or hung them, in league with Satan.
Ignorance and fear are what are driving Rep. Bob Barr's crusade against the military Pagans. If you don't know what we are about, talk to one of us. Don't talk to your priest who may never have met a real honest to goddess Neo-Pagan. Talk to me, or to one of the thousands of Pagans in Nebraska. We are not all that different from you.
There is but one people, and we are it.
I have to agree with Jason. By the way, Wiccans don't even have a "Satan" in their religion and people need to quit comparing us with "Satanist". I do take much offense to this.
Also, Wicca is a recognized religion in the United States, therefore the military has no reason to restrict this practice. Government supports it. Military is part of the government. It is a religion based on nature that has been around LONGER than Christianity. Get used to it...
After reading your article on the Wiccan religion in the military, I have to agree with a few of your viewpoints.
After all, isn't religious freedom, aka the right to believe in one's own god, one of the things that this great country of ours was founded on? Are you saying we should get rid of the constitution and everything it is based on? And let a few uninformed people choose a path of what you seen to consider morality? The way your article was written it just shows your ignorance, and if the "judea-christian community" believes this tripe, you, sir, should be very glad that we do live in such a "great" country to allow you to put forth such a canard. Sir, I feel that you should research your subjects even a little before publishing them.
It is OBVIOUS that you have NO IDEA what the Christian faith is about. Your "reading" (if you did at all) of the Bible has been to find and misquote whatever you can in order to make a false case out of what you have rejected and to make excuses for what you believe. Sure there are a few idiots who do stupid things in the name of God and Christ, but that is NOT what is taught by God in his Book. They are NOT true Christians. They have done the same as you have while reading the Bible.
The only reason the pure Biblical Christian faith is attaced so fiercly by most other religions as you have just done is that they cannot find holes in the belief nor faith so they must attack from ignorance, deceitfulness and lies, as you have just done.
What do I mean by "pure" Christian, I know someone will ask. A "pure" Christian is one who depends upon the Bible alone. Does not have any other person (interpretations aside), book, or other idol telling him what he should or should not believe. If you ask if this leaves out Catholic, Mormon, Jehovas, etc., I must answer a resounding yes, if they follow the teachings as the way they are dictated by the organization (pope, president, synod, or what ever). That is not to say they will not be saved at the judgement, only Jesus know that and we are not allowed to even speculate on that.
By the way, I do not agree with the author's attack, nor the way he did it. I cannot judge him, however I wonder if he is one of those who are not pure Christain.
Mr Weyrich, while I absolutely agree with you about this pagan cult being one of the most obnoxious things that could happen to the Army, why is it that you are attacking the Army. The supreme court and ACLU should be the ones under your vicious poison pen.
My son has been in the Army for several years, and the Christian support he has received is unmatched by few if any other publicly funded organization in the world. During his six weeks of Ranger school the Christian Chaplian was literally never more than a voice request away. He jumped out of airplanes with the men, he ate the same MREs with them, he slogged through the snow and waded through the swamps with them. He provided support and reassurance to every one of the men, regardless of thier faith, going through what was the hardest six weeks that most of these men have ever seen in thier young lives.
If you are going to write articles like this, be sure to let the public know the truth, that the Army provides for and pays for the Chaplans for the men and women of all legetimate faiths. From what I understand it is not paying the priestess to stab holes in the ground with her knife, and there is nothing they can do do stop it due to the laws of the land. It does not matter how much you protest and boycott.
Bible Reader has said "Mr Weyrich, while I absolutely agree with you about this pagan cult being one of the most obnoxious things that could happen to the Army"
This Pagan Cult? Which Pagan cult would that be? Surely, we Pagans have been confused with some other group which fits the criterion for being a cult. Some of the most telling hallmarks of a cult are a strong, central leader, a proclivity towards mind control or manipulation, wealth, followers are encouraged not to study up on any other faith, and so forth. Talk to a Pagan, find out just how little organization we really have!
The old definition of Cult refered to any religious practice. If you are content to have your faith refered to as the "cult of Christianity" or the "cult of the Baptists", then I shall subscribe to the notion of the "cult of panagism". Barring that, however, Paganism is properlly a Religion, just like Christianity is a Religion. I am a Wiccan. Wicca is a Denomination of Paganism, just as the Methodists are a Denomination of Christianity.
While I have stated we have no central organization, Pagandom is proving to be highly effective at the grass roots level. While ignorant politicians make blanket statements with no knowledge of what they are talking about, the Pagans are speaking out.
Don't forget, once Barr, Thurmon, and Bush have rid the military of Pagans, which faith group is to follow? Yours perhaps? It all depends on which religion really is considered a freedom.
It would seem that Mr. Weyrich is not terribly familiar with either the Bill of Rights or the Declaration of Independence.
In light of that, one wonders exactly how "free" a Congress and nation Mr. Weyrich is in favour of.
From: Richard J. Budig, Bellevue
Regarding the recent story concerning members of the U.S. military also being members of a religion called Wicca: It was a long time ago that I served in the military, but then, as now, my main concern was, and still would be, whether the guy beside me would cover my back. Thankfully, I never had to find out, but my guess is that when bullets and mortars start arriving at or near your position, the last thing anyone would think about would be the stated religion of his foxhole companion.
Heroism and cowardice - opposite faces of the same coin - are not restricted to any one ethnic, religious or political group. Both can come from unexpected sources.
Most of us are ordinary people, and regardless of our stated political and religious beliefs, none knows beforehand how he will react to a great or a lowly occasion. Now, as then, the test of a man's mettle and worth to his fellow man is not what he professes, but what he does when, as Garrison Keillor says, it comes time for shy persons to stand up and do what needs to be done.
From: Alton F. Dawson, Omaha
How are you sleeping knowing that: 1. The commander in chief of the most powerful military in the world is a lying, cheating, womanizing scoundrel? 2. That military includes not only women, lesbians and homosexuals but, now, witches? 3. The commander in chief is the same man who wants to take your gun?
From: Brian Allen, Peru, Neb.
Paul Weyrich (June 19 More Commentary) recommends a boycott of the Army because it tolerates Wiccanism and Satanism. The Army doesn't promote Wiccanism or Satanism; it only tolerates it. Tolerance is the key.
In a Utopia, there would be only one set of beliefs. People like Weyrich could live comfortably in the knowledge that everyone believes just as they do. Luckily, America is one of the few countries that doesn't have an official religion.
There is no reason to think that recognition of divergent viewpoints by the Army, Navy or Marines will lead to the downfall of Western civilization. Weyrich's contention that the Wiccan use of a knife in the earth will result in murder is demagoguery - Christians have done as much to murder innocents as has any other religion.
Weyrich's view of America scares me. At what point do you decide that someone else's faith is not acceptable? Tolerance is the only way that divergent views can be accommodated in our society.
From: Sarah Vandenberg, Omaha
Where does Paul Weyrich get the idea that he has the right to speak for God? His highly hypocritical views sickened me. Not only does he drastically overestimate the presumed dangers of socializing with other religions, but he possesses several incorrect conceptions regarding those religions. Two of the main tenets of Wicca proclaim it to be a nonviolent, nonproselytizing religion.
Perhaps Mr. Weyrich should remove the plank from his own eye before attempting to remove the speck from everyone else's.
From: Stephen L. Tipton, Omaha
Paul Weyrich's recent tirade (June 19 More Commentary page) against the terrifying tide of witchcraft and various other "false religions" revealed the true mind-set of many in the Christian "right."
Surprise, you godless infidels, pagans and heathens! The Judeo-Christian - well, Christian, anyway - tradition is the true American religion and thus the only one that is authorized the protection, sponsorship and succor of the Constitution and the federal government. When the Jerry Falwells, Pat Robertsons and James Dobsons plead for us to "bring God back to the classrooms," they are referring solely to the God made in their own image. None others need apply.
How wise of the Founding Fathers to prohibit the establishment of one religion over another in our public life and institutions.
From: Joe Chin, Omaha
Paul Weyrich ("Taking a Stand against Witchcraft") bases his opinion on a vacuous claim - his God is the true God - and then tries to win over his audience by appealing to their unfounded fears (human sacrifices on Army bases? Yeah, right).
Anyone claiming that his God is the one true God and that all other gods are false is making a worthless argument. How does Weyrich intend to prove his statement? The truth is that any belief in any god or goddess is as valid as any other, because they are all based on evidentially nonfalsifiable claims. Weyrich can't prove that pagan gods don't exist, and pagans can't prove that the Judeo-Christian god doesn't exist, so why bother trying?
As for Weyrich's fear of ritual human sacrifice, I'll quote Kenneth V. Lanning, supervisory special agent at the Behavioral Science Institute and Research Unit of the FBI Academy: "The fact is that far more crime and child abuse has been committed by zealots in the name of God, Jesus and Mohammed than has ever been committed in the name of Satan. Many people don't like that statement, but few can argue with it."
I'd say Satan and Wicca are the least of your worries.
From: Amy Catherine Hayes, Omaha
Paul Weyrich - "Taking a Stand Against Witchcraft, " June 19 More Commentary page - carries on about Wicca and Satanism being accepted as legitimate religions by the U.S. Army and the need for Jews and Christians to take a stand against our nation accepting such beliefs.
This attitude of intolerance for anything different is sickening. These same attitudes were behind Jim Crow laws and witch burnings. The same attitudes, in fact, brought our Founders to this land - persecution at the hands of the self-righteous and ignorant (or delusional?).
Why is it so hard to accept others different from ourselves? Is it so improbable that the majority is not necessarily correct? Must we harass and ostracize those who choose their own way?
I proudly am a practicing Catholic. I am also proud to say that I don't believe that Catholicism is the only true way to worship and give thanks to our Creator. There is no hard evidence that says any one of us is right or wrong. All religious beliefs are based upon ancient rumors and stories told many times.
I use my religious beliefs to give me hope and serenity, not to judge
and claim righteousness. That is what is important. Maybe Mr. Weyrich and
others like him ought to re-evaluate what they believe and why.