DOUBLE, DOUBLE WAR
AND TROUBLE
MILITARY PAGANS MAKE THE CAULDRON BUBBLE
Yahoo News Group
Friday November 22, 3:43 PM
WASHINGTON (AFP) - Lance Aeschliman is a soldier and a pagan, something
that makes his commander-in-chief uncomfortable.
"I do not think witchcraft is a religion, and I do not think it is
in any way appropriate for the US military to promote it," President
George W. Bush said in October 2000 when campaigning in the US
presidential election.
According to his dog tags, Aeschliman is actually a Druid, although
there are a fair amount of witches in the US military as well.
Small groups of witches, Druids, Shaman and Wiccans make up the more
than 10,000 estimated pagans in the US armed forces, according to the
Military Pagan Network, a support group. "It's clear that many of the
men who are attracted to Wicca are also men who are attracted to this
fantasy of the ancient warrior who is spiritually adept, but also a great
fighter," said Margot Adler, a National Public Radio religion
correspondent and renowned witch.
According to pagan groups there are between one million and three
million followers of the various sects.
The first pagan ritual on a military base was carried out in 1988 at
Fort Hood, Texas. Since then pagan soldiers have been dancing around
fires, in the Navy they've formed ritual circles on ships at sea and the
Air Force recently recognized seven pagan sects.
Bush, supreme commander of the armed forces and a fervent Methodist,
may frown on such activities. But there is little he can do as freedom of
religion is guaranteed by the constitution. "I need my freedom to
worship who I want to worship. Plus, I love the idea of defending the
bigot's freedom. Because if he doesn't have his freedom, I don't have
mine. So whether I agree with them or not I will kill in war to defend
this," said Christopher Turner, a Wiccan warlock who serves in the
10th Mountain Division, based at Fort Drum, New York, which recently
served in Afghanistan.
The Army Chaplains Handbook first included Wicca in 1984, according to
Selena Fox, the senior minister at Circle Sanctuary.
The witches movement, recognized by the United States as a tax-exempt
church in 1978, claims to have members on more than 30 military bases
around the world. The Wiccans applied for the first pagan army chaplain in
1998. SilverDrake Fey was approved by the Chaplains Board in January and
now awaits final confirmation.
"I actually think the number is a lot more than 10,000, it's just
that a lot of people are afraid to come out as pagan," Fey said.
Karen Martinez, a spokeswoman for Fort Drum, said pagans are accepted
on base, where groups estimate there are 1,100 pagans, 10 percent of the
compliment. The army has a conservative reputation. But Martinez said:
"I think with such a diverse population ... the army, contrary to
popular belief, is more liberal than people would think."
Nevertheless, Turner said he "doesn't widely advertise" his
alternative religion to comrades-in-arms or his family.
"If I were to die right now, my funeral rights would be Wiccan
rites, because it says Wiccan on my dog tags. I have a very
Christian-based family. It would be very destructive to their image of
me," he said.
While the army may be tolerant, some in the government believe the
pagans damage the image of the US military machine. "This move sets a
dangerous precedent that could easily result in the practice of all sorts
of bizarre practices being supported by the military under the rubric of
'religion'," said Republican Representative Bob Barr, who has tried
to ban pagans from the military.
"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?"
Paganism is an umbrella term grouping often solitary practioners of
nature-based, pacifist witches, warlocks, druids, shaman and those who try
to reconstruct the ancient religions of Rome, Greece and the Vikings.
For some soldiers the pacifism poses a dilemma, especially as war with
Iraq looms.
"With the Wiccan religion the belief to harm none is difficult,
and it makes people think. But I don't want to think that I'm going into
battle for battle's sake," said Edguardo Morales, a National Guard
soldier at Fort Drum.
Aeschliman, an infantry sergeant, based at Schofield Barracks in
Hawaii, has now applied to leave the army as a conscientious objector.
"Over the last 10 years I've felt my Druidic roots protest my
violent job," said Aeschliman.
However, he has a plan for Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. "I hope to
get out before the war with Iraq. I've performed a spell binding Saddam
Hussein from war, so hopefully that'll hold."
The witches at Krispy Kreme say they were talking about various things,
including one member's efforts to raise money for a Pagan community center
in Pinellas County. Then a store manager came over. Rick Poppe, 35, who
calls himself an occultist, said the manager asked to speak to whomever
was in charge. Then she waved dismissively at the wicker witch and said,
"That has to go."
Robert L. Webb II, who had signed up as a host of the event, walked
outside with the manager. He said she asked him what kind of group it was.
He told her it was a gathering sponsored by Meetup.com out of New York and
that her corporate office had been notified of the meeting.
The manager told him meetings were not allowed at Krispy Kreme and
asked him to end the gathering, Webb said. When he asked her why, Webb
said, she told him it was because she had had a complaint from a customer
about the wicker witch.
Webb, who says he is a witch, said he walked inside and told the group
it had been asked to leave. From there, the group headed over to a Perkins
restaurant nearby.
"I feel personally it was because we were Pagan," Webb said.
"I feel it was because a lot of us are different, unusual."
Webb said he is considering filing a religious discrimination complaint
with the Department of Justice. Poppe said he wants an apology from Krispy
Kreme or he will file a complaint.
"I'm not a crusader," said Poppe, who works at a natural food
store as a deli clerk. "I'm not one of those people who looks for a
cause to fight for. But I was so offended. So many nice, hard-working
people were thrown out just because they have different views."
One witch from Clearwater said she would prefer to let the tempest
drop. Referring to the incident as the "Krispy Kreme Kaper," she
sent an e-mail to many of the witches who were there, saying she thought
the group should just move on. "Sometimes everybody yells
discrimination, and it's a war," said Norma Supel, a computer store
administrator, who wrote the e-mail. "Okay, if the lady doesn't want
you there, you can't tell her 'Witches are okay people' and change her
mind. If she has a set attitude, a set opinion toward us, it's her
opinion, her right. It's up to Meetup to ensure that it's okay for us to
be there." Myles Weissleder, a spokesman for Meetup, said Krispy
Kreme was notified the group would be there. "As far as I know, it
wasn't a problem," he said. "I don't know if that particular
manager was aware or if there was a miscommunication."
Gauthier, of Krispy Kreme, said the group was not kicked out and that
the Pagans are not Yelling the truth. "We want every group in America
to eat in our stores," he said. "No one was kicked out of our
stores. We don't discriminate. I don't understand what the controversy is
about." Weissleder said Meetup is looking into the witches' claims.
Nineteen people had signed up to go to the Meetup, but almost double that
number showed up. The 37-person gathering is among the largest witches
meetings in the country. Only Port Arthur, Texas, has had a larger
gathering, 40. New York City, on the other hand, drew eight witches
recently.
Meetup groups must vote on one of three locations for their meetings.
The witches had voted for the Krispy Kreme during each of the past four
months, but Krispy Kreme will not be one of the options next month,
Weissleder said.
"I can't infer what transpired, but I think the manager just got
restless when (she) saw 37 people with a witch mascot on the table, and
that's a shame," Weissleder said. "If it had been the Girl
Scouts or a baseball team, I don't think they would have been kicked
out."
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