Posted by TexasChic on April 13, 2006, at 19:21:08
"I don't think that witchcraft is a religion. I wish the military would rethink this decision."
-- George W. Bush to ABCNEWS, June, 1999Does Bush really think he has the authority to decide which religions are valid?
I listed some key paragraphs on this incident below. You can type 'Bush Wicca' and pull up alot of pages on the subject.
June 29, 1999
The Senate's oldest member has joined the call, prompted by a socially conservative congressman from Georgia, to bar Wiccan practices on U.S. military bases.
During a Senate Judiciary Committee hearing last week, Sen. Strom Thurmond, R-S.C., submitted a statement decrying Wicca, a nature-based faith, as irreligious and saying it should not be accommodated by the military.
Barr's likened Wiccan practices to "Satanic rituals" and said the military needed to stop allowing Wiccan celebrations to occur on bases.
The military handbook states that "the core ethical statement of Wicca, called the 'Wiccan Rede' states 'as it harm none, do what you will.' The rede fulfills the same function as the 'Golden Rule' for Jews and Christians; all other ethical teachings are considered to be elaborations and applications of the rede.
"I do not believe that the Armed Forces should accommodate the practice of witchcraft at military facilities. The same applies to the practices of other groups such as Satanists and cultists. For the sake of the honor and prestige of our military, there should be no obligation to permit such activity. This is an example of going too far to accommodate the practice of one's views in the name of religion."
Last week George W. Bush, governor of Texas and 2000 GOP presidential frontrunner, was asked by ABC News about Barr's concerns on Wicca in the military as well as the posting of the Ten Commandments in public buildings.
Bush said that he did not believe "witchcraft is a religion," and he hoped "the military would rethink this decision." Bush was then asked whether he agreed with the recent U.S. House of Representatives' vote that said states have the constitutional power to place the Ten Commandments in public buildings, including public schools. He said that he had no problem with the religious codes being placed in every public building.
In 1984 a federal judge in Virginia ruled that Wicca was a religion protected by the First Amendment, saying the faith occupied a place in the lives of its members "parallel to that filled by the orthodox belief in God."
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This would be funny if it weren't so awful - Wiccans don't even believe in Satan!
If this is old news, sorry. This is my first time one the Politics board.
-T
poster:TexasChic
thread:632815
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/poli/20060322/msgs/632815.html