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ZfrkS62 · 05-02-2007, 04:51 PM

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washing...n-symbol_N.htm

WASHINGTON — Wiccans who served in the U.S. military will be allowed to have a pentacle emblem engraved on government-issued tombstones and memorials under a legal agreement announced Monday with the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Roberta Stewart of Fernley, Nev., one of the plaintiffs, had sought a pentacle-inscribed memorial plaque from the VA for her husband, National Guard Sgt. Patrick Stewart, who was killed in Afghanistan in 2005.

"I have waited for this day for so long," said Stewart, "Today I have relief, comfort and happiness in knowing this a quest for religious freedom has prevailed."

Stewart, other veterans' widows and members of the Wicca faith had asked the VA to officially recognize the pentacle — a five-pointed star inside a circle — as an "emblem of faith" and include it with 38 other symbols for use on government headstones.

They filed a lawsuit in November in Wisconsin federal court alleging the VA stalled for a decade in recognizing the emblem. The Wiccans argued that the VA was violating their freedoms of speech and religion and right to due process.

The settlement calls for the VA to add the pentacle to its list of approved symbols and make it available to families of all veterans who want it.

The VA also has to supply headstones, markers and plaques within two weeks to Stewart and others who have sought them so far.

"This settlement has forced the Bush administration into acknowledging that there are no second-class religions in America, including among our nation's veterans," said Barry Lynn, executive director for Americans United for Separation of Church and State.

The government settled "in the interest of the families concerned and to spare taxpayers the expense of further litigation," VA spokesman Matt Burns said.

Wiccans say their pagan religion is peaceful and focuses on a central tenet that they mustn't harm others.

Freedom of Religion means freedom for all religions.