Religious Tolerance

To:  President Bush, and those who believe as he does

Dear President Bush, and those who believe as he does:

We the signers of this Petition believe that those of you who find it within your rights to trample on religious freedom to be in the wrong.

“‘Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof...’ The establishment clause in the 1st Amendment of the U.S. constitution.” (http://www.religioustolerance.org/burn_aw2.htm)

It is in this spirit that we would like to remind you that while the idea of religious freedom that was applied in the Bill of Rights was different at the time of signing (religious freedom being the freedom to do what is right rather than to practice the religion of your choice) there are many things that were put down that have been interpreted differently since then.

In the 1960’s Wicca as well as other Pagan religions were recognized by the United States government as religions. There are those of you who I would have a hope to believe would say no to Wicca and other Pagan religions because of a lack of knowledge, so let me try to enlighten you.

Paganism taken in its general form (meaning all religions held within the term Pagan) is not a Satanic religion. This is a misconception. As it is defined by The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition is:
pa•gan (p g n)
n.
1. One who is not a Christian, Muslim, or Jewish, especially a worshiper of a polytheistic religion.
2. One who has no religion.
3. A non-Christian.
adj.
1. Not Christian, Muslim, or Jewish.
2. Professing no religion; heathen.
3. Neo-Pagan.

This means that not only does Wicca, and Druidism, for example qualify for being a “Pagan” religion, so does Buddhism, Shintoism, Hinduism, Atheism, Agnosticism, tribal religions, Animism, Baha’i, Sikhism, Confucianism, and others that do not directly fall under the category of being Christian, Muslim, or Jewish.

Since 1999, when President Bush stated on Good Morning America that, "The military should rethink their position. That is not a religion." (http://www.religioustolerance.org/burn_aw2.htm) Members of the Pagan community, specifically the Wiccan community have been concerned with this development.

Furthermore, the added insult that Pagan Soldiers are denied religious council, Rites, and in some cases told to renounce their religions is, in my opinion, an outrage and should not be allowed.

There is also the request by some that President Bush recognize one of the founding laws of Wicca and many newer forms of Witchcraft—specifically, being, "If it harm none, do as thou wilt," which equates a right to be a conscientious objector for religious reasons.

For my purposes, I will focus on Wicca among other reasons because, I am Wiccan.

There is the concern that since Wicca specifically does not have a Bible of sorts it does not qualify. I would challenge that. I would say that we do have religious works held in common. These text include: The Wiccan Rede, The Witches’ Creed, The Charge of the Goddess, and The Charge of the God.

But there is no church, is another qualm. In Wicca as in Shintoism—the church, the most sacred of places is nature. Furthermore, if there was no church why should we have Priests and Priestess’, which we do.

What about a base of followers? Currently, about half or 50,000-300,000 of all American Pagans are Wiccans, so that’s about 100,000-600,000 people that fall under the heading “Pagan.” (http://www.pen-tulsa.org/pr-factsheet-wicca.html)

My requests are meager, while understandably not simple, and I hope that those who read this agree with my position:

 Religious freedom, be just that—free. As long as there is no harm being done, why are we denying this right?

 Wicca and other Pagan sects such as Druidism (Neo-Pagan), Druidism (Celtic), Asatrú, Shamanism and other Pagan beliefs are acknowledged as religions without diminishing any other religion as all are inherently good choices.

 Religious intolerance and ignorance be a thing of the past and not just something that is and we shove into a corner, rather than deal with.

Sincerely,

The Undersigned

The Religious Tolerance Petition to President Bush, and those who believe as he does was created by and written by Melanie R. Brown a.k.a. Ravenwood (foxyfoxbabe@yahoo.com).  This petition is hosted here at www.PetitionOnline.com as a public service. There is no endorsement of this petition, express or implied, by Artifice, Inc. or our sponsors. For technical support please use our simple Petition Help form.

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