It's Finally Made National News, Albeit With Errors
When you read the full story, you'll see that the VA person says there will be a decision "soon." What they DON'T say is why we've waited almost 10 years for that decision.
Further, the allegation that the VA needed a "head of the religion" was inaccurate. How would one find the head of the Atheists? The head of the Protestants? They settled for the head of the religious organization requesting the marker. And guess what, those requests HAD BEEN SUBMITTED by several organizations. Each one was told either that there would be a decision "soon" or that there would be further information required after they finished their "new guidelines." When the issue became more political, they issued these "new guidelines" and said that the previous applications that had been pending, would now have to comply with the new guidelines, which included having an actual dead veteran of the Pagan faith.
Guess what? Rosemary Kooiman's husband Abe WAS such a veteran. If the VA wasn't actively discriminating against Wiccans, that application, which fit both the OLD guidelines AND the new ones, would have been immediately approved, and Rosemary would have been able to see her husband's wishes fulfilled before her death.
Why do I say that the VA was actively discriminating? Because during the time period that Pagans and Wiccans were being stonewalled, the VA approved OTHER requests. How do I know this? They sent me the applications and the responses under a FOIA request.
Scripps Howard News Service:
While President Bush laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery, a self-declared witch embarked on a clandestine mission to mark a grave most dear to her.
It was 2003, and neo-pagan high priestess Rosemary Kooiman, 75, was determined that the gravesite of her recently departed husband, Abraham, bear a Pentacle as the symbol of the Wiccan faith the two shared.
Unlike thousands of headstones bearing a Christian cross, Jewish Star of David, Islamic Crescent and Star, or other religious emblems, Abraham Kooiman's had none because the Department of Veterans Affairs does not permit symbols of Wicca and related pagan sects to be depicted on government-issued stones or markers.
Taking advantage of the attention turned elsewhere that day, Rosemary Kooiman affixed a vinyl Pentacle _ a five-pointed star within a circle _ to the gravesite of her husband, a decorated World War II combat veteran.
That guerrilla action by Kooiman came as part of a decade-long battle by those of her faith to bring recognition to troops and veterans who are Wiccans and believers in other "nature" religions.
Long wrongfully tagged by the misinformed as being Satan worshippers or the casters of evil spells, they say their ancient religion is a peaceful, benign one centered on celebrating nature through rituals, meditations and other spiritual practices.