With the Fourth of July fading into the pile of torn off calendar pages, I finally have some time to actually comment on a very unique and very important event I attended on that auspicious day.
The United States Constitution sets forth the basics of how the government of the nation should be run. It takes care of the details–like the three branches of the government, what the Federal government is in charge of, the nuts and bolts of it all. Then, tacked on shortly after that blueprint for the Grand Experiment was put into action, were ten amendments. They were not afterthoughts, as one may suppose. No, they were things that went above and beyond those basic nuts and bolts.
We know them collectively as The Bill of Rights.
The very first one is, perhaps, the most important 45 words you will ever read. In those words is the essence of what most of us consider America.
Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the government for a redress of grievances.
Those 45 little words, strung together in that particular way, guarantee us the ability to not only speak our minds, but to connect with the Universe as we see fit. In those simple, straightforward words, our Founding Fathers have told us all one of the great secrets of creation: free interaction is the best way to endure.
Over the years since those words were written, there have been many challenges to them. Some have happened in a court of law; others in the court of public opinion. The most dangerous of those challenges, though, has sneaked in surreptitiously, cloaked in rhetoric that sounds an awful lot like those 45 words but with a distinctly exclusionary message.
That attack has been on our freedom of religion and, because the two are inextricably intertwined, our freedom of speech.
On the Fourth of July, that most patriotic of our celebratory days when we revel in our freedoms, I attended a rally organized by groups that have been fighting for the proper recognition of a number of religions by our government. Most recently, they won the right for Wiccan veterans to have they symbol of their faith, the pentacle, placed on their headstones in Arlington Cemetery.
The Pagan Religious Rights Rally, organized by Caroline Kenner, featured many of the players in the Pentacle Quest fight, but more importantly it featured those brave men and women who have served and continue to serve our nation as warriors. These people impress me greatly. Not just because they do a job that I hope I never have to do, but because they find so much strength in their spirituality–because they have such a strong connection to the Universe.
Each and every one of the speakers had something important to say. We all need to hear what these people–these witches and Wiccans and Druids and Asatru, these “minority” religions that most in the nation don’t even know exist–have to say. We all need to find that strength, faith, dedication and focus within ourselves.
Rev. Barry Lynn, the executive director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, is not a Pagan, but he knows the value of those First Amendment freedoms. His words were both moving and scathing as he took the current President and his cronies to task on their oppressive and exclusionary religious views. (MP3 14MB)
Rev. Selena Fox, founder of Circle Sanctuary and an outspoken activist voice, loudly and proudly called our attention to those great men and women who protect all of our freedoms, regardless of color or creed. (MP3 10.5MB)
Rev. Michael Akin, the Army advisor for the Military Pagan Network, shared first-hand stories of how faith is an integral part of battlefield life and how all soldiers need to have their spirituality properly addressed. (MP3 13MB)
Rev. Marcia Drewry, of Sacred Well Congregation, again brought first hand accounts of the life of a Pagan in the military. She will be one of the well-heard voices in the quest to get an official Pagan
or Wiccan chaplain in place to meet the spiritual needs of enlisted Pagans. (MP3 16.5MB)
Rev. Skip Ellison, a Druid and leader in the ADF, is beginning the fight to get a Druid symbol approved for headstones of fallen soldiers. (MP3 6MB)
Stephen McNallen, of the Asatru Folk Assembly, is fighting for the right of those modern soldiers of the Asatru faith to be able to adorn their headstones with they 1500 year old symbol of Thor’s hammer, just as many warriors before them did. (MP3 8MB)
Caroline W. Casey, visionary activist astrologer and host of Coyote Network News, rallied and regaled us all with her talk on the importance of symbolism and active change. (MP3 15MB)
Finally, to bring together the over 100 people gathered for the rally, author and Pagan elder Diana L. Paxson led the group in a ritual invoking the great spirits of our Founding Fathers. (MP3 29MB)
I can not think of a better way I could have spent three hours of my Independence Day. It was a reaffirming celebration of the diversity and drive that, until recently, have made this Great Experiment of Democracy an unqualified success. It also illustrates exactly the kind of hard work and dedication we will need to ensure that the experiment continues.
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