At the Veterans Memorial Cemetery in the small town of Fernley, Nev., there is a wall of brass plaques for local heroes. But one space is blank. There is no memorial for Sgt. Patrick D. Stewart.
That’s because Stewart was a Wiccan, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has refused to allow a symbol of the Wicca religion — a five-pointed star within a circle, called a pentacle — to be inscribed on U.S. military memorials or grave markers.
The department has approved the symbols of 38 other faiths; about half are versions of the Christian cross. It also allows the Jewish Star of David, the Muslim crescent, the Buddhist wheel, the Mormon angel, the nine-pointed star of Baha’i and something that looks like an atomic symbol for atheists.
It seems to me that if you are going to have a government that is obliged to be neutral when it comes to the standing of different religions or a lack of religion acknowledge the faith on memorials to those who have died for the country, that acknowledgement should be done regardless of the deceased’s faith.
If you’re curious about which faiths’ symbols are currently permitted, the official list is available at the VA’s website.