In the ongoing struggle by Pagans in the American military to gain the same level of respect and treatment as other faiths, it seems the Canadian military is showing the way forward.

“Canadian Forces chaplains are in Afghanistan for everyone. Maj. Malcolm Berry smiles as he recalls being approached on the NATO base in Kandahar a few weeks ago by a group of soldiers of the Wiccan faith – a neo-pagan religion strongly tied to nature. “They wanted to welcome the spring in a ceremony where they are very thankful to Mother Earth and the new moon with pagan prayers,” said Berry, the senior chaplain for Task Force Afghanistan. “We had no difficulty with that. We just didn’t want them to do it ‘sky-clad’ (naked) in this environment because it would be too dangerous.” The six Wiccans – a Canadian and five Americans – were invited to hold their service outside the Christian fellowship centre. They were given water, candles and food that they were welcomed to eat inside the centre after the ceremony. The Wiccans were treated with the same respect as any Roman Catholic, Protestant, Jew, Muslim, Hindu or Buddhist.”

How refreshing! Pagan soldiers given the same treatment and options that any other faith group would receive. Now if our own government would follow suit and quit stonewalling the pentacle for veteran grave markers, blackballing would-be Pagan chaplains, and trying to pass legislation that would privilege Christians in the military we might be able to see that being supportive of each soldiers own faith expression isn’t damaging to discipline or morale. In fact its just the opposite.

“Maj. Lisa Elliot, a Wiccan, said being allowed to openly celebrate her beliefs makes her a better soldier and makes it easier to serve her tour in Afghanistan. ‘You are challenged when you come over here just to deal with the situation, and by somebody supporting your faith it makes it less challenging,’ said Elliot. ‘It gave me the extra energy to go on with my job. I felt re-grounded. I felt at home.’”

Lets hope our own military starts to see that accommodating our Pagan soldiers isn’t just the right thing to do, but the best thing to do.

Tags: Canada, Chaplaincy, Military, Pagan Soldiers, Paganism, Veteran Pentacle Quest, Wicca