Religious diversity in the military; "Progressive Muslims"

Diana Eck talks about the "no-nonsense" approach to religious diversity typical of the U.S. military. Recently a story hit the news about a Nevada National Guardsman, killed in Afghanistan, who (along with his wife and son) identified himself as Wiccan. Although (as Eck reports) he was permitted to list "Wicca" on his dog tag, it turns out that he cannot have the Wiccan pentacle (five-pointed star) on his memorial plaque in a military cemetary. The news story is here. This issue has spawned a certain amount of comment and contoversy in recent years: the left-leaning Alternet has a blog post about this particular incident, there was a similar news story in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer last fall, and Witchnet even has an ongoing campaign devoted to the "headstone campaign" (see also this page from Circle Sanctuary, the home community of the Nevada veteran mentioned above). The Revealer, a major religion-in-the-media (or "Godbeat") blog posted about it, as did Boing Boing.

I did a little digging and found that the Dept. of Veterans' Affairs actually has a list of thirty-five approved "emblems of belief" (pictured here; click for a larger view or visit the agency website), not including Wicca. There are some surprising items on the list (e.g. EK-Eckankar, the "Atheist atom," the Aaronic Order, and Sufism Reoriented); have a look.

Even more fascinating is this one-page PDF document, which explains how individuals can go about requesting that a new "emblem of belief" be added to the DVA's canonical list. Proposals must meet a few basic requirements, as indicated by the following list of documents that must be included with any such request (this is an excerpt):

[...]
2. A letter, signed by the recognized central head or primary contact person for the sponsoring organization, certifying that
   • the emblem is currently widely used and recognized as the symbol of the organization or its belief system,
   • the sponsoring organization supports addition of the emblem to the NCA list of emblems of belief; and,
   • the sponsoring organization does not promote activity that is illegal or contrary to public policy
3. A written description of
   • how the sponsoring organization’s belief/faith system is comprehensive in nature and addresses fundamental and ultimate questions, and
   • its organizational practices (such as regular services, ceremonial functions, existence of clergy, efforts at propagation, observance of holidays, or other characteristics of a traditional belief/faith system).
4. Information about the size and organizational structure of the organization, including total number of members and the location of the congregations
5. A 3-inch circular digitized black and white representation of the requested emblem that can be reproduced in a production line environment in stone or bronze without loss of graphic quality, and is free of copyright restrictions.

An interesting little list of the "ingredients" of a legitimate religion, from the perspective of the U.S. military. What would qualify under these guidelines? What would not? It seems to me that the authors of these guidelines are trying hard to be inclusive, and probably are, for the most part — but it's interesting what assumptions about the nature of "legitimate" religions are reflected here (for example, notice the very first requirement, which implies that a central organization must exist, capable of sponsoring or approving the application — this seems to me like it would rule out a lot of people). Also, the text includes this footnote at the end:

The emblems are meant to represent the personal beliefs practiced by a particular individual, and are not meant to represent any other type of affiliation. Requests for social, cultural, ethnic, fraternal, or military emblems will not be approved.

So, while you might be able to make a case for having your martial arts school count, your Elks lodge, MENSA membership, or passionate devotion to the environment probably won't.

Here's one more bit of interesting detail: the last few grafs of last October's story from Seattle.

Alford, with the National Cemetery Administration, said no emblems are being approved currently, because policies are being updated. Groups, including the Wiccans, will have to reapply under new guidelines, to be announced soon. "We want people to prove that there is a viable organization. ... We're not going to willy-nilly approve emblems until there is a need."

Asked about the long years of requests, she said the Wiccan groups started out with "a very scattered writing campaign. ... They never sent in an application from the head of the organization speaking for the Wiccans."

Stearns argued that Wiccans have no official head of the organization. "I want to know who the 'head' of the atheists is? Or even who is the head of the Hebrew faith or the head of Christian faith? How about the head of the Muslim faith?" he wrote.

But he said the archpriest of the Aquarian Tabernacle Church, Pete Davis, did provide the cemetery administration with complete information about the emblem, the organization, and its members.

The Aquarian Tabernacle Church, based on the banks of the Skykomish River in Index, draws on a mailing list of about 2,500 in Western Washington. Ceremonies can draw up to 700 to "The Tab," which includes fire pits, a drum circle and goddess shrine.

"I'm sure somebody at the VA thinks we eat babies or curse cattle. That's nonsense," said Davis, who sent off a letter Monday to the VA's Office of General Counsel describing the cemetery administration's actions as a violation of constitutional rights.

"When you study comparative religions, it's amazing to see the similarities, see we all do the same thing: Give homage to our maker.

"We just do it differently."

(Emphasis added.)

Amina Wadud: "I am a nigger and you will just have to put up with my blackness."

I thought today's class was fascinating, incidentally. Our discussion continued till maybe ten past five. For me, it just underscored the lesson that despite platitudes like those uttered Wiccan representative above — we all just give homage to our maker, but in our own special ways — sometimes religious difference really can raise some very difficult, prickly issues, such as when religious traditions regarding the relationship between men and women contradict the norms held by the majority society. For a very dramatic account of some of these tensions, there is an interesting article by Tarek Fatah, a "progressive" Muslim based in Canada, reporting an incendiary and inflammatory address by Prof. Amina Wadud a year ago in Toronto. Wadud criticized Muslims for "internalized racism" — that is to say, prejudice against Muslims of African descent — and discussed her inability to accept certain parts of the Qur'an as genuinely divine in origin because of her own moral revulsion against them (e.g. the stipulation of amputation as punishment for theft).

By the way, Gabrielle, I'll try to get you — and everybody — some solid information on those projects as soon as I can.