Keeping The Witch Out Of The Brew

Well this certainly isn't very nice! Why can't the Wiccan say a prayer? I'm certain that most people have no idea who Wiccans are nor how they worship.

"A federal appeals court Thursday ruled against a Wiccan priestess who argued she should be eligible to offer the opening prayer at a county meeting.

Cynthia Simpson sued Chesterfield County after she was excluded from a list of religious leaders allowed to pray at the Board of Supervisors' meetings. In a letter to Simpson, the county explained the invocations 'are traditionally made to a divinity that is consistent with the Judeo-Christian tradition.'

Wiccans consider themselves witches, pagans or neo-pagans, and say their religion is based on respect for the earth, nature and the cycle of the seasons.

A lower court judge in 2003 ruled the county's policy violated the Constitution by stating a preference for a set of religious beliefs. A three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals disagreed.

The appeals court wrote that Chesterfield County has done a good job of including leaders from a variety of religions to offer prayers and therefore abided by the Constitution by not advancing any one faith.

'This isn't right,' said Simpson, 49, a member of a local group known as the Broom Riders Association. 'I've been a separation of church and stater all my life, long before I was a witch. ... That's what was driving me all along.'

She said she'll appeal."

I find it incredibly ironic that people get all bent out of shape over Wiccans and other pagan religions yet fail to realize that many Christian holidays and traditions are steeped in the pagan rituals that were being practiced by people when Christianity was forced upon them. It made the transition easier. Further, some pagans have beliefs very close to the two wedge issues that Bush used to secure his base. So, I really don't see what the big deal would be in letting a Wiccan offer prayer. Maybe they're afraid she'll be casting spells on them.