Overview

Lt. Col. Robert L. Maginnis (U.S. Army, Ret.) has written a paper for the conservative Christian group, the Family Research Council (FRC). _1,2 He is the director of their Military Readiness Project. The paper seems to have been triggered by a boycott of some conservative Christian groups against the U.S. Army.

The FRC was initially organized by Focus on the Family, another conservative Christian organization, under the leadership of Gary Bauer, a candidate for the presidency of the U.S. in the year 2000. 

The conclusion of the paper is that the "Pentagon should withdraw recognition of Wicca for readiness reasons." Maginnis feels that certain religious rights of Wiccans in the army should be terminated, because Wiccans are a threat to unit cohesion, morale, and efficiency in the Army. 

The following is our interpretation of Maginnis' paper. You should read the entire text of his paper to get the full flavor of his objections. ₁ Maginnis raised the following points: 

Wicca is a valid religion:

He recognizes that Wicca has been formally recognized as a valid religion by the Army since 1996. He did mention that many Wiccan groups have been given tax exempt status. Unfortunately he did not mention that:

	The Army actually recognized Wicca much earlier. Since 1978, various editions of its chaplains' guide which deals with minority religions, have including Wicca.
	Various U.S. courts have also recognized Wicca as a valid religion (e.g. a 1988 decision by a U.S. district court).

	Wicca is not a fringe religion. It has been active in the U.S. for about 5 decades. Wiccans have taken part in many inter-faith conferences, such as the World's Parliament of Religions. They have about 200,000 members in the U.S.
	Each religion that asks to be recognized by the US military is not automatically accepted. Religions are considered on their own merits, and must meet military requirements. For example, the Wiccans at Ft. Hood TX had to agree to requirements governing ritual clothing and restrictions on the use of their ritual athames before they were accepted by the DOD.
	Wiccans and other minority religions have not been "granted special benefits." They have merely been allowed to use base facilities for their rituals. It is the larger religions which have been granted special privileges. For example, the military hires chaplains, provides office support, and usually provides an on-base religious meeting place for its Christian, Jewish and often Muslim soldiers.

	Diversity: It is quite possible to maintain an army that is totally male, totally white, totally heterosexual and totally monotheistic. However, in its wisdom, the U.S. army became integrated a few decades ago; they have allowed women into an increasing range of assignments. They do not reject those gays and lesbians who stay in the closet. Finally, they are now formally recognizing small minority religions. At each step of the way, doomsayers raised the specter of damaged military preparedness. History has shown their concerns to be without merit. As armies are increasingly directed at peace keeping, an force that is racially, sexually and religiously diverse sends a powerful message to the people being helped. Kosovo and Bosnia are two potent examples of the power of religious diversity in the military.
	Monotheism: Maginnis apparently wants to add a new religious requirement for joining the U.S. army: the belief in monotheism. This would exclude Agnostics, Atheists, Buddhists, Ethical Culturalists, Humanists, and a few others from serving, but would allow Wiccans, Hindus and followers of all of the large religions in America: Muslims and Jews are the only large religions in U.S. society that believe in a God who is a single entity, indivisible.  Christians are generally Trinitarian - they follow a form of monotheism that is quite different from Islam and Judaism: they believe in a single God who has three aspects: a Father, Son and Holy Spirit. Some even have a pantheons of supernatural entities to whom their members pray, including the Trinity, the Virgin Mary, and  hundreds of saints.  Wiccans hold a belief that is almost identical to Christianity. They are generally Binitarian - they follow a form of monotheism: they believe in a single deity who has two aspects: a female Goddess and a male God.
	Religious intolerance: He implies that religious intolerance by Christians and Jews towards Wiccans is a valid reason for eliminating Wiccans from the armed forces. There remains even today in the armed forces some racial bigotry. But the DOD chooses to fight this by teaching and reqiring tolerance, rather than allowing discrimination against minority races. Some degree of sexism remains. Again, the DOD teaches tolerance rather than expel female soldiers. There will always be religious bigotry intolerance and hatred. But the DOD is teaching acceptance. Their only other option is to expel, or limit the religious rights, of followers of minority religions. And this is clearly unconstitutional.

He implies that Wicca is not only un-Christian and un-Judaic, but is a "direct affront" to those religions. He links Wicca in America with condemnations of "Witchcraft" and "Sorcery" in the Bible.

	Even if modern-day Wicca were similar to the practices translated as "Witchcraft" and "Sorcery" in some English translations of the Bible, the 1st Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires that the government and its agencies not discriminate against religious groups.
	Although various English translations of the Bible do condemn Witchcraft, these references clearly have nothing to do with Wicca: The term "Wiccan" is well defined. It refers to a follower of a NeoPagan religion, who is specifically required to follow the Wiccan Rede and do no harm to others. "Witch" and "Witchcraft" have so many mutually conflicting meanings that they should never be used in essays, reports -- and particularly in English translations of the Bible In order to understand what the Exodus 22:18 and Deuteronomy 18:10-11 really mean, it is necessary to consult the original Hebrew. The passages condemn m'khaseph who are evil sorcerers using spoken spells to harm others. Wiccans are specifically prohibited from hurting others by their Wiccan Rede. Similarly Galatians 5:19 is often translated as condemning sorcery and/or witchcraft. The original Greek word here is pharmakia from which the English word "pharmacy" is derived. It refers to the practice of preparing poisonous potions to harm or kill others. Again, Wiccans are prohibited from following this or any other practices that harms people. The Bible clearly condemns evil sorcerers, not benign Wiccans.
	Maginnis writes that "Witchcraft, also known as Wicca, the craft, or the craft of the wise, is a religion." He is correct in stating that Wicca is often called "the craft," and "the craft of the wise." But "Witchcraft" is in no way a synonym for "Wicca." The terms "Witch" and "Witchcraft" have been used to refer to African native healers, evil sorcerers, Satanists, very beautiful women, very ugly women, a person who searches for water, a follower of syncretistic Caribbean religions such as Santeria, Vodun, a male magician, a wife who is not submissive to her husband, and an expert in their field. Many Wiccans avoid associating the term "Witchcraft" with their religion because of the mass confusion that it causes. Others wish to retain the term because to abandon it would be disrespectful for the innocent people slaughtered by the Christian church during the Burning Times. We feel that writers should avoid the term, unless they wish to project hatred, misunderstanding and intolerance.
	The phrase: "A witch holds pagan beliefs, but not all pagans are witches." is, by itself, meaningless. That is because the term "witch" has so many mutually contradictory meanings. The statement "A Wiccan holds Neopagan beliefs, but not all Neopagans are Wiccans" is valid.
	Maginnis makes the common Christian error of equating Wicca with Druidism and other Neopagan religions. The term "Neopagan" describes a class of religions; it is similar to the term "Eastern religions." Within Neopaganism is a number of different religions, including Asatru, Druidism, and Wicca. Within Wicca are a number of traditions, which resemble the denominations of Christianity.

	Baha'i: "And if thine eyes be turned towards justice, choose thou for thy neighbour that which thou choosest for thyself."
	Christianity: "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them."
	Buddhism: "Hurt not others in ways that you yourself would find hurtful."
	Islam: "Not one of you is a believer until he loves for his brother what he loves for himself."
	Judaism & Christianity: "...thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself."
	Native American Spirituality: "Respect for all life is the foundation."