The Wiccan And The County Board

Times-Dispatch, Thors-Day.

"The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia has filed a petition on behalf of Cynthia Simpson, a witch of the Wiccan faith, seeking to reverse a ruling that upheld Chesterfield County's decision to bar her from giving the invocation at Board of Supervisors meetings.

In 2002, Simpson, who calls herself a witch, asked to be placed on the list of religious leaders invited to deliver the invocation at county board meetings. She later received a letter from Chesterfield's county attorney that said leaders on the list are restricted to those within the Judeo-Christian faith."

Now my friend Hark is going to yell that this is just another case of the ACLU wasting time and money pursuing wild and wooly radical liberal ideology, but, being Wiccan myself, I have to stand with Amanda at Pandagon, writing on Freys-Day, on this one.

I think we're all sick to death of maintaining the polite fiction that the theocrats just want a generic show of religion in the public space, and this is the sort of case that should expose the lie for what it is. Hopefully this case will get national attention so that theocrat leaders are forced into an unteneable position--either supporting the rights of a hated religion, which will piss off their followers, or coming out and admitting that they think their religion gives them special rights they want to deny the rest of us.

So what do you say? Is the ACLU correct to pursue this case further? Do you think Dobson et al will cry foul if the UCLA succeed? Will that expose them as intolerant bigots? Do you in fact think judeo-christianity shouldhave a privileged position in American life and if so, why?

Regards, Cernig
Saturns-Day.

UPDATE Colorado Luis has some more details on the case, including some contradictory satements made by the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in the original judgement that upheld the County's ban on Simpson. Seems the judgement was issued by J. Harvie Wilkinson, III, who is a strong contender to be a Bush pick for the Supremes if he gets a chance.