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Interesting question -- I'll refrain from measures that go to the religious intention, but, within the context of your thread, what legal recognition has been accorded?
Else anyone could claim the privilege and protection afforded by the Constitution, for any practice
The
Civil rights Act of 1964 states
"To be a bona fide religious belief entitled to protection under either the First Amendment or Title VII, a belief must be sincerely held, and within the believer's own scheme of things religious." (USCA Const. Amend 1: Civil Rights Act 1964 701 et seq., 717 as amended 42 USCA 2000-16)
[/FONT][FONT=trebuchet ms,arial,helvetica]Some court decisions which have recognized Wicca are:
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[FONT=trebuchet ms,arial,helvetica]An important ruling of a
state Supreme Court was in
Georgia: Roberts v. Ravenwood Church of Wicca, (249 Ga. 348) in 1982. It was similar to Dettmer v Landon, below.[/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,arial,helvetica]The
District Court of Virginia declared in 1985 (
Dettmer v Landon, 617 F Suup 592 [E. Dst. Va.]) that Wicca is "
clearly a religion for First Amendment purposes....Members of the Church sincerely adhere to a fairly complex set of doctrines relating to the spiritual aspect of their lives, and in doing so they have 'ultimate concerns' in much the same way as followers of more accepted religions. Their ceremonies and leadership structure, their rather elaborate set of articulated doctrine, their belief in the concept of another world, and their broad concern for improving the quality of life for others gives them at least some facial similarity to other more widely recognized religions." 1 This was a landmark case.[/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,arial,helvetica]Judge J. Butzner of the
Fourth Circuit Federal Appeals Court confirmed the
Dettmer v Landon decision (799F 2nd 929) in 1986. He said:
"We agree with the District Court that the doctrine taught by the Church of Wicca is a religion." Butzner J. 1986 Fourth Circuit.[/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,arial,helvetica]A case was brought in 1983 in the
U.S. District Court in Michigan. The court
found that 3 employees of a prison had restricted an inmate in the performance of his Wiccan rituals. This "
deprived him of his First Amendment right to freely exercise his religion and his Fourteenth Amendment right to equal protection of the laws."
More details[/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,arial,helvetica]A case Wheeler v Condom was argued before a
U.S. Postal Service Administrative Judge regarding who had the right to pick up mail addressed to The Church of Y Tylwyth Teg (a.k.a. Y Tylwyth Teg), and The Association of Cymmry Wicca and delivered to a Georgia post office box. The 1989 decision recognized both groups as valid religious organizations.
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[FONT=trebuchet ms,arial,helvetica]Many other cases are listed in the Welsh Witchcraft web site.
3[/FONT] [FONT=trebuchet ms,arial,helvetica] [/FONT][FONT=trebuchet ms,arial,helvetica]Wicca has never been considered by the U.S. Supreme Court. However, that court once ruled on the Santeria religion. The case was:
Church of Lukumi Babalu Aye, Inc. and Ernesto Pichardo v. City of Hialeah, 508 U.S. 520 (1993). This case involved the legality of animal sacrifices which are not a practice of Wiccans. However, the ruling did recognize the rights of a religion which is
very different from Christianity and many other organized religions in America. If the legality and status of Wicca were ever to be challenged in court, the
Santeria ruling would likely be considered a precedent for the court to follow.[/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,arial,helvetica]Government recognition[/FONT]
[FONT=trebuchet ms,arial,helvetica]Wiccan and other Neopagan groups have been recognized by governments in the US and Canada and given tax exempt status. Wiccan priests and priestesses have been given access to penitentiaries in both countries, and the privilege of performing handfastings/marriages. On 2001-MAR-15, the list of religious preferences in the
U.S. Air Force Personnel Data System (MilMod) was augmented to include: Dianic Wicca, Druidism, Gardnerian Wicca, Pagan, Seax Wicca, Shamanism, and Wicca.
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IS WICCA A RELIGION
:biggrin1:
