British Expatriate Network

Wiccan Priestess Loses High Court Appeal



The Supreme Court rejected an appeal on Tuesday from a Wiccan priestess angry that local leaders would not let her open their sessions with a prayer.

Instead, clergy from more traditional religions were invited to pray at governmental meetings in Chesterfield County, Va., a suburb of Richmond.

Lawyers for Cynthia Simpson had told justices in a filing that most of the invocations are led by Christians. Simpson said she wanted to offer a generalized prayer to the "creator of the universe."

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.

Simpson sued and initially won before a federal judge who said the county's policy was unconstitutional because it stated a preference for a set of religious beliefs.

Simpson lost at the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which found that the county had changed its policy and directed clerics to avoid invoking the name of Jesus.

The Supreme Court is already hearing one religious case this fall. That cases raises the question of whether federal agents can stop a church from using hallucinogenic tea in its religious services. But this case would have provided a better opportunity for the court and new Chief Justice John Roberts to deal with government and religion.

Simpson is a member of a group known as the Broom Riders Association.

The county "issues invitations to deliver prayers to all Christian, Muslim, and Jewish religious leaders in the country. It refuses to issue invitations to Native Americans, Hindus, Buddhists, Sikhs, Wiccans, or members of any other religion," justices were told in her appeal by American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Rebecca Glenberg.

The county's attorney, Steven Micas, said that the county's practice was in line with the Supreme Court's endorsement of legislative prayer as long as it did not proselytize, advance or disparage a particular religion.

The case is Simpson v. Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors, 05-195.



THE BROOM RIDERS ASSN smile

Don't these nut-jobs have anything better to do with their lives?

Why not let the Wiccan say her bit? I'm personally fine with the idea of a different prayer at every meeting.

Aparantly not .

Who is the nut-job though?

The one who worships something that probably doesn't exist or the one who worships things we can all enjoy and look at every day?

I didn't know that being a 'native American' was a religion. shock

Maybe I'll convert to native Americanism...... or maybe I'll become an African American? Perhaps an Asian Amercian.....

It's not much of a religion but you get free peyote and a casino out of it.

You mean 'temple to the God of the hallowed roulette wheel'?

Works for me...

/it's a roulette goddess actually
//Lady Luck, yo

If the local governments wish to invite local clergy in to pray it is up to them to choose who comes in, surely.

Why they can't just pray themselves, I really don't know. Does the mayor of wherever invite the local priest in to say grace before every meal? This is the falsehood of mainstream Christianity. These priests, bishops etc., are held up on a pedestal which only Jesus Christ deserves to stand on. We (Christians) are *ALL* called to minister, are *ALL* called to teach. We don't necessarily get called to do all this stuff but we are certainly called to do something. A priest or bishop should be nothing more than a leader of teaching, of ministering, or whatever he is asked to advise on. Unfortunately many rely on their priest to do all the work - and forget to learn, teach, minister, evangelise themselves.

Yeah... but then it gets all murky. This religion that believes in an invisible sky god is okay, but another religion with an equally invisible sky god and the same be nice to each other philosophy isn't? Who gets to decide the 'acceptable' religion? You have to be real careful over here with that whole separation of church and state thang. Plus you'd probably get some nut-job saying "If I can't pray, why should I pay taxes?"

/Broom Riders Association is a dumb name though

We've had invocations at meetings I've attended where the Presiding Officer prefers not to do the Pledge of Allegiance and instead, reads a short, thought-provoking piece or has everyone close their eyes as he or she talks about something slightly spiritual but non-denominational.

I prefer those to the Pledge which is a bit dry, robotic and half of us don't even recite it anyway as we are not US citizens.

I believe the original agenda item was for a prayer but working at a university, there is a lot of diversity and a prayer would not really work here, except at a specific, religious meeting such as 'Campus Crusade for Christ' - speaking of whom, a bunch of them were having a quick pray outside my office yesterday when I left to go home so hopefully they didn't mind me waltzing through on my way to the car.

EXACTLY there is evidence of the sky, earth, sun, and water things that religions like wiggans worship and that believe was around long before the * commercial * type religions where thought of, and not even a whisper of prove to back up the diety based faiths ....
Of course you have the alternative to these two, a lot of mumbling jews dancing around with chickens on there heads .. yom kippur

If I was a Wiggan, I'd worship Des Lynam or Donald Trump - or maybe the David Whelan/Paul Jewell setup.

Are diety based faiths just another fad?

"Wiggan"?

I've been getting it wrong all these years and I should have been worshipping Paul Daniels, Burt Reynolds and the dead bloke from Grange Hill sad

/off to light a Wigga Man
//stuffed with orange bri-nylon toupees