[1]Air Force Academy - Stonehenge on the Rockies? This stone circle will soon be dedicated as the U.S. Air Force Academy's first official neo-pagan place of worship. [1]
Monday, February 01, 2010
By Joseph Abrams
Air Force Academy
Stonehenge on the Rockies? This stone circle will soon be dedicated as the U.S. Air Force Academy's first official neo-pagan place of worship.
#story .gallery_container P.caption { DISPLAY: none! important } #story .gallery_container P.strut { COLOR: #000 }Stonehenge on the Rockies? This stone circle will soon be dedicated as the U.S. Air Force Academy's first official neo-pagan place of worship.
Wiccan cadets and officers on the Colorado Springs base have been convening for over a decade, but the school will officially dedicate a newly built circle of stones on about March 10, putting the outdoor sanctuary on an equal footing with the Protestant, Catholic, Jewish and Buddhist chapels on the base.
"When I first arrived here, Earth-centered cadets didn't have anywhere to call home," said Sgt. Robert Longcrier, the lay leader of the neo-pagan groups on base.
"Now, they meet every Monday night, they get to go on retreats, and they have a stone circle."
Academy officials had no tally of the number of Wiccan cadets at the school of 4,500, but said they had been angling to set up a proper space since the academic year began.
"That's one of the newer groups," said John Van Winkle, a spokesman for the academy. "They've had a worship circle on base for some time and we're looking to get them an official one."
The Air Force [1] recognizes several distinct forms of neo-paganism, including Dianic Wicca, Seax Wicca, Gardnerian Wicca, shamanism and Druidism, according to Pagan groups that track the information.
Since a 2004 survey of cadets on the base revealed dozens of instances of harassment and intolerance, superintendent Michael Gould has made religious tolerance a priority.
Yet Van Winkle, the academy spokesman, said he could not confirm whether the school's superintendent or senior staff would attend the dedication ceremony.
"(We) haven't gotten that far yet: First we have to get a date, and then once we get a date for the dedication ceremony we'll see who's going to be available for it," he told FoxNews.com [1].
"Once we get a date that's going to be the real driving force for who's going to attend."
Click here for more on this story from the Air Force Academy. [4]
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,584500,00.html?test=latestnews [5]
http://www.disclosureproject.com [8] TRUTH - EXTRA-TERRESTRIAL
Links:
[1] http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,584500,00.html?test=latestnews#
[2] http://www.foxnews.com/printer_friendly_story/0,3566,584500,00.html
[3] http://li326-157.members.linode.com/void%280%29
[4] http://www.usafa.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123187157
[5] http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,584500,00.html?test=latestnews
[6] http://realneo.us/blogs/questministries
[7] http://www.nationalwardogsmonument.org/
[8] http://www.disclosureproject.com/