This article is from a article from an American Inmate. if you would like to discuss this our any other aspect of this site please join the fourm. If you have family or friends inside and they would like to tell their story please email the webmaster webmaster@cyber-cauldron.com if you areintested in becoming a Visiting Minister (VM) or a Writing Minister (WM) visit our VM & WM section.
The Inquisition Is Over ... Or Is It by Steven Clark
Practicing any type of pagan religion while incarcerated in prison is like a Christian trying to practice their religion under the Roman Empire!
You have to think about the things you will stand up for, fight for, and even die for. What issues are you willing to speak out for in public?
We have worship grounds at the prison, and our stone statues that represent the God and Goddess have been removed by prison officials as unauthorized. Our statue, a 500 lb. stone carving of the Green Man, has been defaced by prison officials. Our sweat rites have been taken away. The things that we have been doing for the past five years are now being denied with no viable explanation.
Feasting is a sacred meal in honor of the Goddesses and Gods; it is one of the gifts of The Dagda, The Good God, gave to humankind. Raw foods such as pork is placed in the fire as a special relationship and rapport with the Goddess and God and is a way of bringing together the tuatha, or family, those incarnated both here on Earth and and in other otherworldly realms. After the sacrifices and ritual, the members eat their special meal. Our use of the sweathouse is a sincerely help religious belief. For the mane different religions, the sweathouse has different meanings, but that does not make it any less meaningful on a spiritual level; in fact, a sweat in one's ritual enriches the spiritual journey.
The supervising Chaplain in the Nevada Department of Corrections (NODC), in her letter to me, states:
Following a statewide teleconference on August 31, 2004, a revision of AR-810 was approved. Section 1.2 states that: Any inmate may practice his/her recognized religion engaging in "Any special practice, custom, or activity, approved be the Director through the Supervising Chaplain, that is proved, by and outside sponsor or non-prison resource associated with that Faith Group, to be a mandatory tenet or activity required a part of the practice of that religion or faith."
As of this writing, we have not found any evidence that the use of a sweatlodge is actually a bona fide "mandatory tenet" of the practice of Druidism, or any other European-based pagan religion.... Until we are shown otherwise, it is assumed that the use of a sweatloadge does not have a serious religious meaning for the Wiccans, Druids, or other European-based pagan religions....
We need some academic/historical demonstration of the religious significance. The actual documents themselves will have to be presented to the Supervising Chaplain..
The Rev. Dr. Jane Foraker-Thompson Supervising Chaplain,NDOC
Prison officials are obligated to treat religions in an even-handed manner, under the color of law. All Earth-based religions should be afforded a reasonable opportunity of pursuing their faith comparable to the opportunity afforded fellow prisoners who adhere to religious precepts in religious sweat rites.
In other words, the better treatment of one religion, allowing them to sweat and cook, and the restrictions imposed on other Earth-based religions, namely, Druidism, Wicca, and Odinism, do not server a compelling governmental interest.
The First Amendment of the Constitution is being violated by the "mandatory tenet" term. The word mandatory violates the Establishment Clause in that religious functionaries (the Supervising Chaplain of NDOC) exercise an interpretation of church doctrine over Earth-based religions with a different belief system.
While all Catholics are Christian, not all Christians are Catholic. The word mandatory is poorly chosen in the pagan belief system, as individual accountability and responsibility are all that is necessary to make a practice mandatory.
Each and every world religion has a different way of purifying themselves before each ritual. Hindus in India bathe in the Ganges, Muslims perform ceremonial washing and Native American, Nordic, Celtic, and other European religions use the sweathouse.
Page 146 of The Celtic Shaman by John Matthews states that the Teach-an-Alias, which means sweathouses, were used by the Celtic people.
Our mythological tales constitute support for the beliefs or a people for the same reasons as the gospels do for the Christian church. Easily retold, literally intelligible due to their concrete nature, and capable of being interpreted for a deeper reading, they are indispensable reference for a deep religious, spiritual life.
Thus, it is important to pay the closest attention to these mythological tales if we wish to discern the great lines of pagan worship. This does not mean that everything should be taken literally, especially in regards to ruthlessly waged wars, fantastic combats, and human sacrifice. The majority of these tales were written and retouched by clerics anxious to affirm the primacy of Christianity. But such as they are, the Irish, Welsh, Brittanic, and Arthurian tales are documents, and it is up to us to analyze them in a critical fashion by comparing them with what history and archeology tell us.
Our mythological documents are no more fantastic than the stories within the Christian Bible of raising the dead, healing the sick, controlling the winds, and parting the Red Sea. the Wiccans, Druids, and Odinist who are incarcerated, within the NDOC are being denied essential items for practice of these faiths and are suffering other violations of the First Amendment and the Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act of 2000cc Federal injunctive relief is necessary to correct these violations, and skilled legal representation is necessary for potential class-action litigation.
We need you help!
If you can provide us with, or help us obtain, legal representation,
please contact the following individual by mail:
For the Wiccans: Steven Clark #54280
For the Druids: Steven Clark #54280
for the Odinist: Steven Clark #54280
Nevada State Prison
P.O. Box 607
Carson City,
NV 89702-0607