British Government Denies Wiccan Temple
Monday June 23, 2008
From the UK, the Stockport Express reports that the British government is denying a Wiccan temple the right to declare itself a place of worship. A letter from the General Register Office to high priestess Sandra Davis says that Wicca is "incompatible with the ancient Places of Worship Act 1855." It goes on to say that Wicca doesn't "involve worship of a supreme being so is not legitimate."
Davis, and the rest of the rather large Wiccan community in her area, are understandably outraged. She's filing an appeal with the Home Office, in hopes that the decision will be reversed.
Although the story includes the phrase "Lord and Lordess", which is one I've never heard used before, it seems like Davis may have just cause for complaint. Wicca does indeed honor deity, although in most cases it's a pair of supreme beings, rather than just one. From what I've been able to gather with a little bit of Google-fu, the Places of Worship Registration Act is more of a paperwork sort of thing, rather than having any specific doctrinal requirements. Do any of our UK readers know if there's a precedent for this? Are there other government-recognized Wiccan temples in the United Kingdom?
Davis, and the rest of the rather large Wiccan community in her area, are understandably outraged. She's filing an appeal with the Home Office, in hopes that the decision will be reversed.
Although the story includes the phrase "Lord and Lordess", which is one I've never heard used before, it seems like Davis may have just cause for complaint. Wicca does indeed honor deity, although in most cases it's a pair of supreme beings, rather than just one. From what I've been able to gather with a little bit of Google-fu, the Places of Worship Registration Act is more of a paperwork sort of thing, rather than having any specific doctrinal requirements. Do any of our UK readers know if there's a precedent for this? Are there other government-recognized Wiccan temples in the United Kingdom?
Comments
Wow. I would think Great Britain would allow a Wiccan temple! I am amazed that they do not. I hope she wins her appeal!
Candie
Proud Mom of Wiccan Soldier SGT Jason Schumann, KIA 19 May 2007
this is really stupid as it is an historical fact that worship of female deities has been a universal reality long before the worship of a singular male deity. Are they kidding with this?
Ahh that pesky red tape again. We always get tied up in this kind of thing in the UK… they’ll sort it out if she complains.
I live in the UK, originally from Canada, and although there was a May pole dance just across from where i work for the solstice, it is rather hard to do anything for us Pagans.
People tend to take a small step back.
Even with most of the pagans I have met here, almost all have said to me “we don’t believe in the sabbats, just the spells”, or at least they have that type of mentality.
While I am not saying all of us pagans say that over here, I can sort of understand why we would be denied our temple.
And with all the ignorance with the people over here, I can’t say I am particulary suprised, though, disheartened.
I am really unsurprised by this turn of events. I think it has less to do with discrimination and more to do with red tape.
The UK is also home to a lot of ignorant people who answer as ‘Christian’ to polls and censuses regardless whether they regularly go to church or last attended at a harvest festival when they were in primary school. To these people, it is astonishing there is another religious option out there that isn’t Islam or Judaism. It’s ignorance rather than bigotry, but it has to be stamped out.
If the HPS complains loud enough, the government will go along with her plans. The God and Goddess know they give in enough times if its a Muslim group or a Sikh group or a Christian group that wants a new temple. At least Wicca is a home-grown religion!
Buddhists temples are called places of worship and they have no supreme being , use that precedent
Though it may not look like it to the people involved, this is a good thing. Most outdated laws (and this one, as noted, dates from the 19th Century and probably hasn’t been ammended since) are not updated by the government but by the courts, and it doesn’t happen till someone runs into the law and challenges it.
From the look of it, the Wiccans have an open and shut case, and they are breaking a path for the rest of us.
Are not the god and goddess of Wiccan our intermediaries to the Supreme Being, just as Jesus and Mary are intermediaries to the Supreme Being? . Different traditions use different names like Hindus with Shiva and Parvati etc all are intermediaries to the Ultimate Deity the one universal power, that Wicca doesn’t “involve worship of a supreme being so is not legitimate” is incorrect. It’s the local government’s ignorance of theological understanding that’s at fault, red tape as always