Not yet at least.
In the name of religious freedom, incarcerated pagans in B.C., have requested a shaman chaplain to assist them in the casting of spells and double doubling their toil and trouble. Oddly enough the request has been denied.
In the interests of full inclusion, I am anticipating ecumenical intervention on their behalf by Bishop James Cowan – in time for the winter solstice.
From here:
Public Safety Minister Vic Toews appears less concerned about the quality of spells cast from behind bars than he is about a backlash from taxpayers, cancelling a Corrections Canada tender for a priest to nurture the spiritual needs of witches in prison.
Earlier this week, the federal prison agency put out a request for a proposal for a Wiccan chaplain in British Columbia who would provide about 17 hours of service a month, about an hour less service than the department says it needs for the Jewish faith.
About an hour after The Canadian Press reported on the contract, a statement from Toews’s office said it will not proceed until after a review.
Thirty years ago, I worked at the Saskatoon Correctional Centre, a provincial jail for offenders all serving sentences of no more than 2 years less a day. Like most jails in Saskatchewan, aboriginals made up well over half the population and virtually all inmates had struggles with alcohol and drugs outside the jail. Apart from the occasional brat and gang member, most inmates were for the most part nice enough people who had gotten into trouble because of inappropriate behaviours tied directly to their addictions. I often felt that what was needed more was treatment of their addictions and illnesses rather than incarceration. Many inmates were obviously mentally ill or retarded.
Although I did not meet any practitioners of Wicca as inmates, I did meet the local Wicca “chaplain.” This person was a volunteer and not a paid staff person. Like most people, he was a very nice man who was polite and courteous to me and other staff and most importantly, he played by the institution’s rules. The evangelicals Christians often did not, which reflected badly on all faith groups who tried to do things there. In fact, the mainstream Christians (and this Wicca guy) were called ‘chaplains’ by the staff and inmates. The evangelicals were called ‘thumpers’ which is a derogatory label.
Although this admiration was entirely one way, Wicca saw themselves as natural allies to traditional aboriginal spirituality. The traditional aboriginal leaders did not see the same connection.
Later on, when I joined the Canadian Army, Wicca was a fad among some of the military members. Again, I had no problems with them. They did nothing to make my life more difficult as an officer. There were a couple of military police members who were evangelical Christians who took on the Wicca and their alleged activities as personal “hobby cases” because of their rumoured association with Satanism and weird sex practices and drug abuse. We found these obsessed military cops far more annoying than the people ‘investigated’ (which always turned out to be bogus).
No matter what some including myself may think of Wicca and their religious practices, the ones I have met have been decent people when it came to how they treated me. They were brave and loyal Canadians who did things that most here would not or could not do such as volunteer their spare time working with inmates or put their life on the line by joining the Canadian military. Yes they may believe in some weird things but no weirder than believing in talking snakes in the garden of Eden or that humans and dinosaurs co-existed at one time.