Tag Archives: military

Remembering David Oringderff

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I met David Oringderff just one time, in a San Antonio wine bar where a bunch of Pagan-studies scholars and members of the local Pagan community met for an evening, (He drove down from Austin, I believe) It was 2004, just before the Dept. of Veterans Affairs (but not the Defense Dept., to use its old name) accepted the “Pentacle Quest,” which allowed Pagan emblems (and others) in national cemeteries.

As Selena Fox wrote in the article linked above,

“Two other international Wiccan churches joined Circle Sanctuary’s re-application with letters of support, rather than applying separately. Included was a letter from the Covenant of the Goddess (COG), signed by Rev. Kathryn Fuller, and a letter from the Sacred Well Congregation (SWC), signed by Dr. David Oringderff. Both of these churches have members who are veterans as well as members who are on active duty. SWC includes groups that meet at US military installations.”

When you read her story of the pushback against the Pagan religious acknowledgement,, you have to realize that it’s not just from bureaucrats but from the entrenched monotheistic chaplains. As a retired officer and Pagan leader, Oringdorf pushed for Pagan chaplains for years — long before SecWar Pete Hegseth came on the scene — and ultimately got nowhere.

The following eulogy was published by Cherry Hill Seminary this past week:

Columbia, S.C.—Cherry Hill Seminary is sad to learn of the death on October 6 of longtime faculty leader David Oringderff, Ph.D. Fondly called “Dr. O” by many students, Oringderff taught for the Seminary beginning in 2002, headed the Department of Pastoral Counseling & Chaplaincy for about a decade, assisted in the development of the Community Ministry Certificate, and helped the academic dean to develop curriculum standards for his department.

“But his stellar work on behalf of Cherry Hill Seminary was just one facet of David’s extraordinary life,” said director Holli Emore. “Biographies that emerge in the wake of his passing will more fully detail all of David’s accomplishments. But I knew him as a co-founder and executive director emeritus of Sacred Well Congregation, an international Pagan coalition, and as the person behind the Wiccan circle at Fort Hood, Texas, when a national media firestorm erupted.” Emore continued, “David was also active for many years with the COMISS Network on Ministry in Specialized Settings. But I remember him best for always making himself available to students, his colleagues, and to me. We could always depend on David to follow through with whatever he committed to, quietly sharing his wisdom when asked.”

Others in the Seminary community also shared their memories.

I first got to know David when he was a U.S. Army major and he requested that I become his Europe-based doctoral supervisor during his NATO posting in Europe. His dedication to Paganism and Earth-based traditions, and to ensuring that those in the military have access to the spiritual resources that they need, was outstanding. His legacy lives on in the military in the form of the Sacred Well Congregation and the generations of chaplains, students, and Pagans that he has inspired. He will be greatly missed by his friends in Europe, the States, and beyond.—Vivianne Crowley

Only last December 2025 I was privileged to present David with the Hypatia Award for Excellence in Education in recognition of lifetime achievement and his service to the Cherry Hill Seminary community. During that time, he advised and taught scores of students, and mentored the first Master of Divinity graduate.—Margo Wolfe, Ph.D., Academic Dean

As a fellow psychologist, and an early instructor in the counseling program, I respected and admired David’s leadership at Cherry Hill. David mentored and guided students to achieve successful and satisfying careers as pagan counselors. He was compassionate and sincere, and a joy to work with.—Valerie Cole, Ph.D.

As a fellow chaplain endorser, I always knew David to be friendly and truthful. A person of integrity, he was not afraid to engage myself or others of differing faiths. And I do remember him well as an endorser and colleague. I am a past Chair of the COMISS Network, and he attended during my tenure. I respected him.—David B. Plummer

David has been a close friend and trusted mentor for many years. In many ways, he served as a father figure. He will be well remembered in this realm, and may he be well received in the next.—Shane L. Nelson, M.Div.

To David’s wife, Willow, his family and the many, many people whose lives he touched, Cherry Hill Seminary extends our sincere condolences. Read more about David here

A visitation will be held from 10:00 am to 11:00 am Thursday, October 15, 2026 at Mullinax Funeral Home, Butler, Missouri. Funeral services will follow at 11:00 am Thursday, also at the funeral home, with burial in Fort Scott National Cemetery, Fort Scott, Kansas.

Heathen Soldiers Can Wear Beards Now

This is interesting: Sikh men in the US military had gotten permission to wear beards as part of their religion. (Normally, beards are not allowed except, for instance, for special operations personnel in the Afghan back country who want to blend in, or something like that.)

Comes now a Norse Pagan soldier with the same request (I never knew they were required in Heathenry, just popular), and it looks like the Army is giving it to him.

Links that Start in Bristol

¶ Professor Ronald Hutton talks about his career and admits — in public — that writing The Triumph of the Moon: A History of Modern Pagan Witchcraft actually harmed it for a time. “Reframing Modern Paganism” in Pagan Dawn magazine.

Heat Street, a political news site, notes the growth of Paganism in the U.S. Army. It’s relatively snark-free coverage, with mention of the ground-breaking Sacred Well Congregation.

¶ If you want to “dream the dark,” do it in Westcliffe, Colorado. Click the link for the short video.

Army Appoints Hindu Chaplain (Sort of)

There about 1,000 identified Hindus in the U.S. Army, and now they have a chaplain, Captain Pratima Dharm.

Yes, that is probably fewer than the followers of Pagan paths in uniform. The Buddhists have been recognized too, but a qualified Wiccan officer was rejected.

But there might be more to this story:

Dharm speaks easily of Christian teachings. A unique aspect of her story is that until this year, she wore the cross of a Christian chaplain on her battle fatigues. When she started on active duty in 2006, she was endorsed by the Pentecostal Church of God, based in Joplin, Mo.

But she’s now sponsored by Chinmaya Mission West, a Hindu religious organization that operates in the United States. A Washington, D.C.-area religious teacher who interviewed her for the organization before giving her an endorsement said her multifaith background is an advantage.

“She knows Christian theology, and she has a great grasp of Hindu theology,” said Kuntimaddi Sadananda of Chinmaya Mission’s Washington center. “This means she can help everyone.”

She didn’t convert from Christianity to Hinduism, she said.

“I am a Hindu,” she said. “It’s how I was raised and in my heart of hearts, that’s who I am.”

But — and perhaps it is hard for some Western Christians to understand — she hasn’t rejected Christianity either.

“In Hinduism, the boundaries are not that strict,” she said. “It is to base your life on the Vedantic traditions, and you can be a Christian and follow the Vedantic traditions.”

As I understand it, the Vedanta schools of Hinduism tend toward a sort of intellectual monotheism and reject all that colorful gods-and-goddesses stuff except when interpreted allegorically. So she has blended it with Christianity?

Chinmaya Mission West is an Advaita Vedenta organization.

DADT Repeals Raises Issues for Wiccan Chaplains–Assuming that We Had Wiccan Chaplains, That Is

Terry Mattingly at Get Religion, a blog about religion and journalism, looks at some of the fallout from the “don’t ask, don’t tell’ repeal for military chaplains.

His main question is whether a new military policy on homosexuals serving openly (they have always been there clandestinely) will affect the ability of some chaplains to follow the dictates of their tradition.

It’s a clash-of-rights issue, as he presents it.

But I what notice is how, once again, Wicca becomes the “default Other” religion, the hard case that must be accommodated:

How many Wiccans feel comfortable with a Pentecostal pastor, a Muslim imam, a Catholic priest, an Orthodox rabbi, an evangelical Lutheran or anyone from another faith leading their rites (if they are allowed to do so under their own vows)? Now, many forms of pagan faith do not have formal ordination procedures (while some do). Who approves the appointment of a layperson as a chaplain? How do a small circle of pagan chaplains serve believers on bases spread out around the world?

…. Now, the dying soldier is a Muslim and the chaplain is Jewish, Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Pentecostal, Wiccan, etc. etc.

So far, there are no Pagan chaplains of any sort in the United States military. Well-qualified applicants get nowhere.

At the same time, at least some chaplains have been very supportive of military Pagans. The chaplaincy structure stood behind the Fort Hood Pagan group in 2000 all the way to the top.

Mattingly sees three possible outcomes. None of them is completely satisfactory:

(1) Find some way to end the chaplaincy program (under the assumption that if equal access is not possible, then closing down the chaplaincy program is the only legal option that is fair to all).

(2) Allow clergy to serve without violating their ordination vows (with the knowledge that, even when working with people of good will, this imperfect system will cause tensions and accusations of “hate speech”).

(3) The establishment of state-mandated and government-funded religious rites and rules of conduct of chaplains, mandating that expressions of the beliefs of many clergy are acceptable and that expressions of opposing beliefs are not acceptable. Some chaplains would argue that option (3) is already in place, but it is inconsistently enforced.

Nature Religion at the Air Force Academy

The Air Force Academy chapel will add a worship area for followers of Earth-centered religions during a dedication ceremony scheduled to be held at the circle March 10.

Gus diZerega notes it too.

Considering some of the previous church-and-state issues at the academy, this is major news.

Hmm. I might be able to work that into a talk that I might possibly be giving later that month in Colorado Springs.

In US Air Force, Wiccans Outnumber Muslims

A friend passed on this column by political commenter Diana West, who notes in passing that there are almost as many Wiccans as Muslims in the American military–and more in the Air Force.

So far, I have not heard of any Wiccan dissatisfied with their military careers expressing themselves by killing their fellow service members.

Let’s hope it never happens.

Yahoo Group for Pagan Veterans

Some American Pagan military veterans feel that established organizations such as the American Legion and VFW are too heavily Christianized, so they have started a Yahoo group as a first step towards forming a separate organization.

It is the old dilemma — change from within, or go outside “the system”?

If you are a Pagan veteran and wish to participate, there is more information here.

Gallimaufry with Temporal Dislocation

¶ It’s not too late to travel in time.

This one is more for beginners. Basically dress in period clothing (preferably Victorian era) and stagger around amazed at everything. Since the culture’s set in place already, you have more of a template to work off of. (Via Glenn Reynolds.)

¶ Time travel of a different kind: An American soldier in Iraq visits Ur of the Chaldees.

¶ I am a sucker for this kind of thing. For more futures that never happened and dead ends on the road to Now, try Modern Mechanix.

Wicca’s Legimacy as Religion

It is often a bad idea to read the comments on political blogs. They tend to degenerate into vicious name-calling by anonymous persons all too quickly.

A recent post on the pentacle grave marker case at the political blog Winds of Change bemoaned the fact that Americans litigate over religion:

I abhor the kind of attitude that leads to people hassling Christians over creches at Christmas, and that spurred the ACLU to threaten to sue a Christian cross off the seal of the County of Los Angeles California.

At the same time, blogger David Blue continued,

This long struggle for religious fairness for those who have died defending America has now reached a satisfactory end, mostly because George W. Bush shot his mouth off too much, and consequently it was better for the US Department of Veterans Affairs to settle, with a non-disclosure agreement, than to defend a weak case in court.

And he praised Jason Pitz-Waters’ “brilliant, link-rich posts at The Wild Hunt Blog” for their coverage.

The comments that follow are interesting. Many commenters argue for fairness: given that there are hundreds of Wiccans in the military, they deserve the same treatment as followers of Eckankar and other new religions, not to mention avowed atheists, who have their own military grave marker symbol.

Some comments make much of the newness of Wicca, while others note that all religions start as new religions. I was impressed that a couple of comments came from names that I know from religious-studies circles.

Personally, I found the comment thread interesting because it reminds me that much of the blogosphere is an echo chamber. People read bloggers with whom they agree, or they read their ideological opponents just so that they can make nasty comments, usually anonymously. I read some of these comments, and I wonder, “How can anyone still think that way?”

But of course they do. It is good to be reminded.