{"id":1311,"date":"2010-02-18T16:21:00","date_gmt":"2010-02-18T16:21:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1311"},"modified":"2010-02-18T16:21:00","modified_gmt":"2010-02-18T16:21:00","slug":"beliefnet-article-looks-at-wiccan-chaplains-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=1311","title":{"rendered":"BeliefNet Article Looks at Wiccan Chaplain’s Lawsuit"},"content":{"rendered":"

As mentioned here previously and at The Wild Hunt<\/a>, Patrick McCollum, volunteer Wiccan prison chaplain in California, has sued the state to overturn a policy of hiring paid chaplains only from certain religions. <\/p>\n

A new article at BeliefNet summarizes the case<\/a>. Excerpts:<\/p>\n

Supported by interfaith scholars and church-state separationists, the Rev. Patrick McCollum argues that the state policy has the “pernicious effect” of depriving inmates of other religious backgrounds from getting the services they need and deserve.<\/p>\n

The court challenge began when McCollum, 59, a prominent leader in Wiccan and correctional circles, applied and was rejected for a full-time position as a chaplain in the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation.<\/p>\n

“When I got to the personnel office, they refused to give me an application to apply for a state job because they knew that I was a Wiccan,” said McCollum, director of Our Lady of the Wells Church in Moraga, Calif., and leader of the National Correctional Chaplaincy Directors Association.<\/p>\n

“They never reviewed my qualifications.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

 Religious-studies professor and lawyer Barbara McGraw responds to an amicus brief in the case–from a conservative Christian group supporting the state’s position–here<\/a>:<\/p>\n

In other words, genuine Christianity supports religious rights for all. Christianity was not at the founding, nor is it now a monolithic “ism” that justifies the domination and suppression of others–not even Wiccan\/Pagans. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n

An amici curiae<\/a> brief on McCollum’s side filed by Americans United for Separation of Church and State, the Anti-Defamation League, and other groups is also available (PDF file)<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

As mentioned here previously and at The Wild Hunt, Patrick McCollum, volunteer Wiccan prison chaplain in California, has sued the state to overturn a policy of hiring paid chaplains only from certain religions. A new article at BeliefNet summarizes the case. Excerpts: Supported by interfaith scholars and church-state separationists, the Rev. Patrick McCollum argues that […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[75,6],"class_list":["post-1311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","tag-california","tag-wicca"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6xQTg-l9","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":244,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=244","url_meta":{"origin":1311,"position":0},"title":"Pentagon turns to Wiccan chaplain\u2026","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"August 13, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Pentagon turns to Wiccan chaplain Patrick McCollum, Wiccan chaplain in the California state prison system and advisor to Wiccan prison chaplains in several other states, is now advising the Pentagon on Wiccan soldiers' needs, according to the Contra Costa Times in this article. The article requires registration. Why do newspapers\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":5265,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=5265","url_meta":{"origin":1311,"position":1},"title":"Appeals Court Grants Partial Victory in California Chaplain Case","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"February 25, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"The Ninth Circuit Court has partly upheld the Wiccan challenge (headed by volunteer prison chaplain Patrick McCollum) to California's \"Five Faiths\" policy for who gets paid prison chaplains and who does not. Read this helpful blog post from FindLaw and ponder the question, was there a Jewish crime wave in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"American religion\"","block_context":{"text":"American religion","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=american-religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2736,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=2736","url_meta":{"origin":1311,"position":2},"title":"Lawyers Comment on the Pagan Prison Chaplain Case","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"June 5, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Of all the discussions of the prisoner \"free exercise of religion\" issue that produced a lawsuit brought by California volunteer Pagan prison chaplain Patrick McCollum, I recommend that you read\u00a0 Wiccan lawyer Hecate Demetersdatter's explanation. The appeals court has not decided on the rightness or wrongness of the basic question,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"American religion\"","block_context":{"text":"American religion","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=american-religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":675,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=675","url_meta":{"origin":1311,"position":3},"title":"Courting the Lady, a Wiccan\u2026","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"June 8, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"Courting the Lady, a Wiccan AutobiographySome know Patrick McCollum as California's official state Pagan prison chaplain, who has advised correctional systems across the country. Some know him as a jewelry designer.But he has also been working on his autobiography as a Witch, beginning with his teenage years, and the first\u2026","rel":"","context":"Similar post","block_context":{"text":"Similar post","link":""},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":978,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=978","url_meta":{"origin":1311,"position":4},"title":"Wiccan to Brief Civil Rights Commission","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"February 2, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"From a friend:Patrick McCollum has just been selected to be on a special panel to be one of 6 people to brief the United States Commission on Civil Rights -- for presentation to the United States Congress and to the President of the United States -- about the state of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"American religion\"","block_context":{"text":"American religion","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=american-religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2226,"url":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?p=2226","url_meta":{"origin":1311,"position":5},"title":"DADT Repeals Raises Issues for Wiccan Chaplains–Assuming that We Had Wiccan Chaplains, That Is","author":"Chas S. Clifton","date":"December 22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"American religion\"","block_context":{"text":"American religion","link":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/?tag=american-religion"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1311\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.chasclifton.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}