The Right Honorable State Legislator from West Salem is proud of himself for trying to burn a witch, at least symbolically. Seriously. The representative from West Salem, Wisconsin is all heated up over the appointment of one Reverend Jaymi Witch, a Wiccan, as chaplain at Waupun Correctional Institution. With deep understanding, and showing the great religious tolerance that this country stands for, he called the hiring �hocus-pocus� and entitled his press release �Huebsch Burns Waupun Witch Project.� While he previously fought for greater funding for an expanded prison chaplaincy program, apparently to provide fuller funding for the Catholics, Protestants, and, if he had to, the one Muslim chaplain, he now is threatening to end or severely reduce funding for the prison chaplaincy program. Apparently, he strongly believes in funding religion only if it is the right religion: Christianity.

The chaplain is a coordinator, not a minister. The chaplaincy is designated as a non-denominational position. The chaplain is supposed to arrange to meet the religious needs of all prisoners, regardless of their religion. She or he coordinates religious ceremonies and schedules volunteer ministers to speak with people of specific religions. The new chaplain would only perform services for those prisoners who practice Wicca. In fact, the position does not require a theological degree or ordination although the other chaplain at the prison is an Episcopalian who formerly was a Catholic priest.

The prison system has been aware, for a while, of the problems that it has had meeting the religious needs of those who are not Christian. There have been reports of chaplains deciding that the requests of each of forty different Muslims for a study group were not sincere. There have been reports that while Christian inmates at some institutions are allowed to attend both services and study groups, Wiccan inmates must choose either to attend a service or a study group. I�ve had Jewish clients tell me in frustration of the hoops they must jump through for a Passover seder. This appointment was an attempt to begin to address some of those problems.

While some of the legislative support for chaplains has been couched in terms of religious freedom and the importance of religious freedom to this country, the flag-waving stops when the program clearly begins to reflect the idea of religious freedom and begins providing for religions that believe that Joshua ben Joseph of Judea was not holy in any greater way than any other man (or woman) is. One legislator bemoans that although he�s gotten letters that chaplains have helped inmates turn lives around he is not aware of any study showing that witches have reformed any prisoners. Another, more blatantly, suggests that the state should hire chaplains based on the religious affiliations of a majority of inmates. He knows full well that here, as in most parts of the country, the majority of criminals are Christian.

I watch all the uproar and know that only the thin patina of �mainstream religion�might prevent a similar hoopla if Rev. Witch had been Rabbi Witch, as it did when the Muslim chaplain was hired. Somewhere, behind the scenes, although not in headlines, we would still hear the argument that the state should hire only Christian chaplains cloaked in the cloth of a solicitousness for inmates that exists in no other realm. We would still hear the concern, albeit in whispers, that people do not expect a prison to be a conversion place for Wicca, or Islam, or Judaism as though it is okay that it be a conversion place for Christians simply because it is expected. People still would wave their feelings of offense at the religion as a reason it should not be allowed without ever grasping that some methods of practicing Christianity, especially some of the proselytizing, can be offensive to non-Christians.

Outwardly, Reverend Witch is handling all of this well, just as I�d expect from a mom of two, a Girl Scout leader, and a two-year prison volunteer. I don�t know how she�s feeling inwardly but I�m sure burning up.

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