Bringing Pagans in the Military Out of the Broom Closet

by Marcia Z. Nelson, Religion BookLine -- Publishers Weekly, 4/23/2008

Rob Barner may not be home for family dinner, but after his two tours of military duty in Iraq, Stefani Barner is just happy that her husband is in the same hemisphere. Military wife Barner uses her faith to cope with the demands of the lifestyle, and has written a one-of-a-kind book about her spiritual support: Faith and Magick in the Armed Forces: A Handbook for Pagans in the Military (Llewellyn, May) [link to our review]. Paganism is not exactly a well-understood religion, so Barner's book is intended as a resource for military families to help them stay safe and sane and to know their rights and limitations within the service.

Barner describes herself as a Unitarian-Universalist pagan. "Some of our pagan friends laugh at that," she said of her self-description. But pagans follow different spiritual traditions, much as Christianity is divided into denominations. Barner is also the grandchild of Pentecostal Christian ministers, and her husband has a background as a Catholic charismatic. The Christian theology they learned didn't make sense, but the expressive worship style they had learned in Christianity fit well in pagan practice. "We both kind of separately found that the pagan tradition made sense to us," Barner told RBL from her Michigan home.

But paganism doesn't make sense to most others without a little explanation. The generally conservative atmosphere of the military, and of the military chaplaincy, made the book necessary. Not being Judeo-Christian is a long step away from the established mainstream. "Then years and years of fairy tales and misinformation add all this other baggage," said Barner, who's been a practicing witch for more than 15 years and works as a mediator. "Even the most well-intentioned people ask all kinds of questions."

The questions about pagans and the military also come from another quarter: other pagans skeptical of all militarism implies. Many "have a hard time wrapping their head around military service," Barner said, despite the fact that paganism also includes warrior traditions. Rob Barner is a member of the Michigan Air National Guard; a close cousin was killed in Iraq in 2006. "The only time Rob has ever been called a baby killer is in the pagan community," Barner said. "I'm trying to help people process the idea of a warrior ethic and the sacred task of serving as a tool of justice."