[MR] HERALDRY and Pentograms

[Adeliza of Bristol]

Folks, can we get a few things straight before we hit the keyboard. Please read the first message in a thread before you respond also.

1. The original decision to ban the circle with star inside as registrable heraldry was due to PR reasons, NOT religious NOR authenticity reasons. It IS absolutely period and not as a religious symbol. It was the heraldry of a knight from Arthurian times (Gawain maybe). It has been prominent in history. That was never the question. They were fighting D&D bad PR at the time, among other issues, and simply chose not to add another PR windmill to have to tilt at, so they said no.

2. We now live in more open religious times where people are mostly more accepting of various religions. Great Britain now acknowledges Jedi as a religion! SO, no PR battles mean they no longer feel they must protect the SCA from mass ignorance and can change the decision of the past. Yea!

3. Points up or down, you can not discriminate. This is heraldry remember, it is not a public declaration of your religious preference. I do not assume those in Crusader gear are all Christians. They may be any number of religions, but their persona is a Crusader. Get your religious views in check, guys, and get back to the heraldry.

Making the assumptions that only Wiccans will use this charge is wrong and may cause you to make quite the fool of yourself. It already sounds like there are some chomping at the bit to discriminate against those who will use this charge, points up or down. Lets remember this is HERALDRY not religion and keep things in context before we start letting some ugly aspects of our idealistic Middle Ages creep in.

Religion is a firestorm that does not need to be ignighted here, and I believe there is a modern war we are involved in that that illustrates that perfectly. Can we please put the religious debate to rest.

Adeliza