Pagan soldier gets National Guard waiver to grow beard

By Spencer Neale

Published December 30, 2019 5:35pm ET

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Pagan soldier gets National Guard waiver to grow beard — Sgt. 1st Class Benjamin Hopper of the Nevada Army Guard's 3665th Ordnance Company is the first Nevada Army Guard Soldier to receive a religious accommodation for a beard. Hopper received his religious accommodation based on his Norse Pagan beliefs. | (U.S. Army photo/Erick Studenicka)

A National Guardsman has been granted permission to grow out his beard in keeping with his Norse pagan religious faith. The ruling on the beard, commonly referred to as a skegg, is the first religious accommodation approved by the Nevada National Guard.

Sgt. 1st Class Benjamin Hopper, 34, is currently serving in Afghanistan and said the beard honors the “pillars of Heathenism,” and that his “personal faith is deeply tied to the modern warrior lifestyle.”

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Afghanistan Military National Guard Nevada Religion Religious Freedom