Truth and Good Will: An individual has the right to live out a life aligned with his/her personal beliefs. We encourage everyone to decide to what degree their participation will support the organization. By doing this, we hope that people will bring real passion into their efforts. Truth is important for an organization to enable it to have a clear vision statement and to operate from a firm set of values. Such an organization motivates its members to think and act as the leaders. The leaders "walk their talk" and all are valued for their contributions. When the organization becomes successful, everyone knows that they helped to make it so.

Civil Liberty: Civil liberty encompasses the respect for and the protection of individual rights. While the exercise of these rights are dictated by the law of the land, in a "open society" it is largely dependent on what the people determine as valuable to their way of life. Multi-culturalism has introduced an opportunity to learn new ways of dealing with beliefs different from our own. Conflicts arise when the aims of the differing parties include not only the validation of their position but the neutralization or elimination of their opponent's position. We actively seek ways to both preserve the unique cultural values of any group or tradition while at the same time to promote healthy interaction within a inclusive organizational structure.

Religious Freedom: We recognize that spiritual belief is a very personal choice that each person is entitled to make based on what is in his/her own heart. The spirit is the true essence of who a person is and what he or she will become. No outside agency has the right to deprive a person from the free exercise of his/her religious practice or sincerely held belief without a real and compelling reason. "Compelling" in this country has come to mean that society at large must be in real danger from the results of the religious practice for the government to interfere. Anything less than this" compelling reason" would be a violation of this right to religious freedom. We uphold religious liberty for all and shall actively resist any infringement on the right to free exercise of personal spiritual belief.

Freedom of Expression: The Constitution of the United States guarantees a free press which allows for all to make public statements on their viewpoints. While we may not always agree with such statements and reserve the right to protest or offer rebuttal to articles that we find offensive or misleading, we uphold the concept of freedom of expression and will resist any and all attempts to censor opinions. The Witches' Voice will not remove any postings or articles printed under the submission guidelines. Articles will include the authors e-mail address or other contact information and all comments should be directed to the author. Postings to feed back forums will only be removed if the language is obscene or targets a particular person or group in such a manner as to cause emotional harm.

Integrity: The Witches Voice will always provide as much information as confidentiality or circumstances will allow about any action or decision we make so that our members will be fully informed. We value your trust and we will never ask you to support that which conflicts with your personal sense of integrity. The Witches Voice also expects members to respect the integrity of the organization and support this concept in word and action.

Personal Responsibility: While not all Witches, Wiccans and Pagans adhere to the "Law of Three" as an official tenet of their belief, most do believe that we should act in a responsible manner in our dealings with each other. None of us can profess to be perfect all of the time and misunderstandings certainly can and do occur.

Teamwork requires the proper use of communication, negotiation and the ability to recognize and resolve conflicts as they occur.

In real communication, each person is interested not in argument, but in seeking understanding of the others point of view. All ideas receive an equal hearing. The real merit of any suggestion is allowed to emerge based on its value to the organization and not only on the passionate presentation of its proponent.

Negotiation is used to change things that are not working. The offering of a well thought out alternative to the situation is a key element in the process. Once again, it is the greater good of the whole team or organization that is the ideal.

Sometimes differences of opinion can become quite heated and the situation evolves into a personal conflict. Recognize that the other person feels as strongly about his/her beliefs as you do about yours. Focusing on the overall mission statement and aligning yourself to the greater goal may be all that is needed to get things back on track. A "cooling off" period may be a time to meditate on a new approach or solution.

To accept responsibility for your part in any situation is a sign of maturity. To say that you were mistaken is not the same as stating that you are a bad person. It is simply acknowledging that you are human.