Our Man in Arlington

Last week was a manic-depressive week in the General Assembly - at least in the sense that the members of that ancient and august body favorably considered legislation that should drive conscientious Virginians to both ends of the psychological spectrum.

On the “manic” side, Arlington Delegate Bob Brink's bill proposing a constitutional amendment that would allow localities to grant property tax exemption to home owners on the first $100,000 of their assessed value in committee. The Arlington delegation is optimistic that it will pass the General Assembly and give Arlingtonians the prospect of some tax relief in an age of breathtaking increases in property values.

The “depressive” side includes two pieces of horribly regressive legislation. The first not only bans gay “marriage” but also denies gays the very basic right to choose with whom they share their life and fortune with love and commitment. The bill throws Virginia back into its dark ages when we banned marriage between the races and other horrible discrimination against those whose only sin was to want to get along in life with a little dignity and compassion.

The second is legislation that takes us back to the days when our school systems and governments engaged in the unconstitutional act of actively promoting specific religious agendas and dogma.

I certainly am not opposed to the rights of students to openly express their own religious beliefs at school (which current law allows), but to require that they do so (and that is what this bill is all about) is beyond the pale. Fortunately, it will likely be struck down as unconstitutional if it passes, as it should be.

We should not even be considering it in the first place, however. George Mason must be turning over in his grave. One bright spot was the invocation at the opening of the January 28th House of Delegates session. It was delivered by the Rev. Michael McGee, senior minister at the Unitarian-Universalist Church of Arlington:

“A kindergarten teacher walked around her classroom observing her students as they drew. As she got to one little girl who was working diligently, she asked what the drawing was.

“The girl replied, ‘I’m drawing God.’

“The teacher paused and said, ‘but no one knows what God looks like.’

“Without missing a beat the girl replied, ‘They will in a minute.’”

“Actually, we do know what God looks like, don't we? Hindus greet each other by bowing and saying the word NAMASTE, which means, ‘I bow to the divine spark of God in you and me and everyone.’ Jesus also proclaimed this revelation when he said ‘The Kingdom of God is within you.’

“O Great Mystery, we pray this morning that our every word and deed will be an affirmation of the divine spark of God in every human being, no matter the race, religion, nationality, or sexual orientation.

“May we never forget to embrace the inherent worth and dignity of all people.

“Amen and Namaste.”

The General Assembly should listen and ponder on that.

Richard Barton may be emailed at rbarton@towervillas.com