Marietta, GA - Bob Barr would have preferred that about 25% of the constituents present at his Memorial Day town meeting in Marietta, Georgia on Saturday May 29th, just vanish, with a nod of his head or a twitch of his nose. <poof!> The 25% represented a small sampling of the Wiccan/Pagan population in Barr's 7th District constituency. The majority of these Pagan constituents were appropriately seated in the front left quarter of the room. They came to educate, to plead, to show their support and belief in the strength of the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States of America, and to voice their disappointment in Barr for his recent attacks upon it.

Barr's agenda was clean, concise and made absolutely no mention of this particular issue. Hot issues such as cutting taxes and tax reform, military espionage by communist China and it's threat to America's National security, gun/youth violence legislation, and Internet long distance fees headlined the agenda. Although China, the gun control topics and the issue of late term abortions (which was not on the agenda) made it to the floor for discussion, the First Amendment issue certainly took up the largest chunk of the 2 plus hours of this public Town meeting.

The meeting began with a prayer by the fire and brimstone Reverend Harold Murphree of Sharpsburg, Georgia, who's oversized flyers declared "Pray for our country. Pray for freedom of speech! This is our Constitutional right!" Although Murphree would have been loathed to admit it, in this instance, the Christians and the Pagans were on the same page. Murphree's opening prayer and dialog was followed by the Pledge of Allegiance. All present would agree that from the Pagan quarter came the soft sound of hissing at the end of the sentence; "...One Nation, Under God...." And here the auditory differs. Was it Gods? Was it Goddess? Perhaps it was a merging of the two? Who knows - that it was heard was evident by the furrowed brow of Bob Barr.

Barr spent a minimal amount of time on his opening statement at the podium and then called to the floor for questions. At the front line was Amber Maeve Szymanski, who amidst jeers and hissing, proceeded to read a prepared statement of information and query regarding Barr's stand on the military which would be a breach of the First Amendment rights. Barr to his credit, requested of the hecklers that Szymanski be permitted to finish. She ended with the proud revelation, "Mr. Barr, I am one of your constituents, and I am a Wiccan Priestess."

Barr's discomfort was obvious however; he defended his position with the argument that the military is unique in that it does not fall under the  protection of the First Amendment. This was a news flash for all of us. I, for one, have a serious problem accepting that the branch of the United States government that was designed and implemented for the sole purpose of protecting the Constitution and its Amendments cannot expect to be protected by them.

Before he could be pinned down to a more specific explanation, Barr was rescued by Dr. Christina Jeffries, who dismissed the Wiccan issue disdainfully, contemptuously declaring it miniscule and unimportant in the grander scheme of things. Jeffries, a hopeful contender for Barr's House seat in 2000, then began to postulate her own agenda. Although for Barr, this was effectively jumping from the frying pan into the fire, it did get him off the hook for a moment and he actively attempted to ignore the Pagan Quarter from there on out.

Unfortunately for him, this was not to be -- the quarter, although concentrated in the front left, was not intact there. Barr made a choice to answer a question from the back of the room, and found himself confronted by Doug Helvie, HM2, 20 year retiree of the United States Navy, and founder of Eternal Harvest of Wicca.  Helvie cruised down the center aisle ramrod straight, holding a large shadow box in front of him - a shadow box, filled with military medals, he had been awarded during his years of military service.

Barr's shoulders drooped noticeably, in resignation as Helvie reported his exemplary service and announced his devotion to the Wiccan path and his extreme disappointment at not being supported by the leaders of the very country he served to protect. Barr had the good grace and humility to thank Helvie for his service, even though he stated that he could not accept or support Helvie's Wiccan religious beliefs. 

Approximately half of those who spoke, spoke on the First Amendment issue. Barr kept his responses deflective, vague, and non-committal. He avoided eye contact with the Wiccans and other supporters of the issue who spoke and were at his meeting. As the questions continued, the jeering and snickering of the rest of the room became more and more subdued as it became apparent that this was certainly not a contingent of pointy-hatted, wart-nosed, broomstick riders. These were real people, educated, articulate, upstanding citizens of the United States, constituents of Bob Barr's, with a real United States religious freedom concern and Barr was not prepared to deal with that.

Just when Barr thought it was safe to go back into the water, I raised my hand from the press box and received a nod of acknowledgement. 

My question was: "Congressman Barr, you have expressed concern regarding religious practices which may interfere with the functioning of the United States military. How much research into non-Christian religions do you intend to conduct and who will decide which religions will continue to be protected by the First Amendment?"

Barr's nonsensical response of: "Our leaders will decide, and I hope they do so with common sense," only showed that he knew he was in the deep end of the pool, with no life preserver. Another querant from the back of the room quickly asked if Barr knew any Wiccans or Pagans personally. Barr ducked his head and gestured toward Amber Maeve Szymanski, stating, "I guess I do now!"

Again, other issues ensued, giving Barr a reprieve. These were issues which he warmed to -- issues which he responded to eloquently and with passion. On issues about gun control he stated: "Automatic weapons are against the law, against Federal law. If these things are against the law already, why are we still making more laws? There's no need."

"Could we not pose the same logic toward the First Amendment?" I asked. I was ignored. Barr further declares: "The Second Amendment is a personal right! We must narrowly craft any limitations." "Is that same principle not applicable to the First Amendment?" I asked. Again I was ignored.

Hello ...? What's up with the double standards? These passionate statements most certainly apply to the First Amendment too, do they not? In essence, what Barr is saying is: Let's make sure everyone out there has equal access to a firearm, so that no one is denied the inalienable right to go out and kill things but, we need to modify the First Amendment because the United 
States military personnel needs elected officials to select which religions they can practice. I fail to see the logic here. It is, in fact, ridiculous!

Barr's summation statement to the front quarter was "I appreciate those in Witchcraft who are here but, I believe that a nation that will not set certain standards, has no standards." What does that mean? Who will set those standards Mr. Barr? Who gets to choose, and on what basis, what source of information?

After the meeting adjourned, I had the opportunity to approach Mr. Barr. I began by extending my hand, to thank him for hearing us. The energy that was summoned for me, at the full moon circle that had taken place at Circle Sanctuary two nights prior to this moment, flowed up through my feet, and into this man. I could feel the presence of each individual in my spiritual community as though they were standing behind me.

I looked him in the eye and in a clear, steady voice, said; "Congressman Barr, to continue in this vein would be political suicide for you. You simply must educate yourself prior to making statements and casting judgment upon a subject with which you are so obviously misinformed. No one is asking you to convert or to change your personal beliefs Sir, only to educate yourself fairly -- from the source, so that you can make an informed decision."

Barr was able to look back at me then, and before he drew his hand away, he stated, "Looks like I'm going to have to try to do that." Please do Mr. Barr, please do.

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