Local News
Letter to the Editor: Reader Questions Honor to Gov. Barnes
Published: September 6, 2007
To the Editor:
It is with dismay that I read of the intention of the St. Thomas More Society of Atlanta to bestow an award in the spirit of St. Thomas More on former Gov. Roy Barnes (The Georgia Bulletin, Aug. 23). The Society may wish to be a “broad tent” including those of both conservative and liberal inclinations; however the question of the rights of the unborn are much more important than political inclinations and its intention to honor Gov. Barnes reveals a troubling lack of perspective.
St. Thomas More was the Lord Chancellor of England when Henry VIII severed the tie with the papacy and imposed himself as the temporal leader of the church in England. More resigned his office and sought to avoid publicly rejecting his monarch. After the machinations of the king and his supporters, and with perjured testimony, More was convicted of treason for rejecting the Acts of Parliament which formalized the schism with Rome. More suffered martyrdom for the immutable principle that the pope was the Vicar of Christ and no parliament or king could superimpose itself on the throne of Peter.
Gov. Barnes is lionized for his forcing through the change to the state flag removing the emblem of the common Confederate soldier. Barnes essentially committed political suicide knowing that the voters of the State of Georgia opposed the change but persisted believing it was the right thing to do. Barnes spent his political capital carrying out the change to the state flag. It would be more laudable if Gov. Barnes had shown half as much courage defending the rights of the unborn children of Georgia. …
… I certainly mean no disrespect to Gov. Barnes. His work in support of consumer protection in his retirement years is certainly praiseworthy. However to honor Gov. Barnes with the proposed award is to equate this pro-choice governor’s struggle to change the state flag with More’s sacrificial defense of a fundamental moral principle. Gov. Barnes’ silence in defense of the life of an unborn child should remove him from consideration by any Catholic organization for such an honor.David P. Shaffner, Esq.
Atlanta
