I asked my

mother before she died what she thought about changing the Georgia State

flag. She said, "It doesn,t matter." I suppose if anyone had

a right to matter about the issue, my mother did. She was the daughter

of John M. Bowen, who as a Confederate soldier, was wounded at the Second

Battle of Manassas, Aug. 30, 1862. Had he not been wounded and subsequently

taken off the front line, I might not have made it to the world. Quirks

of history. (For those of you scratching your head: although my grandfather

was born in 1833, he fathered my mother in 1911. Wow! What genes!).

With genuine

respect for my grandfather, who enlisted in the 5th Regiment of the Confederate

Texas Infantry Aug. 24, 1861, the Georgia flag issue does matter to me.

I hate that the controversial issue looms ahead to divide our state. I

have fellow ministers who revere the Confederate emblem and will be chagrined

to read this column. Right here in Fayette County, we have respectable

citizens who were deeply troubled with Former Governor Ray Barnes as he

"backroomed" the latest flag change.

If we cannot

come up with a banner that will unite all Georgians, I suggest that we

be the only state in the union without a banner. Just let the flag of

the United States fly over the Gold Dome, state office buildings and schools.

That's probably

not a possibility since we Americans are intent on having losers and winners.

Some sort of flag representing Georgia will fly on poles at every Georgia

school. I must contend that the flag must not, cannot offend a good portion

of us Georgians. If the flag takes us