The recent columns of John Monk reminded me of a quote from Barry Goldwater: “I won’t say that the papers misquote me, but I sometimes wonder where Christianity would be today if some of those reporters had been Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.” Mr. Monk has, in my opinion, chosen to manufacture a story based on a non-event and only on the reporter’s speculation to make the burial of the Hunley crew a source of controversy.

His bias is reflected in the sources he went to for comment, one of whom was even critical of Sen. Strom Thurmond’s pictures being on the S.C. Legislative Manual. Equally disturbing, in my opinion, was his latest article trying to make it appear the Hunley Commission was backing off of an already charted course because of the criticisms he had reported.

All of this is off-base. Yes, we desired them to lie in state at the Capitol, but that was earlier this year. The commission even approved my writing a letter requesting it if we finalized plans. We never did.

The reporter knew, or should have known, no request had been made. References to it on the Web site were deleted by the volunteers prior to his article, since there was no plan and to remove any confusion. Logistically, there are many problems with the crew lying in state at the Capitol, not to mention the timing of Easter weekend and Good Friday. There was no action or formal plan to back away from — we had already amended our plans, but for our own reasons and before Mr. Monk’s column.

Agendas driven by bias or prejudice should not take away from what should be a solemn and majestic funeral. The Hunley funeral should be a celebration of the lives of these men and their remarkable achievement. No one, including Sen. Darrell Jackson, can look into the hearts and minds of those who made the supreme sacrifice and attempt to augur why they fought. To attempt to stereotype their motives in this way is intellectually and morally wrong.

The reasons for the war and the roles people played are so complex that they have been the subject of debate by scholars, historians and citizens for more than 100 years. Certainly, we cannot let those who subscribe wholly to political correctness use the race card as the trump card on all matters of heritage and history.

The crews of the Hunley were exemplars of the noble virtues of duty, bravery, ingenuity and sacrifice. They represent Americans throughout history who voluntarily put aside the element of fear in the pursuit or defense of liberty. Equally, the engineers and the crews of the Hunley were the same as the Wright Brothers and the astronauts of the 20th century who volunteered to leave home to sail out into the unknown.

Although none of the crew was from South Carolina, they died trying to protect the citizens of our state whom they barely knew. The Bible teaches us “greater love hath no man than laying down his life on behalf of others.”

Perhaps we can intelligently disagree as to why and for what they fought, but, in my opinion, we can not disagree with what Feb. 17, 1864, meant to our nation’s and the world’s maritime history. That is why there will be representatives from modern-day submariners and representatives from across the world that will visit our state to pay homage to the bravery of the crew and to celebrate what the Hunley meant to modern naval warfare. At this funeral we will celebrate the personal and the historic, their sacrifices and their achievement.

Now is not the time to debate who was right and who was wrong about the war, but instead to salute these brave men whose exploits wrote a page in history that will resonate throughout the years.

Circumstances denied these men a funeral 140 years ago. Journalistic agendas and political posturing should not now mar their proper funeral nor deny the public the opportunity to celebrate their accomplishments. We should not let shallow bias, prejudice and political opportunism take away from this solemn event.

Sen. McConnell is the president pro tempore of the S.C. Senate.