In the current times of mental and social unrest, there seems to be a lot of damage done to the fabrics of society. Such damage might not be reversible as the pot keeps getting hotter and hotter with only a matter of time before everyone starts melting. A boiling point seems to have been reached. In this piece I will attempt to lay down what the 1966 movie, based on a play, based on real life events tells us about our current political and social climate

A Man for All Seasons

It would take a long to summarize the plot of the movie but here's an attempt. P.S. You won't to actually ready, this is only if you aren't familiar and want to know. Not reading it won't affect the rest of this piece.

During a private late-night meeting at Hampton Court, Cardinal Wolsey, Lord Chancellor of England, chastises More for being the only member of the Privy Council to oppose Wolsey's attempts to obtain from the Pope for Henry VIII an annulment of his marriage to his Queen, Catherine of Aragon, a marriage which has not produced a male heir. With the annulment, Henry would be able to marry Anne Boleyn, from whom he hopes to have such an heir, hence avoiding the risk of another period of dynastic wars like the Wars of the Roses. More states that he can never go along with Wolsey's suggestion that they apply "pressure" on Church property and revenue in England. Unknown to More, the conversation is overheard by Wolsey's aide, Thomas Cromwell.

Returning to his home at Chelsea at dawn, More finds his young acquaintance Richard Rich waiting for his return so as to lobby for a position at Court. More recommends instead that Rich find a job as a teacher. Rich declines More's advice, saying that teaching would offer him little chance to become well known. More finds his daughter Meg chatting with a brilliant young lawyer named William Roper, who announces his desire to marry her. The devoutly Catholic More states that he cannot give his blessing as long as Roper remains a Lutheran.

Some time later, Wolsey dies of a heart attack. Henry appoints More as Lord Chancellor of England to succeed Wolsey. The King makes an "impromptu" visit to the More estate, but More remains unmoved as Henry alternates between threats, tantrums, and promises of unbounded royal favour. After the King leaves, Cromwell promises Rich a position at Court in return for damaging information about More.

Roper, learning of More's quarrel with the King, reveals that his religious opinions have altered considerably and declares that by attacking the Church, the King has become "the Devil's minister." More is admonishing Roper to be more guarded when Rich arrives, pleading again for a position at Court. When More again refuses, Rich denounces More's steward as a spy for Thomas Cromwell. An unmoved More responds, "Of course, that's one of my servants."

Humiliated, Rich joins Cromwell in attempting to bring More down. Meanwhile, the King has Parliament declare him "Supreme Head of the Church of England" and demands that bishops and Parliament renounce all allegiance to the Pope. More quietly resigns as Lord Chancellor rather than accept the new order. His close friend, Thomas Howard, 3rd Duke of Norfolk, attempts to draw out his opinions in a friendly private chat, but More knows that the time for speaking openly of such matters is over.

Cromwell, in a meeting with Norfolk, implies that More's troubles would be over were he to attend the King's wedding to Anne Boleyn. When More declines the invitation, he is summoned again to the royal palace of Hampton Court, where Cromwell has his base. Interrogated, More refuses to answer. Infuriated, Cromwell declares that the King views him as a traitor, but allows him to return home. He has to do so on foot, since the boatmen are aware of his political disgrace, and are unwilling to ferry him.

As More arrives at his house, his daughter Meg informs him that a new oath is being circulated and that all must take it or face charges of high treason. Initially, More says he would be willing to take the oath, provided it refers only to the King's marriage to Boleyn. Upon learning that it names the King as Supreme Head of the Church, More refuses to take it and is subsequently imprisoned in the Tower of London.

More remains steadfast in his refusal to take the Oath and refuses to explain his objections, knowing that he cannot be convicted if he has not explicitly denied the King's supremacy. A request for new books to read backfires, resulting in confiscation of the books he has, and Rich removes them from More's cell, providing an opportunity for Rich to gather further information against More.

More says goodbye to his wife Alice, Meg and Roper, urging them not to try to defend him, but to leave the country.

More is finally brought to trial, with Cromwell as prosecuting counsel, but he refuses to speak about the marriage or why he will not take the Oath. As an experienced judge, he cites his silence in defence, maintaining that the legal principle is that silence is to be taken as consent. Rich is then called by Cromwell to testify that when he went to take away More's books, More told him he would not take the Oath because Parliament did not have the authority to make the King the Head of the Church. Since, if true, More would, according to the recent legislation, have thereby committed treason, More is convicted of treason on the perjured testimony of Rich, for which the common law punishment is death, which the judges declare. It emerges that Rich has been made Attorney General for Wales as a reward for his role.

Upon hearing the death sentence, More has nothing left to lose. He denounces the King's Supremacy over the Church as without legal basis, citing the Biblical foundation for the authority of the Papacy over the Church and declaring the alleged Supremacy of the King repugnant to the legal institutions of all Christendom. More further declares that the Church's immunity to State interference is guaranteed both in Magna Carta and in the King's own coronation oath. As uproar ensues, the judges pronounce the full sentence according to the standard forms: More is remitted to the Tower and condemned to death by beheading.

The scene switches from the court to the scaffold on Tower Hill, where before his execution More observes custom by pardoning and tipping the executioner, and swiftly rebuts an argument of the Archbishop before declaring, "I die his Majesty's good servant, but God's first." He then kneels at the block and the executioner strikes the fatal blow with the axe.

A narrator intones the epilogue, listing the subsequent untimely deaths of the major characters, apart from Richard Rich, who "became Chancellor of England, and died in his bed."

How does a 1966 movie about people who died in 1500s have to do with current times?

The movie revolves around a certain amount of struggles such as corruption, truth, standing up to power, doing what is right, and justice . What starts as a simple want from the king to divorce his wife and marry another to have a child, which he couldn't do at that time. Retrospectively you might think he should be able to do that. However, and what Sir.. Thomas More, or Saint Thomas More if you catholic, can't agree with that based on one thing, the law. Ending Thomas' friendship with the king and subsequently his life in the process.

"If we lived in a State where virtue was profitable....

When talking about the current climate we must remember how often we see those speaking on behalf of others.Groups of few talking on the behalf of many, using bell ringing words and speak in Tweetable quotes. Here we come across a quote that encapsulates that part

If we lived in a State where virtue was profitable, common sense would make us good, and greed would make us saintly. And we'd live like animals or angels in the happy land that /needs/ no heroes. But since in fact we see that avarice, anger, envy, pride, sloth, lust and stupidity commonly profit far beyond humility, chastity, fortitude, justice and thought, and have to choose, to be human at all... why then perhaps we /must/ stand fast a little --even at the risk of being heroes.

In other words, seeing things rationally, waiting for full facts, listening to experts makes you good, however, you are an angel should you cast your judgement and call for the extreme punishment in the name pf morals and ethics. You are rewarded for casting judgement over little information you have, for seeing your race above others, for hating certain type of people, using movements for profit, and screaming.

You are seen either as good or maybe even bad and emphatic when resorting to thought, search for actual justice, humility, and so on.

Such world, the movie argues, in such a world, standing up for what is right is worth very little.

“When statesmen forsake their own private conscience for the sake of their public duties, they lead their country by a short route to chaos.”

Politicians changing their statements, denying making some, avoiding to take responsibilities for other, and straight up lying is something for which anyone could come up with examples. The constant change of stands is an example that the goal is power, or at least it became, making power a goal not a tool. A person becomes a liar once rewarded for lying, thus a politician becomes corrupt once their first attempt is rewarded, leading "statesmen" to do say and/or say whatever gets them the vote. Add to that what is mentioned beneath the previous quote, and you are on a high speed train into destruction.

About defiance of law

“William Roper: “So, now you give the Devil the benefit of law!”

Sir Thomas More: “Yes! What would you do? Cut a great road through the law to get after the Devil?”

William Roper: “Yes, I'd cut down every law in England to do that!”

Sir Thomas More: “Oh? And when the last law was down, and the Devil turned 'round on you, where would you hide, Roper, the laws all being flat? This country is planted thick with laws, from coast to coast, Man's laws, not God's! And if you cut them down, and you're just the man to do it, do you really think you could stand upright in the winds that would blow then? Yes, I'd give the Devil benefit of law, for my own safety's sake!”

Following the law grants you the benefit of the law, even with the existence of those abusing it. Applying some Game Theory logic, some people will always gain unjustly from the law and others will be hurt fundamentally from it but should we remove it to punish to the corrupt among us, everyone will be hurt. The question is also added. Now that the laws have been removed, what is stopping those corrupt from turning "round on us"?

The law is not a "light" for you or any man to see by; the law is not an instrument of any kind. ...The law is a causeway upon which, so long as he keeps to it, a citizen may walk safely.

The reason More used the devil is his example is to emphasize that we shouldn't break down our laws and the system under which we live to even go after the devil, and even if we were the right people to do so. It is a reminder that using power to break the law has deadly consequences. This should remind us that what brings justice to some, would miss out on doing that for others. Laws are man-made and will never be perfect, but they are still needed and should be followed, even at the face of injustice and in Saint Thomas More's case, death.