from wordonfire.org by Father Robert Barron
It goes without saying that Dr. Martin Luther King was one of the most pivotal figures in American history, easily ranking in importance with Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt. He almost single-handedly affected a social change as significant as the abolition of slavery, and he did so without prompting a civil war. What is perhaps less obvious is that he continues to be an indispensable model for our current political and religious discourse. I would like to focus on three dimensions of Dr. King’s work which remain, I’m convinced, of crucial importance today: his advocacy of non-violence, his manner of bringing Christianity into the public square, and his use of language as a means of social transformation.
There are, both within the animal kingdom and among human beings, two classical responses to aggression: fight or flight. When one is attacked, one typically either answers the attack or acquiesces to it. But neither strategy, in the long run, really solves the problem; indeed both tend to exacerbate the situation, the first by awakening further violence and the second by encouraging, even justifying, it. An ardent student of both the Sermon on the Mount and the campaigns of Gandhi, Dr. King saw that there was a third way, beyond both fighting back and giving in, namely, the path of provocative non-violence, “turning the other cheek.” The one who turns the other cheek, he saw, is not passively surrendering to violence; rather, he is courageously standing his ground and refusing to cooperate with the assumptions and behavior patterns of his aggressor. He is actively interrupting the cycle of aggression and is, at the same time, providing a mirror in which the attacker sees his own violence and is, ideally, moved to repentance. Armed with this New Testament strategy, King encouraged his followers to march on Selma, to sit down at segregated lunch counters, to endure taunts, attack dogs, water cannons, imprisonment, and even death. The courageous non-violence of the civil rights generation gummed up the works of a morally flawed, dysfunctional system and exposed its wickedness to the world. I would hope that, under the inspiration of Dr. King, an entire army of Christians, trained in the theory and practice of non-violence, would arise, especially in our cities where the cycle of violence is so pernicious.
Not only was King a prophetic advocate of non-violent social change; he was also a deft spokesperson for Christianity within the political arena. Dr. King was, first and foremost, a pastor and preacher of Christ’s Gospel. The pulpit in the Ebeneezer Baptist Church in Atlanta was his home base, his anchor; and no one could possibly doubt that his commitment to social justice was born from his more fundamental Christian commitment. Yet he knew that he had to bring his message to a wider world and to make his case, not simply in churches, but in the religiously neutral space of the civil society. And so he found within his own Christian tradition, language and concepts that were deeply congruent with American ideals and which had, therefore, a persuasive power to any American, regardless of religious background. For instance, in his “Letter From the Birmingham City Jail,” he appealed to Thomas Aquinas’s conviction that unjust civil laws are violations of the moral law and hence offensive to the God who is the ultimate source of all law. And in his greatest piece of oratory, the magnificent “I Have a Dream” speech, he channelled the prophet Isaiah, saying “I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted and every hill and mountain make low, the rough places shall be made plain and crooked places shall be made straight and the glory of the Lord will be revealed.” But then he specified that this Biblical vision was congruent with “the American dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed—we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” He found a way, in short, of bringing religious language and ideas into the public realm persuasively and non-offensively. He was not an advocate of that extreme liberalism, sadly all too evident today, which would simply eliminate religion from the public square entirely. May his tribe increase.
Finally, I would draw attention to King’s masterful use of language. With the possible exception of Winston Churchill, Dr. King was the most gifted poet among public figures in the twentieth century. Very much like Churchill, he knew that, at certain times and under certain circumstances, the most effective agent of social transformation is language itself. The truths conveyed by these phrases are powerful enough, but just listen to the music: “The arm of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice; Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice; say that I was a drum major for peace; say that I was a drum major for righteousness; Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California…Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.” The ancient rhetoricians taught us that people are moved by the ideas ingredient in a speech, but perhaps just as much by the rhythm, harmony, verve, energy, and swing of the language itself. When you watch old films of Dr. King speaking, you notice that he really sang his speeches more than spoke them. Christianity is a religion preoccupied with the power of the word, for Christians know that God’s word became flesh in Jesus. May a new generation of Christian leaders arise who learn from King how to use language to move people’s hearts.
Martin Luther King was not a saint, and I’m not advocating his canonization. But on this anniversary of his birth, I am proposing him as a powerful model for all those who want to light a fire on the earth.
It goes without saying that Dr. Martin Luther King was one of the most pivotal figures in American history, easily ranking in importance with Jefferson, Lincoln, and Roosevelt. He almost single-handedly affected a social change as significant as the abolition of slavery, and he did so without prompting a civil war. What is perhaps less obvious is that he continues to be an indispensable model for our current political and religious discourse. I would like to focus on three dimensions of Dr. King’s work which remain, I’m convinced, of crucial importance today: his advocacy of non-violence, his manner of bringing Christianity into the public square, and his use of language as a means of social transformation.
Not only was King a prophetic advocate of non-violent social change; he was also a deft spokesperson for Christianity within the political arena. Dr. King was, first and foremost, a pastor and preacher of Christ’s Gospel. The pulpit in the Ebeneezer Baptist Church in Atlanta was his home base, his anchor; and no one could possibly doubt that his commitment to social justice was born from his more fundamental Christian commitment. Yet he knew that he had to bring his message to a wider world and to make his case, not simply in churches, but in the religiously neutral space of the civil society. And so he found within his own Christian tradition, language and concepts that were deeply congruent with American ideals and which had, therefore, a persuasive power to any American, regardless of religious background. For instance, in his “Letter From the Birmingham City Jail,” he appealed to Thomas Aquinas’s conviction that unjust civil laws are violations of the moral law and hence offensive to the God who is the ultimate source of all law. And in his greatest piece of oratory, the magnificent “I Have a Dream” speech, he channelled the prophet Isaiah, saying “I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted and every hill and mountain make low, the rough places shall be made plain and crooked places shall be made straight and the glory of the Lord will be revealed.” But then he specified that this Biblical vision was congruent with “the American dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed—we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.” He found a way, in short, of bringing religious language and ideas into the public realm persuasively and non-offensively. He was not an advocate of that extreme liberalism, sadly all too evident today, which would simply eliminate religion from the public square entirely. May his tribe increase.
Finally, I would draw attention to King’s masterful use of language. With the possible exception of Winston Churchill, Dr. King was the most gifted poet among public figures in the twentieth century. Very much like Churchill, he knew that, at certain times and under certain circumstances, the most effective agent of social transformation is language itself. The truths conveyed by these phrases are powerful enough, but just listen to the music: “The arm of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice; Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice; say that I was a drum major for peace; say that I was a drum major for righteousness; Let freedom ring from the mighty mountains of New York. Let freedom ring from the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let freedom ring from the curvaceous slopes of California…Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.” The ancient rhetoricians taught us that people are moved by the ideas ingredient in a speech, but perhaps just as much by the rhythm, harmony, verve, energy, and swing of the language itself. When you watch old films of Dr. King speaking, you notice that he really sang his speeches more than spoke them. Christianity is a religion preoccupied with the power of the word, for Christians know that God’s word became flesh in Jesus. May a new generation of Christian leaders arise who learn from King how to use language to move people’s hearts.
Martin Luther King was not a saint, and I’m not advocating his canonization. But on this anniversary of his birth, I am proposing him as a powerful model for all those who want to light a fire on the earth.
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