Monday, February 1, 2010
Inquiry #2 - MLK
Quite reminiscient of Paul, King wrote this letter from prison to his brothers in Christ in love but with the ultimate goal to rebuke them. King was burdened heavily because of the racial injustice that was so prevalent for centuries and the lack of compassion that those that shared his faith and those that were in government had shown. He knew that direct action was the only way to wake people up to the wrongs that were being tolerated and ignored on every level. I wonder, how would Martin Luther King Jr. respond today to the injustices around the world and even in our own backyard? When news is instantaneous, and with little effort we can read about all the wrongs that are happening all around the world are we just as indifferent and ignorant as the people in King's time? What are we doing right now for those, who just by circumstance, are less fortunate than us? How will we work to bring justice in our world? How will we respond to the great crisis' of our day? To sex-trafficking? To children being forced into armed combat? Defining and exploring the subject of justice is good and necessary, but in times such as these I believe there needs to be less meditation on meaning and more action.
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1 comment:
Nick’s writing seems to suggest that with news spreading faster, and with the increased mobility of the world that today that the American’s ability to fight for justice has increased. News does spread faster today, but people themselves and what they can do for civil rights has not speeded up. Furthermore, quick flow of information works for both sides. As King said, “Time is neutral.” (Letter From Birmingham Jail, 163).
That action should be taken quickly cannot be argued against, but perhaps “meditation” was a poor word choice. Action needs to be taken quickly and with a firm resolve, but not without prior reflection. It is indeed action, through words or otherwise, that is the substance which propels any movement. Fredrick Douglass once said, “America is false to the past, false to the present, and solemnly binds herself to be false to the future.” (Independence Day Speech at Rochester, 406 ). He was right about the past and the present, and without the action of Martin Luther King to break free from the bonds that Douglass mentions, he would have been right about the future as well.
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