It's Martin Luther King Jr. Day today

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bookworm

Social climber
Falls Church, VA
Jan 18, 2016 - 04:47pm PT
interesting...all the love and respect for the man, but nobody respects him enough to refer to him as he preferred: REVEREND Dr. Martin Luther King

notice how so many tributes never even mention his faith, his position on abortion, his feud with malcolm x (who called him "uncle tom"), and his political leaning

consider:

"Moral principles have lost their distinctiveness. For modern man, absolute right and wrong are a matter of what the majority is doing. Right and wrong are relative to likes and dislikes and the customs of a particular community. We have unconsciously applied Einstein’s theory of relativity, which properly described the physical universe, to the moral and ethical realm. . . . This mentality has brought a tragic breakdown of moral standards, and the midnight of moral degeneration deepens."

or...

"We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands."

or...

"How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law."

or...

"We need all of you. And you know what’s beautiful to me is to see all of these ministers of the Gospel. It’s a marvelous picture. Who is it that is supposed to articulate the longings and aspirations of the people more than the preacher? Somehow the preacher must have a kind of fire shut up in his bones. And whenever injustice is around, he must tell it. Somehow the preacher must be an Amos, who said, “When God speaks, who can but prophesy?” Again with Amos, “Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.” Somehow the preacher must say with Jesus, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me,” and he’s anointed me to deal with the problems of the poor."


Stewart

Trad climber
Courtenay, B.C.
Topic Author's Reply - Jan 18, 2016 - 04:56pm PT
...and bookworm, we all know how deeply you respect MLK and his political ideals, don't we?

It's refreshing to note that you also took the trouble to note that he was murdered while intending to lead The Poor People's March.
Chaz

Trad climber
greater Boss Angeles area
Jan 18, 2016 - 04:59pm PT
Good going, Stewart.

Let's go out of our way to be divisive on the day we've set aside to celebrate the life of a man whose goal was to bring the country together.
Stewart

Trad climber
Courtenay, B.C.
Topic Author's Reply - Jan 18, 2016 - 05:09pm PT
chaz: now tell us how much his ideals have influenced your world view.
NutAgain!

Trad climber
South Pasadena, CA
Jan 16, 2017 - 09:33am PT
Just watched the I Have A Dream speech with my kids, so they understand why they don't have school today. We talked about the social context of that period, and the courage of people to stand up against a set of powers so seemingly insurmountable, the strength of character and the discipline to keep going when initial efforts make such a small dent, the elevation of spirit and compassion required to peacefully resist violent oppressors, to rise above the suffering of the body and realize the disconnect between the minds and spirits of their oppressors, the patience to endure their abuses while being an example of the right way of being. It is humbling to think how much people have endured over time and overcome, and it makes me feel petty to struggle with such minuscule issues in my life. I have no excuse to not greet every day with deep joy and embrace the people in my life, the opportunities that are there for the taking, the happiness that is so easy for me to pursue with no barriers.

I hope that the divisiveness that characterizes our nation today, the challenging economic changes that will continue displacing many workers and flaming the fears of many, I hope these do not set back the painstakingly slow progress toward equality among the citizens of our nation. It is a great test of national character we face, and it is good for us all, regardless of political ideology, to be mindful of this at least on a day where we as a nation recognize the greatness of the vision championed by Martin Luther King.
Jon Beck

Trad climber
Oceanside
Jan 16, 2017 - 10:33am PT
There is some speculation that Dr. Kings demise was his vehement opposition to the war in Vietnam.

I am glad society gives him the credit he deserves.
SteveW

Trad climber
The state of confusion
Jan 16, 2017 - 07:04pm PT

Free at last, (if only we were free at last). . .

Rest in Peace, Dr. King.
Reilly

Mountain climber
The Other Monrovia- CA
Jan 16, 2017 - 07:27pm PT
A doc who works with the wife is the grandson of an Alabama sharecropper. He told my
friend that BITD there was only one white owned store in town that would sell to his people.
Two generations later my friend is working in Los Angeles and somehow discovers that one
of the nurse midwives he has been working with is the granddaughter of the man who sold
food to his grandfather! Of course, she is Jewish and her grandfather was a mensch. Had a
good time with them both yesterday.
JC Marin

Trad climber
CA
Jan 16, 2017 - 07:43pm PT
"We may have come on different ships...but we are all in the same boat now"

Words to live by
John M

climber
Jan 16, 2017 - 11:07pm PT
This deserves to be posted here. An inspired man. A great evil was done the day he was killed.



Letter From Birmingham Jail

King's famous letter, published in The Atlantic as "The Negro Is Your Brother" several months after its original writing, was written in response to a public statement of concern and caution issued by eight white religious leaders of the South. It stands as one of the classic documents of the civil-rights movement.

While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement calling our present activities "unwise and untimely." Seldom, if ever, do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. If I sought to answer all of the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would be engaged in little else in the course of the day, and I would have no time for constructive work. But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and your criticisms are sincerely set forth, I would like to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.

I think I should give the reason for my being in Birmingham, since you have been influenced by the argument of "outsiders coming in"

I am in Birmingham because injustice is here ...I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial "outside agitator" idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider ...


We have waited for more than three hundred and forty years for our God-given and constitutional rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward the goal of political independence, and we still creep at horse-and-buggy pace toward the gaining of a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. I guess it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say "wait." But when you have seen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and brothers at whim; when you have seen hate-filled policemen curse, kick, brutalize, and even kill your black brothers and sisters with impunity; when you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an airtight cage of poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted and your speech stammering as you seek to explain to your six-year-old daughter why she cannot go to the public amusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in her little eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see the depressing clouds of inferiority begin to form in her little mental sky, and see her begin to distort her little personality by unconsciously developing a bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son asking in agonizing pathos, "Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?"; when you take a cross-country drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable corners of your automobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by nagging signs reading "white" and "colored"; when your first name becomes "nigger" and your middle name becomes "boy" (however old you are) and your last name becomes "John," and when your wife and mother are never given the respected title "Mrs."; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing what to expect next, and plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of "nobodyness"--then you will understand why we find it difficult to wait. There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over and men are no longer willing to be plunged into an abyss of injustice where they experience the bleakness of corroding despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable impatience ...

You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This is certainly a legitimate concern. Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court's decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, it is rather strange and paradoxical to find us consciously breaking laws. One may well ask, "How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?" The answer is found in the fact that there are two types of laws: there are just laws, and there are unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that "An unjust law is no law at all."


Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine when a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law, or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas, an unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality ...

There are some instances when a law is just on its face and unjust in its application. For instance, I was arrested Friday on a charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong with an ordinance which requires a permit for a parade, but when the ordinance is used to preserve segregation and to deny citizens the First Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and peaceful protest, then it becomes unjust.

Of course, there is nothing new about this kind of civil disobedience. It was seen sublimely in the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar because a higher moral law was involved. It was practiced superbly by the early Christians, who were willing to face hungry lions and the excruciating pain of chopping blocks before submitting to certain unjust laws of the Roman Empire. To a degree, academic freedom is a reality today because Socrates practiced civil disobedience.


We can never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was "legal" and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was "illegal." It was "illegal" to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler's Germany. But I am sure that if I had lived in Germany during that time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers even though it was illegal. If I lived in a Communist country today where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I believe I would openly advocate disobeying these anti-religious laws ...

I have no fear about the outcome of our struggle in Birmingham, even if our motives are presently misunderstood. We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with the destiny of America. Before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson scratched across the pages of history the majestic word of the Declaration of Independence, we were here ...If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands ...

Never before have I written a letter this long--or should I say a book? I'm afraid that it is much too long to take your precious time. I can assure you that it would have been much shorter if I had been writing from a comfortable desk, but what else is there to do when you are alone for days in the dull monotony of a narrow jail cell other than write long letters, think strange thoughts, and pray long prayers?

If I have said anything in this letter that is an overstatement of the truth and is indicative of an unreasonable impatience, I beg you to forgive me. If I have said anything in this letter that is an understatement of the truth and is indicative of my having a patience that makes me patient with anything less than brotherhood, I beg God to forgive me.

Yours for the cause of Peace and Brotherhood,
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.
rick sumner

Trad climber
reno, nevada/ wasilla alaska
Jan 16, 2017 - 11:27pm PT
Whatever happened to Washington and Lincoln B-day holidays?

Now we just get a single day off with the generic name presidents day.

WTF?
10b4me

Mountain climber
Retired
Jan 17, 2017 - 07:00am PT
it's not MLK day it's time to remember the Northridge earthquake day!

Wrong again, Ryan. The Northridge earthquake occurred at 4:30am on January 17, 1994.
Btw, you are a f*#king moron.
Gary

Social climber
Desolation Basin, Calif.
Jan 17, 2017 - 12:31pm PT
Whatever happened to Washington and Lincoln B-day holidays?

The Republicans eliminated them in a bill sponsored by Sen. Robert McClory.
ß Î Ø T Ç H

Boulder climber
ne'er–do–well
Jan 17, 2017 - 06:49pm PT

The Republicans eliminated them
... so they could go home and beat their wives more.
EdwardT

Trad climber
Retired
Jan 15, 2018 - 06:08pm PT
Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

We need more leaders like Reverend King.
Messages 21 - 35 of total 35 in this topic << First  |  < Previous  |  Show All  |  Next >  |  Last >>
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