adapted from Hertiage.org tribute over here.
Across the country today, speakers will honor the legacy of the Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. They will likely quote the resounding “I Have a Dream” speech and the stirring “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”
But what made it possible for the Reverend to accomplish so much? Let’s go deeper into the origins of his belief that men and women of all races are born to the same rights and freedoms. King explained that” s faith supported everything he did, and his vision for America arose directly from his Christian ideals.
“If we are wrong, the Constitution of the United States is wrong,” he declared. “If we are wrong, God Almighty is wrong.” .
Christianity teaches that people must love one another, and even before he began his crusade for civil rights, Reverend King frequently preached that people must love their enemies and forgive those who attempt to harm them. The marches, rallies, and boycotts he organized all featured non-violence, because they were born in Christian love and hope and the Reverend King believed that was the Way of the Cross.
The Reverend King often called upon Americans “to look deep down within every man and see within him something of Godliness.” His faith in God gave him faith in his fellow Americans. They proved worthy. Within a generation, “the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners” were finally treated as equals under the law and within 50 years of his march, President.
While Reverend King talked openly about his faith, sadly these days there’s pressure to scrub that from the public square.. For example, a group in Oklahoma filed a lawsuit alleging that most of the Ten Commandments actually violate state and federal laws. Hard to believe isn’t it?
Unfortunately, this airbrushing, extends to Reverend King’s legacy as well. There are 16 quotations at his D.C. memorial. Several originate in sermons and one quotes a Bible verse, yet there’s no mention of God or faith in any of them, which is totally incredible because the Reverend King was a man of the cloth.
How often do you hear someone say, REVEREND Martin Luther King? Typically they drop his title, his badge of faith and education, and just say Martin Luther King yet Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, both get Reverend put in front all the time. I don’t know about you, I find that very disrespectful. It irks me and it seems, over here on this site, that it irks him too.
So on his holiday let us remember what Reverend King wrote in 1956. “This is at the very heart of the Christian gospel.” It is the heart of the American creed as well”, and give his well deserved honour, that of Minister to his flock, back in front.
In my anguish... 