What Would Martin Say?
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In the American South, Martin Luther King Jr. introduced something called Militant Non-Violent Intervention. Through Militant Non-Violent Intervention, Dr. King led a movement that refocused the gathering storm of black fury into a peace movement that awakened the conscious of White America. The slogan he chose for his organization, was “To Save the Soul of America”. He was a visionary of extraordinary genius.
His most famous speech is called “I have a dream”.
Listen to this sentence near the end of this speech.
Soul Force, what does he mean?
In another speech, Our God is Marching On, Dr. King states that...
Dr. King considered America’s roll in the larger world, and imagined a time when Militant Direct Non-Violent Intervention would be practiced on a global scale to end War and bring Justice to the earth. In Pilgrimage to Nonviolence Dr. Kings states.
The Global Enemy in his day, was “Communism”, and the War against communism was being fought in Vietnam. Listen to Dr. Kings words in his speech entitled “A Time to Break Silence”. When Kings writes “Communism”, we will insert “Terrorism” instead.
When Dr. King talks of Justice, he is talking not only of Justice for Americans, but the people of North and South Vietnam. And not only Vietnam, but for the entire developing world. Out of the past, we can hear his prophetic voice speaking of Justice for the Palestinians, who are weak and use suicide bombers; and of justice for the Israelis, who now use American made F-16 and Black Hawk Helicopters. We can not have peace without Justice. King continues his speech by saying:
What can we do today?
In Nonviolence, The Only Road to Freedom, Dr. King writes that
In this, he means the use of the Boycott. By this me means first acknowledging evil and injustice, and by refusing to cooperate, successfully exposing the injustice to the light of those around us. In “My Trip to the Land of Gandhi”, King tells us that
This is no idle dream, but the words of pragmatist. All sides in the Middle East, Israeli and Palestinian, or Hammas, and Hezbulla, motivate their followers by providing a clear vision of achieving Moral Rightness [Justice] through brutal force. The gift of Non-Violence is that it leverages this underlying demand for Justice by exposing the inherent injustice created by their use of violence. It is the role of the Peace Maker to demonstrate the humanity of all sides and bring both week and powerful to the same vision of Justice through Peace.
“A time comes,” says Dr. King, “when silence is betrayal”.
This photo of Dr. King is taken from Noble Prize .Org. Visit and read more about this extraordinary leader.
Every year, to celebrate Martin Luther King Day , we put up a sign on I-95 in CT.
What Would Martin Say?
“But there is something I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.”
“Our aim must never be to defeat or humiliate [our adversary] but to win his friendship and understanding. We must come to see that in the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience.”
“I have come to see more and more the need for the method of nonviolence in international relations”.
“America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. There is nothing, except a tragic death wish, to prevent us from reordering our priorities, so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war.
He continues..
“This kind of positive revolution of values is our best defense against communism. [Think Terrorism] War is not the answer. [Terrorism] will never be defeated by the use of atomic bombs or nuclear weapons. Let us not join those who shout war and throughout their misguided passions urge the United States to relinquish its participation in the United Nations. These are days which demand wise restraint and calm reasonableness. We must not call everyone a [Terrorist] or an appeaser who advocates the seating of Red China in the United Nations [As Nixon finally did] and who recognizes that hate and hysteria are not the final answers to the problem of these turbulent days. We must not engage in a negative [anti-terrorism], but rather in a positive thrust for democracy, realizing that our greatest defense against [terrorism] is to take offensive action in behalf of justice.”
“We must with positive action seek to remove those conditions of poverty, insecurity, and injustice [think illegal settlements, bombs flown over boarders, and broken UN promises] which are the fertile soil in which the seeds of communism [Terrorism] grows and develops.
“Basic to the philosophy of nonviolence is the refusal to cooperate with evil.”
“True nonviolent resistance is not unrealistic submission to evil power. It is rather a courageous confrontation of evil by the power of love, in faith that is is better to be the recipient of violence than the inflictor of it, since the latter only multiplies the existence of violence and bitterness in the universe, while the former may develop a sense of shame in the opponent, and thereby bring about a transformation and change of heart.”
