Politics > Politics-USA > Online Worship Service At Internet Church Of Christ For Week Of Sunday, January 15, 2006: Remembering the life of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr
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Online Worship Service At Internet Church Of Christ For Week Of Sunday, January 15, 2006: Remembering the life of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr |
Online Worship Service At Internet Church Of Christ For Week Of Sunday,
January 15, 2006: Remembering the life of Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr
HTML page at www.internetchurchofchrist.org/worship011506.html
"We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always
ripe to do right."
Source: MLK in "Letter From The Birmingham Jail" (below)
"Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and
doeth it not, to him it is sin." - James 4:17 (KJV)
Hello Beloved,
If you have the Holy Spirit of Jesus abiding within you, then you are
able to endure all trials, blessed with the peace which surpasses all
understanding. If not, you remain deprived of the many blessings the
Lord has waiting for you. If you have not yet accepted Jesus as your
personal Lord and Saviour, you have the opportunity to do that right
now by clicking => HERE! -
http://www.internetchurchofchrist.org/jesusdirect.html
Welcome
Welcome to the online worship service at Internet Church Of Christ.
Here is a good place to worship our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. You
are invited and are welcome at any time. Blessings to you in Him.
Opening Hymn
Deep River - American Spiritual Song
Lyrics and music are both anonymous, Public Domain; MIDI sequence by
Bill McGinnis, arranged from a Public Domain arrangement.
MIDI music file at http://patriot.net/users/bmcgin/deeprvra.mid
DEEP RIVER - Classic American Spiritual Song - Anonymous, Public Domain
Deep river,
My home is over Jordan.
Deep river, Lord,
I want to cross over into campground.
O don't you want to go
To that gospel feast,
That promised land
Where all is peace?
O don't you want to go
To that promised land,
That land where all is peace?
Deep river,
My home is over Jordan.
Deep river, Lord,
I want to cross over into campground.
More like this at www.Christmusic.ws
Invocation
O Lord, we know that You are everywhere,
And nothing happens that You cannot see,
But even so, we pray that You will come
And join with us directly at this time.
We now will offer up our praise to You,
And we do much desire to have You here.
In Jesus' holy name we pray, Amen.
Declaration Of Faith
The Apostles' Creed
This historic affirmation of faith comes to us from the early
centuries of the Christian church.
I believe in God, the Father Almighty,
Maker of heaven and earth:
And in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord;
Who was conceived by the Holy Ghost;
Born of the Virgin Mary,
Suffered under Pontius Pilate,
Was crucified, dead, and buried;
He descended into hell;
The third day he rose again from the dead;
He ascended into heaven
And sitteth at the right hand of God the Father Almighty;
From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Ghost;
The holy catholic church; *
The communion of saints;
The forgiveness of sins;
The resurrection of the body;
And the life everlasting.
Amen.
* Note: "catholic church" here means the entire body of
believers in Christ, not just one particular church.
Scriptures And Teachings
If we know the right thing to do, we must then go ahead and do it.
"Therefore to him that knoweth to do good, and
doeth it not, to him it is sin." - James 4:17 (KJV)
LETTER FROM BIRMINGHAM JAIL
April 16, 1963
MY DEAR FELLOW CLERGYMEN:
While confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your
recent statement calling my present activities "unwise and untimely."
Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my work and ideas. If I sought
to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would
have little time for anything other than such correspondence 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 that your
criticisms are sincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your
statements in what I hope will be patient and reasonable terms.
------- *AUTHOR'S NOTE: This response to a published statement by eight
fellow clergymen from Alabama (Bishop C. C. J. Carpenter, Bishop Joseph
A. Durick, Rabbi Hilton L. Grafman, Bishop Paul Hardin, Bishop Holan B.
Harmon, the Reverend George M. Murray. the Reverend Edward V. Ramage
and the Reverend Earl Stallings) was composed under somewhat
constricting circumstance. Begun on the margins of the newspaper in
which the statement appeared while I was in jail, the letter was
continued on scraps of writing paper supplied by a friendly Negro
trusty, and concluded on a pad my attorneys were eventually permitted
to leave me. Although the text remains in substance unaltered, I have
indulged in the author's prerogative of polishing it for publication.
-------
I think I should indicate why I am here In Birmingham, since you have
been influenced by the view which argues against "outsiders coming in."
I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern
state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty-five
affiliated organizations across the South, and one of them is the
Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. Frequently we share staff,
educational and financial resources with our affiliates. Several months
ago the affiliate here in Birmingham asked us to be on call to engage
in a nonviolent direct-action program if such were deemed necessary. We
readily consented, and when the hour came we lived up to our promise.
So I, along with several members of my staff, am here because I was
invited here. I am here because I have organizational ties here.
But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just
as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and
carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their
home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and
carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the
Greco-Roman world, so am I. compelled to carry the gospel of freedom
beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the
Macedonian call for aid.
Moreover, 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 anywhere within its bounds.
You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your
statement, I am sorry to say, fails to express a similar concern for
the conditions that brought about the demonstrations. I am sure that
none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of
social analysis that deals merely with effects and does not grapple
with underlying causes. It is unfortunate that demonstrations are
taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the
city's white power structure left the Negro community with no
alternative.
In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of
the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation;
self-purification; and direct action. We have gone through all these
steps in Birmingham. There can be no gainsaying the fact that racial
injustice engulfs this community. Birmingham is probably the most
thoroughly segregated city in the United States. Its ugly record of
brutality is widely known. Negroes have experienced grossly unjust
treatment in the courts. There have been more unsolved bombings of
Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in any other city in the
nation. These are the hard, brutal facts of the case. On the basis of
these conditions, Negro leaders sought to negotiate with the city
fathers. But the latter consistently refused to engage in good-faith
negotiation.
Then, last September, came the opportunity to talk with leaders of
Birmingham's economic community. In the course of the negotiations,
certain promises were made by the merchants---for example, to remove
the stores' humiliating racial signs. On the basis of these promises,
the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth and the leaders of the Alabama
Christian Movement for Human Rights agreed to a moratorium on all
demonstrations. As the weeks and months went by, we realized that we
were the victims of a broken promise. A few signs, briefly removed,
returned; the others remained.
As in so many past experiences, our hopes had been blasted, and the
shadow of deep disappointment settled upon us. We had no alternative
except to prepare for direct action, whereby we would present our very
bodies as a means of laying our case before the conscience of the local
and the national community. Mindful of the difficulties involved, we
decided to undertake a process of self-purification. We began a series
of workshops on nonviolence, and we repeatedly asked ourselves : "Are
you able to accept blows without retaliating?" "Are you able to endure
the ordeal of jail?" We decided to schedule our direct-action program
for the Easter season, realizing that except for Christmas, this is the
main shopping period of the year. Knowing that a strong economic
withdrawal program would be the by-product of direct action, we felt
that this would be the best time to bring pressure to bear on the
merchants for the needed change.
Then it occurred to us that Birmingham's mayoralty election was coming
up in March, and we speedily decided to postpone action until after
election day. When we discovered that the Commissioner of Public
Safety, Eugene "Bull" Connor, had piled up enough votes to be in the
run-off we decided again to postpone action until the day after the
run-off so that the demonstrations could not be used to cloud the
issues. Like many others, we waited to see Mr. Connor defeated, and to
this end we endured postponement after postponement. Having aided in
this community need, we felt that our direct-action program could be
delayed no longer.
You may well ask: "Why direct action? Why sit-ins, marches and so
forth? Isn't negotiation a better path?" You are quite right in calling
for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very purpose of direct action.
Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such
a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is
forced to confront the issue. It seeks so to dramatize the issue that
it can no longer be ignored. My citing the creation of tension as part
of the work of the nonviolent resister may sound rather shocking. But I
must confess that I am not afraid of the word "tension." I have
earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive,
nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt
that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that
individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the
unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, we must
we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension
in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice
and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood.
The purpose of our direct-action program is to create a situation so
crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation. I
therefore concur with you in your call for negotiation. Too long has
our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in
monologue rather than dialogue.
One of the basic points in your statement is that the action that I and
my associates have taken in Birmingham is untimely. Some have asked:
"Why didn't you give the new city administration time to act?" The only
answer that I can give to this query is that the new Birmingham
administration must be prodded about as much as the outgoing one,
before it will act. We are sadly mistaken if we feel that the election
of Albert Boutwell as mayor will bring the millennium to Birmingham.
While Mr. Boutwell is a much more gentle person than Mr. Connor, they
are both segregationists, dedicated to maintenance of the status quo. I
have hope that Mr. Boutwell will be reasonable enough to see the
futility of massive resistance to desegregation. But he will not see
this without pressure from devotees of civil rights. My friends, I must
say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without
determined legal and nonviolent pressure. Lamentably, it is an
historical fact that privileged groups seldom give up their privileges
voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give
up their unjust posture; but, as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us,
groups tend to be more immoral than individuals.
We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily
given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly,
I have yet to engage in a direct-action campaign that was "well timed"
in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of
segregation. For years now I have heard the word "Wait!" It rings in
the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This "Wait" has
almost always meant "Never." We must come to see, with one of our
distinguished jurists, that "justice too long delayed is justice
denied."
We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-
given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike
speed toward gaining political independence, but we still creep at
horse-and-buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter.
Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging dark 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 and even
kill your black brothers and sisters; 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 can't go to the public amusement
park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling
up in her eyes when she is told that Funtown is closed to colored
children, and see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in
her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality
by developing an unconscious bitterness toward white people; when you
have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son who is asking:
"Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?"; when you
take a cross-county 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
"*****," your middle name becomes "boy" (however old you are) and your
last name becomes "John," and 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 are plagued with
inner fears and outer resentments; when you go forever fighting a
degenerating sense of "nobodiness" 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 the abyss of
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, at first glance it may seem rather
paradoxical for us consciously to break laws. One may ask: "How can you
advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?" The answer lies in the
fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the
first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a
moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral
responsibility to disobey 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
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. To put it in the terms of
St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in
eternal law 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. It gives the segregator a false sense of
superiority and the segregated a false sense of inferiority.
Segregation, to use the terminology of the Jewish philosopher Martin
Buber, substitutes an "I-it" relationship for an "I-thou" relationship
and ends up relegating persons to the status of things. Hence
segregation is not only politically, economically and sociologically
unsound, it is morally wrong and awful. Paul Tillich said that sin is
separation. Is not segregation an existential expression of man's
tragic separation, his awful estrangement, his terrible sinfulness?
Thus it is that I can urge men to obey the 1954 decision of the Supreme
Court, for it is morally right; and I can urge them to disobey
segregation ordinances, for they are morally wrong.
Let us consider a more concrete example of just and unjust laws. An
unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a
minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. This is
difference made legal. By the same token, a just law is a code that a
majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow
itself. This is sameness made legal.
Let me give another explanation. A law is unjust if it is inflicted on
a minority that, as a result of being denied the right to vote, had no
part in enacting or devising the law. Who can say that the legislature
of Alabama which set up that state's segregation laws was
democratically elected? Throughout Alabama all sorts of devious methods
are used to prevent Negroes from becoming registered voters, and there
are some counties in which, even though Negroes constitute a majority
of the population, not a single Negro is registered. Can any law
enacted under such circumstances be considered democratically
structured?
Sometimes a law is just on its face and unjust in its application. For
instance, I have been arrested on a charge of parading without a
permit. Now, there is nothing wrong in having an ordinance which
requires a permit for a parade. But such an ordinance becomes unjust
when it is used to maintain segregation and to deny citizens the First
Amendment privilege of peaceful assembly and protest.
I hope you are able to make the distinction I am trying to point out.
In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law, as would the
rabid segregationist. That would lead to anarchy. One who breaks an
unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to
accept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that
conscience tells him is unjust and who willingly accepts the penalty of
imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over
its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.
Of course, there is nothing new about this kind of civil disobedience.
It was evidenced sublimely in the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach and
Abednego to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar, on the ground that a
higher moral law was at stake. It was practiced superbly by the early
Christians, who were willing to face hungry lions and the excruciating
pain of chopping blocks rather than submit to certain unjust laws of
the Roman Empire. To a degree, academic freedom is a reality today
because Socrates practiced civil disobedience. In our own nation, the
Boston Tea Party represented a massive act of civil disobedience.
We should never forget that everything Adolf 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. Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at the time, I
would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers. If today I lived in
a Communist country where certain principles dear to the Christian
faith are suppressed, I would openly advocate disobeying that country's
anti religious laws.
I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish
brothers. First, I must confess that over the past few years I have
been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost
reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling
block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Councilor
or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to
"order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the
absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of
justice; who constantly says: "I agree with you in the goal you seek,
but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action"; who
paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man's
freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly
advises the Negro to wait for a "more convenient season." Shallow
understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than
absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance
is much more bewildering than outright rejection.
I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order
exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail
in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block
the flow of social progress. I had hoped that the white moderate would
understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase
of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro
passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive
peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human
personality. Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are
not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden
tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it
can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured so long
as it is covered up but must be opened with an its ugliness to the
natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all
the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and
the air of national opinion before it can be cured.
In your statement you assert that our actions, even though peaceful,
must be condemned because they precipitate violence. But is this a
logical assertion? Isn't this like condemning a robbed man because his
possession of money precipitated the evil act of robbery? Isn't this
like condemning Socrates because his unswerving commitment to truth and
his philosophical inquiries precipitated the act by the misguided
populace in which they made him drink hemlock? Isn't this like
condemning Jesus because his unique God-consciousness and never-ceasing
devotion to God's will precipitated the evil act of crucifixion? We
must come to see that, as the federal courts have consistently
affirmed, it is wrong to urge an individual to cease his efforts to
gain his basic constitutional rights because the quest may precipitate
violence. Society must protect the robbed and punish the robber.
I had also hoped that the white moderate would reject the myth
concerning time in relation to the struggle for freedom. I have just
received a letter from a white brother in Texas. He writes: "And
Christians know that the colored people will receive equal rights
eventually, but it is possible that you are in too great a religious
hurry. It has taken Christianity almost two thousand years to
accomplish what it has. The teachings of Christ take time to come to
earth." Such an attitude stems from a tragic misconception of time,
from the strangely rational notion that there is something in the very
flow of time that will inevitably cure all ills. Actually, time itself
is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively. More
and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more
effectively than have the people of good will. We will have to repent
in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the
bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. Human
progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through
the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God, and
without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of
social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that
the time is always ripe to do right. Now is the time to make real the
promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a
creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our national
policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of
human dignity.
You speak of our activity in Birmingham as extreme. At first I was
rather disappointed that fellow clergymen would see my nonviolent
efforts as those of an extremist. I began thinking about the fact that
stand in the middle of two opposing forces in the Negro community. One
is a force of complacency, made up in part of Negroes who, as a result
of long years of oppression, are so drained of self-respect and a sense
of "somebodiness" that they have adjusted to segregation; and in part
of a few middle class Negroes who, because of a degree of academic and
economic security and because in some ways they profit by segregation,
have become insensitive to the problems of the masses. The other force
is one of bitterness and hatred, and it comes perilously close to
advocating violence. It is expressed in the various black nationalist
groups that are springing up across the nation, the largest and
best-known being Elijah Muhammad's Muslim movement. Nourished by the
Negro's frustration over the continued existence of racial
discrimination, this movement is made up of people who have lost faith
in America, who have absolutely repudiated Christianity, and who have
concluded that the white man is an incorrigible "devil."
I have tried to stand between these two forces, saying that we need
emulate neither the "do-nothingism" of the complacent nor the hatred
and despair of the black nationalist. For there is the more excellent
way of love and nonviolent protest. I am grateful to God that, through
the influence of the Negro church, the way of nonviolence became an
integral part of our struggle.
If this philosophy had not emerged, by now many streets of the South
would, I am convinced, be flowing with blood. And I am further
convinced that if our white brothers dismiss as "rabble-rousers" and
"outside agitators" those of us who employ nonviolent direct action,
and if they refuse to support our nonviolent efforts, millions of
Negroes will, out of frustration and despair, seek solace and security
in black-nationalist ideologies, a development that would inevitably
lead to a frightening racial nightmare.
Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for
freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is what has happened to
the American Negro. Something within has reminded him of his birthright
of freedom, and something without has reminded him that it can be
gained. Consciously or. unconsciously, he has been caught up by the
Zeitgeist, and with his black brothers of Africa and his brown and
yellow brothers of Asia, South America and the Caribbean, the United
States Negro is moving with a sense of great urgency toward the
promised land of racial justice. If one recognizes this vital urge that
has engulfed the Negro community, one should readily understand why
public demonstrations are taking place. The Negro has many pent-up
resentments and latent frustrations, and he must release them. So let
him march; let him make prayer pilgrimages to the city hall; let him go
on freedom rides--- and try to understand why he must do so. If his
repressed emotions are not released in nonviolent ways, they will seek
expression through violence; this is not a threat but a fact of
history. So I have not said to my people: "Get rid of your discontent."
Rather, I have tried to say that this normal and healthy discontent can
be channeled into the creative outlet of nonviolent direct action. And
now this approach is being termed extremist.
But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an
extremist, as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained
a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was not Jesus an extremist
for love: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to
them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and
persecute you." Was not Amos an extremist for justice: "Let justice
roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream."
Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel: "I bear in my body
the marks of the Lord Jesus." Was not Martin Luther an extremist: "Here
I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God." And John Bunyan: "I
will stay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my
conscience." And Abraham Lincoln: "This nation cannot survive half
slave and half free." And Thomas Jefferson: "We hold these truths to be
self-evident, that an men are created equal ..." So the question is not
whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be.
Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for
the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice? In that
dramatic scene on Calvary's hill three men were crucified. We must
never forget that all three were crucified for the same crime---the
crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell
below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for
love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment.
Perhaps the South, the nation and the world are in dire need of
creative extremists.
I had hoped that the white moderate would see this need. Perhaps I was
too optimistic; perhaps I expected too much. I suppose I should have
realized that few members of the oppressor race can understand the deep
groans and passionate yearnings of the oppressed race, and still fewer
have the vision to see that injustice must be rooted out by strong,
persistent and determined action. I am thankful, however, that some of
our white brothers in the South have grasped the meaning of this social
revolution and committed themselves to it. They are still too few in
quantity, but they are big in quality. Some---such as Ralph McGill,
Lillian Smith, Harry Golden, James McBride Dabbs, Ann Braden and Sarah
Patton Boyle---have written about our struggle in eloquent and
prophetic terms. Others have marched with us down nameless streets of
the South. They have languished in filthy, roach-infested jails,
suffering the abuse and brutality of policemen who view them as "dirty
***** lovers." Unlike so many of their moderate brothers and sisters,
they have recognized the urgency of the moment and sensed the need for
powerful "action" antidotes to combat the disease of segregation.
Let me take note of my other major disappointment. I have been so
greatly disappointed with the white church and its leadership. Of
course, there are some notable exceptions. I am not unmindful of the
fact that each of you has taken some significant stands on this issue.
I commend you, Reverend Stallings, for your Christian stand on this
past Sunday, in welcoming Negroes to your worship service on a non
segregated basis. I commend the Catholic leaders of this state for
integrating Spring Hill College several years ago.
But despite these notable exceptions, I must honestly reiterate that I
have been disappointed with the church. I do not say this as one of
those negative critics who can always find something wrong with the
church. I say this as a minister of the gospel, who loves the church;
who was nurtured in its bosom; who has been sustained by its spiritual
blessings and who will remain true to it as long as the cord of life
shall lengthen.
When I was suddenly catapulted into the leadership of the bus protest
in Montgomery, Alabama, a few years ago, I felt we would be supported
by the white church. I felt that the white ministers, priests and
rabbis of the South would be among our strongest allies. Instead, some
have been outright opponents, refusing to understand the freedom
movement and misrepresenting its leaders. And too many others have been
more cautious than courageous and have remained silent behind the
anesthetizing security of stained-glass windows.
In spite of my shattered dreams, I came to Birmingham with the hope
that the white religious leadership of this community would see the
justice of our cause and, with deep moral concern, would serve as the
channel through which our just grievances could reach the power
structure. I had hoped that each of you would understand. But again I
have been disappointed.
I have heard numerous southern religious leaders admonish their
worshipers to comply with a desegregation decision because it is the
law, but I have longed to hear white ministers declare: "Follow this
decree because integration is morally right and because the Negro is
your brother." In the midst of blatant injustices inflicted upon the
Negro, I have watched white churchmen stand on the sideline and mouth
pious. irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities. In the midst of a
mighty struggle to rid our nation of racial and economic injustice, I
have heard many ministers say: "Those are social issues, with which the
gospel has no real concern." And I have watched many churches commit
themselves to a completely other-worldly religion which makes a
strange, non-Biblical distinction between body and soul, between the
sacred and the secular.
I have traveled the length and breadth of Alabama, Mississippi and all
the other southern states. On sweltering summer days and crisp autumn
mornings I have looked at the South's beautiful churches with their
lofty spires pointing heavenward. I have beheld the impressive outlines
of her massive religious-education buildings. Over and over I have
found myself asking: "What kind of people worship here? Who is their
God? Where were their voices when the lips of Governor Barnett dripped
with words of interposition and nullification? Where were they when
Governor Wallace gave a clarion call for defiance and hatred? Where
were their voices of support when bruised and weary Negro men and women
decided to rise from the dark dungeons of complacency to the bright
hills of creative protest?"
Yes, these questions are still in my mind. In deep disappointment I
have wept over the laxity of the church. But be assured that my tears
have been tears of love. There can be no deep disappointment where
there is not deep love. Yes, I love the church. How could I do
otherwise? l am in the rather unique position of being the son, the
grandson and the great-grandson of preachers. Yes, I see the church as
the body of Christ. But, oh! How we have blemished and scarred that
body through social neglect and through fear of being nonconformists.
There was a time when the church was very powerful---in the time when
the early Christians rejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what
they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer
that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a
thermostat that transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early
Christians entered a town, the people in power became disturbed and
immediately sought to convict the Christians for being "disturbers of
the peace" and "outside agitators"' But the Christians pressed on, in
the conviction that they were "a colony of heaven," called to obey God
rather than man. Small in number, they were big in commitment. They
were too God-intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated." By their
effort and example they brought an end to such ancient evils as
infanticide. and gladiatorial contests.
Things are different now. So often the contemporary church is a weak,
ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. So often it is an
archdefender of the status quo. Far from being disturbed by the
presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is
consoled by the church's silent and often even vocal sanction of things
as they are.
But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today's
church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church,
it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be
dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the
twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment
with the church has turned into outright disgust.
Perhaps I have once again been too optimistic. Is organized religion
too inextricably bound to the status quo to save our nation and the
world? Perhaps I must turn my faith to the inner spiritual church, the
church within the church, as the true ekklesia and the hope of the
world. But again I am thankful to God that some noble souls from the
ranks of organized religion have broken loose from the paralyzing
chains of conformity and joined us as active partners in the struggle
for freedom. They have left their secure congregations and walked the
streets of Albany, Georgia, with us. They have gone down the highways
of the South on tortuous rides for freedom. Yes, they have gone to jail
with us. Some have been dismissed from their churches, have lost the
support of their bishops and fellow ministers. But they have acted in
the faith that right defeated is stronger than evil triumphant. Their
witness has been the spiritual salt that has preserved the true meaning
of the gospel in these troubled times. They have carved a tunnel of
hope through the dark mountain of disappointment.
I hope the church as a whole will meet the challenge of this decisive
hour. But even if the church does not come to the aid of justice, I
have no despair about the future. I have no fear about the outcome of
our struggle in Birmingham, even if our motives are at present
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 America's
destiny. Before the pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before
the pen of Jefferson etched the majestic words of the Declaration of
Independence across the pages of history, we were here. For more than
two centuries our forebears labored in this country without wages; they
made cotton king; they built the homes of their masters while suffering
gross injustice and shameful humiliation---and yet out of a bottomless
vitality they continued to thrive and develop. 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.
Before closing I feel impelled to mention one other point in your
statement that has troubled me profoundly. You warmly commended the
Birmingham police force for keeping "order" and "preventing violence."
I doubt that you would have so warmly commended the police force if you
had seen its dogs sinking their teeth into unarmed, nonviolent Negroes.
I doubt that you would so quickly commend the policemen if .you were to
observe their ugly and inhumane treatment of Negroes here in the city
jail; if you were to watch them push and curse old Negro women and
young Negro girls; if you were to see them slap and kick old Negro men
and young boys; if you were to observe them, as they did on two
occasions, refuse to give us food because we wanted to sing our grace
together. I cannot join you in your praise of the Birmingham police
department.
It is true that the police have exercised a .degree of discipline in
handing the demonstrators. In this sense they have conducted themselves
rather "nonviolently" in public. But for what purpose? To preserve the
evil system of segregation. Over the past few years I have consistently
preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure
as the ends we seek. I have tried to make clear that it is wrong to use
immoral means to attain moral ends. But now I must affirm that it is
just as wrong, or perhaps even more so, to use moral means to preserve
immoral ends. Perhaps Mr. Connor and his policemen have been rather
nonviolent in public, as was Chief Pritchett in Albany, Georgia; but
they have used the moral means of nonviolence to maintain the immoral
end of racial injustice. As T. S. Eliot has said: "The last temptation
is the greatest treason: To do the right deed for the wrong reason."
I wish you had commended the Negro sit-inners and demonstrators of
Birmingham for their sublime courage, their willingness to suffer and
their amazing discipline in the midst of great provocation. One day the
South will recognize its real heroes. They will be the James Merediths,
with the noble sense of purpose that enables them to face jeering, and
hostile mobs, and with the agonizing loneliness that characterizes the
life of the pioneer. They will be old, oppressed, battered Negro women,
symbolized in a seventy-two-year-old woman in Montgomery, Alabama, who
rose up with a sense of dignity and with her people decided not to ride
segregated buses, and who responded with ungrammatical profundity to
one who inquired about her weariness: "My feets is tired, but my soul
is at rest." They will be the young high school and college students,
the young ministers of the gospel and a host of their elders,
courageously and nonviolently sitting in at lunch counters and
willingly going to jail for conscience' sake. One day the South will
know that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch
counters, they were in reality standing up for what is best in the
American dream and for the most sacred values in our Judaeo-Christian
heritage, thereby bringing our nation back to those great wells of
democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in their
formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.
Never before have I written so long a letter. I'm afraid 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 can one do when he is alone in a narrow jail cell, other than
write long letters, think long thoughts and pray long prayers?
If I have said anything in this letter that overstates the truth and
indicates an unreasonable impatience, I beg you to forgive me. If I
have said anything that understates the truth and indicates my having a
patience that allows me to settle for anything less than brotherhood, I
beg God to forgive me.
I hope this letter finds you strong in the faith. I also hope that
circumstances will soon make it possible for me to meet each of you,
not as an integrationist or a civil rights leader but as a fellow
clergyman and a Christian brother. Let us all hope that the dark clouds
of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of
misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities, and
in some not-too-distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and
brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their
scintillating beauty.
Yours for the cause of Peace and Brotherhood,
Martin Luther King, Jr.
###
Source: This is Rev. Martin Luther King's "Letter From Birmingham
Jail," as I would have published it, reconstructed to the best of my
ability as an outsider, after the fact. - Rev. Bill McGinnis, Jan. 15,
2006
PUBLIC DOMAIN
Exhortation
"Take this day, and live it for the Lord."
Take this day, and live it for the Lord;
In everything you do, give praise to Him.
The Lord is mighty, merciful and just.
He gives us all the strength we ever need.
We have no reason ever to complain,
For we are His, and He is in control.
William McGinnis
Public Domain
Prayer For You
"Go Ahead And Give Yourself To Christ"
NOTE: When you read this prayer, try to imagine hearing my voice as I
speak it to you. In this way, the prayer is reactivated, and it
the same as if I were actually praying for you at that moment.
(Just like television prayers are reactivated when you watch
them, although the videotape may have been shot years before.)
Perhaps you are a Christian even now,
You go to church and try to do your best,
You try to put His teachings in your life,
But still you do not feel that He is yours.
You do not feel the closeness that you crave.
If this is you, then say this prayer with me:
* * *
O Lord, I want you closer in my life,
I want you more to be a part of me.
I want the best relationship with you,
That anyone on earth could ever have.
I know that, "as we give, we shall receive,"
And so I now do give myself to you,
In full completeness, holding nothing back.
I'm yours, so you may use me as you will,
And take whatever things you want from me.
And now that I did give myself to you,
I pray that you will give yourself to me,
As bridegroom gives himself to his new bride.
In Jesus' holy name I pray, Amen.
by William McGinnis
Public Domain
Holy Communion
A ceremony for Holy Communion is available to you HERE! -
http://patriot.net/~bmcgin/pearl-holycommunion.html
If you are alone, you will needed to be both "Leader" and "Assembly,"
as described in the ceremony.
How To Find A Real, Live Church
An online church is better than no church at all; but it is even better
for most Christians to actually belong to a real, live church, with
real, live people. Then, you can have your real church PLUS your online
church, so you gain the benefits of both. You can find a church for
yourself by clicking HERE! -
http://patriot.net/~bmcgin/findachurch.html
Closing Hymn
"Dear Lord And Father Of Mankind"
Words by John Greenleaf Whittier, 1872; music by Frederick C. Maker,
1887 (hymn tune REST). The MIDI sequence is Public Domain, by a person
unknown to me, obtained from DigitalHymnal.org
=> Play The Music!
MIDI music file at http://patriot.net/users/bmcgin/rest.mid
Public Domain - Free To Use Without Restriction - more like this at
Christmusic.ws and DigitalHymnal.org
Please also see http://hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh358.sht
This is one of my very favorite hymns, truly an inspired work of
highest spiritual and artistic merit, in both lyrics and music. I love
it!
DEAR LORD AND FATHER OF MANKIND
by John Greenleaf Whittier
Public Domain
Dear Lord and Father of mankind,
Forgive our foolish ways!
Reclothe us in our rightful mind,
In purer lives thy service find,
In deeper reverence, praise.
In simple trust like theirs who heard
Beside the Syrian sea
The gracious calling of the Lord,
Let us, like them, without a word,
Rise up and follow thee.
O Sabbath rest by Galilee!
O calm of hills above,
Where Jesus knelt to share with thee
The silence of eternity
Interpreted by love !
With that deep hush subduing all
Our words and works that drown
The tender whisper of thy call,
As noiseless let thy blessing fall
As fell thy manna down.
Drop thy still dews of quietness,
Till all our strivings cease;
Take from our souls the strain and stress,
And let our ordered lives confess
The beauty of thy peace.
Breathe through the heats of our desire
Thy coolness and thy balm;
Let sense be dumb, let flesh retire;
Speak through the earthquake, wind, and fire,
O still, small voice of calm!
<><
Words by John Greenleaf Whitter, from his poem "The Brewing Of Soma,"
as published in his book, THE PENNSYLVANIA PILGRIM, AND OTHER POEMS,
published by J. R. Osgood and Company, 1872.
You can see and read the book, THE PENNSYLVANIA PILGRIM, AND OTHER
POEMS, at the Questia online library, by clicking => HERE!
Please note that this poem appears, unmarked, as verses within the
larger poem, "The Brewing Of Soma," and that this page is absolutely
faithful to the original in its content and format. Various hymnals
have modified it for various reasons, but this is the authentic
original text, complete, as published.
Blessings to you! May you thrive and prosper in everything you do.
Benediction
_____________________________________________________________
"Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times in
all ways. The Lord be with you all." (2 Thessalonians 3:16 RSV)
_____________________________________________________________
Blessings to you in Jesus Christ our Lord!
This worship service is now completed. Go in peace.
* * *
Rev. Bill McGinnis
You can contact me at bmcgin@patriot.net.
Please visit our home page at www.InternetChurchOfChrist.org
INTERNET CHURCH OF CHRIST
This page is brought to you by www.LoveAllPeople.org, Rev. Bill
McGinnis, Director
.
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