Monday, January 18, 2010

What A Great Republican


Martin Luther King, Jr.
"I Have a Dream"

delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.


9 comments:

  1. Why are we so segragated now? Why have the black Americans chosen to segragate themselves? And why haven't we reached out to our darker brothers and sisters. Who is holding back the blacks? Lets talk openly and honestly about race and what we believe is the right path to take. Liberals hate this speech because it impowered every man and women and made no excusses for race. It was up to us whites to not hold back blacks nor give them special attention because of their skin color. I think all the BET,NAACP and other black only orgaizations only make segragation worse. It tells blacks in a subtle way that they need more help because of their skin color. Those kids in Texas that risked their lives so that they could go to a white only school found the liberals asking for reverse racism of all black schools and then calling it school of choice. We see a lot of the liberal idealogies within the city of Detroit. And what the liberaql segragation has done for them. We are segragated from our black brothers and sisters because of choice now. Why do you think that is and how can it be fixed?

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  2. In the wake of the civil rights movement in which Dr. King was so dramatically used, there came a flood of social programs that sought to address the causes and consequences of racism. Cultural education, cross cultural dialogue, and the current multi-culturalism all hearken back to the civil rights movement for their mandates.

    “Tolerance brings with it an implicit moral relativism. Who is to say what is right and what is wrong?”
    In the pursuit of the rights of various groups, under the civil rights umbrella, one thing has become clear. That which was called right by one group is often called wrong by another. Rather than resolving the differences, tolerance is championed as the appropriate response to the varying perspectives that have emerged. Yet tolerance has no cohesive nor healing power in society. It means little more than leaving one another alone. It leads to indifference, not understanding. Tolerance allows the gulfs between us to remain in place. In fact, there is little in the concept of tolerance to pull us away from racial isolation.

    Tolerance brings with it an implicit moral relativism. Who is to say what is right and what is wrong? Moral relativism suggests that there are no absolutes to which we can all be held accountable. Such a thing was far from the thinking of Martin Luther King. In one of his works Dr. King makes the following statements:


    "At the center of the Christian faith is the affirmation that there is a God in the universe who is the ground and essence of all reality. A Being of infinite love and boundless power, God is the creator, sustainer, and conserver of values....In contrast to the ethical relativism of [totalitarianism], Christianity sets forth a system of absolute moral values and affirms that God has placed within the very structure of this universe certain moral principles that are fixed and immutable."

    Dr. King did not speak in terms of tolerance. His ideal was love.


    "Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that." (Strength to Love, p. 51)

    Yet, in current discussions of race relations the word love is seldom mentioned. Dr. King insisted love was the dominant or critical value by which we could overcome racial strife. The love he spoke of was a biblical love, one that is unconditional, unselfish and seeks the absolute good of another party. That kind of love is a tough love, one that confronts wrong and injustice with the truth -- absolute truth as decreed by an all powerful God and enables the individual to love their enemy.

    Martin Luther King's Dream
    As we consider giving new life to "The Dream," we have to acknowledge that, in Dr. King's speaking and writing, "The Dream" does begin with God. For without God, there is no absolute transcendent truth on which to base a call to justice. Nor is there any source from which to draw the strength to love about which he spoke.

    A certain degree of skepticism about this perspective is understandable. Too often, those who claim to be Christians have failed to live in keeping with the clear teachings of the Christian Scriptures. These failures have frequently been in matters of race. It is clear from the Bible (and Dr. King affirmed) that the church ought to provide spiritual and moral leadership in society. However, as we observe the history of the American church, many parts of it have been passive, or even regressive, in matters of race. Even in the current era, the church speaks to the issues of the day with a fragmented voice. A case in point is the tendency for African-American clergy to align with Democratic candidates, while many white pastors align with Republicans. Yet, Dr. King implored people not to dismiss Christianity on the basis of these observations.

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  3. A relationship with God gives us the power to overcome whatever sin we may be struggling with, including the sin of racism. Racism stands not only as a barrier between people, but as an offense between us and God. The reason Dr. King could recommend Christ as a solution to the problem of racism is Jesus' death on the cross paid the price for all of our sins. He then rose from the dead and now offers us the forgiveness of God and the power to live new lives. Dr. King put it this way:


    "Man is a sinner in need of God's forgiving grace. This is not deadening pessimism; it is Christian realism." (Strength to Love, p. 51)

    Our need for Jesus is truly the great equalizer of the races. We all are sinners in need of a Savior. We all stand before God, not on the basis of one race's superiority over another, morally, culturally, financially, politically, or in any other way.

    “Evil can be cast out, not by man alone nor by a dictatorial God who invades our lives, but when we open the door and invite God through Christ to enter.” —MLK
    All the races of the world, all the cultures of the world, need the same Savior. His name is Jesus.

    What Martin Luther King described as our need for a "divine and human confrontation" is offered at God's initiative. It requires that we place our faith in what Jesus did as our own personal payment for sin, and inviting Him to enter our lives "when we open the door and invite God through Christ to enter."

    Dr. King's words still ring true today. We can give new life to "The Dream," following the path of Dr. King. Our path may not lead to martyrdom by an assassin's bullet as it did for Martin Luther King, but it does lead to dying to our selfish ways and self-sufficiency. Such a faith is not a weak-kneed, escapist religious exercise, but a courageous pursuit of that which is ultimately good, right and true.


    "In his magnanimous love, God freely offers to do for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Our humble and openhearted acceptance is faith. So by faith we are saved. Man filled with God and God operating through man bring unbelievable changes in our individual and social lives." (Strength to Love, p. 51)

    "The Dream" starts with God as revealed through His Son, Jesus Christ. Through a relationship with Him, we can be agents of healing in a world that is sick with racial and ethnic conflict. Won't you seriously consider placing your faith in Christ, as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did? God offers us this relationship with Him, and we simply respond:

    Jesus Christ, I invite you to come into my life, to forgive me of my sin, to give me a new relationship with you. Bring into my heart your love and your power to love others. Thank you for transforming my life right now.

    If you have surrendered to Jesus Christ, pray for a life-changing faith and a growing dependence on Him. Only He can bring into our hearts His supernatural love and the power to love others.

    As God transforms our lives, we have the potential to embody that which Martin Luther King dreamed.

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  4. The Republicans lost a good man that day that the psycho Hypocrat gunned him down. Rest in Peace Dr. King. May your legacy of peaceful protest that the Republican's carry on to this day live forever. Too bad the radical liberal Hypocrats and rioting union-workers can't learn from you Dr. King.

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  5. I love that you guys attempt to co-opt the obvious liberal for your on political purposes. But i will give you that the democratic party of the 60's contained plenty of obvious bigots, fortunatly for us latter voters, left the fold and went to the republican party.

    But the fact reamins that once the right had an interest in being a party of all, including King and his followers. Now it is not the case, and said to see how it has fallen to such obvious bigots and race-baiters. Too bad.

    It would be great if the party once led by Lincoln could abandon its present white is right bigotry and attempt to find constituents in all americans.

    John, two cent history lesson....

    the 63 march on Washington that featured the second of two "I have a Dream" speeches was intiated by a vice president of the AFL-CIO, and helped organised by a current member of the Democratic party and Congressman John Lewis.

    Also the only, and i know you will love this, White speaker at the washington March was Walter Reuther, president of the UAW. He also marched with king in detroit and birmingham. Maybe that will help your "Whats has the Union ever done that was good." theme too? Next you'll suggest Walter was a republican too.

    You might also like to know that the UAW donated thousands of dollars in the sixties to bail out civil rights marchers, that while planning the Detroit March King used an office at the UAW solidarity house, and that walter Reuther bailed king out of jail when he was arrested during the birmingham march.

    you can see Walter marching to the left of Dr. King in this photo.

    http://www.uaw897.com/image/mlk_marching.jpg

    Can't wait to see what hate filled remarks you will post back.

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  6. Joey, the only hate-filled remark I have to post back is your very own words: "Hey, be happy, do a jig, kill a muslim, discriminate against a black man, whatever it is you guys do for fun when you think things are all going your way."

    You stay classy Joey. I will not rise to your hate-speech and angry rants. I merely stated what a good person Dr. King was, and you go after me.

    P.S. - The only reason the union helped out the black people was to get their vote. Just like the Hypocrat party, they long to use any minority as their stepping-stone to power. Truly classless.

    The union certainly never learned anything from Dr. King. They are the most violent, hate-filled and still racist and bigoted to this day organization in America.

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  7. i didn't go after you. Stop being so defensive. You had been haranging my about showing you what the Union ever did that was good and a chance came along. So i took it. lighten up Francis.

    John, the UAW didn't need to fight for civil rights for votes, it had them already. You are being an ass when you attack a man of class and personal integrity as Walter Reuther with that nonsense. Is that really how you respond to things. I show you where the union went out of its way to stand up against an injustice in our soceity and you smear it. Is that how you feel about the Vice president of the AFL-CIO who was the president of the porters union, a black man and a republican. He initiated this march to get votes?

    As for your last claim, a bit of hyperbole my brother?

    Is that the world you live in where everyone but yourself has questionable motives? No one but you and those like you have any decency? there's no humanity in any but rigthwingers? If so then you are truly a bigot, not of race or ethnicity, but certainly you seem to see everyone else as something less than you.

    What a shame. I thought you were being semi-humorous about things, but i don't think so anymore. Taking these recent posts and your diatribes about being called "brother" i think we're getting a picture of someone who has some issues. Do you really hate other people not like you that deeply?

    please tell me i am wrong, that these things are only fun and games? I'm starting to get worried about you.

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  8. Hey Joey, I'm not even bothering to read your angry hate-filled bullshit anymore. It's not worth my time when you rant and rage and make up bullshit and deflect and strawman. I'm just going to ignore you. Feel free to keep attacking me, I'll be the bigger man (literally and figuratively) and just turn the other cheek. Just like Dr. King taught me.

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  9. John, you want to be the bigger man, remove my name from your blog title.

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Please keep it clean and nice. Thank you for taking the time to post you thought. It means a lot to me that you do this.