Monday, January 19, 2015

Some politically incorrect things to appreciate about Martin Luther King, Jr.

I'm sure there are some who would find readily-available reasons for criticizing Martin Luther King, Jr. Despite his iconic stature in contemporary American political culture, his feet were made of clay, like all mortals. But around this time of year when the legacy of King is regularly enlisted in the support of everything from pro-abortion and pro-gay Democrat agendas, it's always nice to note some facts that such an agenda would regard as "inconvenient truths."

  • He was unequivocally pro-life, despite "abortion-rights" advocates' attempt to draft him in service of their cause, even to the point of Planned Parenthood awarding him the Margaret Sanger Award in 1966. He stridently denounced abortion as a form of genocide in many speeches. Backstory.

  • He unequivocally appealed to the Bible and traditional Christian values in his sermons, speeches, and writings. In fact, the strength of his appeal in the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s was to the Christian conscience of the nation, which was still then not quite entirely eroded.

  • He called on the support of the Catholic theological tradition of natural and eternal law. For example, in his Letter from a Birmingham Jail, he quoted from St. Thomas Aquinas' "Treatise on Law" (Summa Theologiae, I-II, QQ. 90-114), where he writes: "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" (showing that he still believed in a higher law than human law, unlike Senator Biden, who opposed the nomination of Supreme Court Judge Clarence Thomas because the latter believed, like all informed faithful Catholics, in "natural law"); and, again quoting from Aquinas, said that he would agree with St. Augustine that "an unjust law is no law at all" (quoted from Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, I-II, Q. 96, a. 4).

  • He opposed perpetuating an attitude of perpetual victimization and entitlement. He did believe equity allowed for a place for just restitution, compensatory treatment for years of oppression, but not for any privileges beyond that based on accidents of race or color. Rather, he believed in fairness and equity: "I have a dream," he famously declared, "that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." Amen to that.

1 comment:

Mick Jagger Gathers No Mosque said...

Raider Fan wandered into an ongoing tour of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis and he left that tour having no doubt that Martin was iced - probably by the gov't.

RF saw the bathroom from where the patsy JE Ray putatively pulled the trigger - no way.

Numerous eye witnesses heard the shots coming from bushes in from of the hotel were Ray was staying and, surprise, surprise, they were removed then next morning - probably in a search for evidence don'cha'know.

Witnesses saw a man fire a rifle and then sprint away from the bushes and as the perp hit the sidewalk, he tossed his rifle to an accomplish who went one way while the perp went the other.

The Federal Bi did not interview the eyewitnesses etc.

In any event, MLK had enormous courage; he was constantly threatened with death yet he continued to appear publicly etc.

Those who have read E Michael Jones' The Slaughter of Cities, Urban Renewal as Urban Cleansing know about how the Quakers and Martin helped destroy ethnic catholic neighborhoods, still, the man did have courage.