Your thoughts.
Martin Luther King Jr. Day
Discussion in 'Other Christian Denominations' started by underscoretim, Jan 10, 2007.
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Our church is celebrating racial harmony and addressing the still current issues of racism in the south and abroad. MLK is a hero of mine
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What about the racism in the North? -
I'm off every other Monday, but have to work this Monday; the forecast, though not close enough yet for day-accuracy, calls for ice and maybe snow on Sunday and Monday. The day doesn't have any attraction for me.
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My wife and I will attend a prayer breakfast given by Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity, as guests of my former parishioner who was one of the fraternity men who came up with the idea of the MLK memorial on the Mall. He received recognition during the recent groundbreaking.
One of the members of the church we now attend was Dr. King's typist when he wrote the Letter from the Birmingham jail. She has a fascinating story to tell about the scraps of paper and the margins of newspaper pages he used to write out, laboriously, that text and send it out to her for typing.
I always think back to the only two times I heard Dr. King in person -- the first when I was a seminarian at SBTS in Louisville, and he preached a chapel service; and the second when I was a campus minister at Berea College and took a group of students to a rally in Frankfort, KY, where he spoke. A most engaging and exciting speaker! -
I want to say simply he did do some good things. He also did some immoral things. All of us are guilty of sin right? However I personally think he is overrated. I will always wonder what the FBI files will reveal if and when they are released.
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Then will the same be said of Clinton and Bush? Will they get a whole day for themselves? Who else has a whole day dedicated to themselves. Read some of the work of Ralph Abernathy.
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The FBI files would reveal a witch hunt...a common occurrence during that era.
I've been blessed to get to know one of the officials in charge in 1950's and 1960's Montgomery. He was a racist pig, and hated blacks. He has since come to know the Lord and a few weeks ago sat next to a black gentleman in our church. Praise God for changing lives!
I'm not a big fan of government taking lots of days off, period. They ought to work like I have to. But, I have no problem with our nation paying honor to Dr. King. He did two things that I think cause his work to be even more significant:
1. He accomplished his means through non-violence. Without King's input, the factions of the movement that encouraged more violent resistance would have had more say. God only knows how much worse it could have been.
2. He galvanized significant numbers from "two races." He was not just a "black leader." This hastened the process of equality under the law, IMO. -
Yes, he was immoral. Overrated, not at all. Listen to his "I have a Dream" speech where he talks about not being judged by the color of a person's skin, but by the content of their character. -
He was a good civil-rights leader, but was he a preacher of God's word? I can recall from some of his speeches hailing the 'universal brotherhood of man', a belief that is not Biblical.
- Andy -
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Dr. King was honored for his civil rights work, not his career as a preacher.
That is the significance of his contribution, IMO.
I quite honestly haven't heard enough of his preaching and don't know enough of his church leadership to know how he was in that arena.
I'm not too impressed with his Montgomery AL church--Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church--but heck, it's been 40 or so years since he's been there, so that may not have a thing to do with MLK. -
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Scarlett O. ModeratorModerator
Too bad that didn't work either as evidenced by the country's empty- headed reverence of John F. Kennedy and Bill Clinton despite their excesses in immorality.
MLK isn't being remembered for his preaching, he is remembered as rbell said, for two entirely different things.
Does that excuse his immorality? No.
Does his immoral conduct exclude his place in history? No. If so, then we need to never teach our children about a great number of our white men who led the country either from the White House or any other venue of service. -
We have more freedom because of the good Dr.
His non-violence and movement for civil rights gave all Americans more insurance against the tyranny of those who want to hijack the majority with its semi-fascism.
God bless Dr. Martin Luther Kings works and may they continue to insure freedom for all...In Jesus name amen.
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