I spent a good hour reading my Martin Luther King, Jr. book last night. One of the most inspirational passages was something like this:
"I have seen hate on many faces. I have seen it on the sheriffs, on the Klansmen, on the white southerners, and on the faces of church leaders. I have seen too much hate in my life. And I have seen that hate is a burden I don't want to bear. I love my brother, because the burden of hate is too great."
Thursday, November 08, 2007
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3 comments:
I worte something awesome but it got deleted. It was something about how I like your quote and about comments I think the honest people say they like them and I'm a compliment hog...anyway have a great day Dave. I have a greater appreciation for you every day...or maybe every month...but still.
I think that’s a good example of how God truly does have our best interests in mind. God tells us to “love” when really that’s what we choose anyway if we wanted the best for ourselves.
Different subject: what do you think about MLK’s substantial moral failings? For me, having read the Bible, I know that moral failings are, unfortunately, not unheard of among God’s people, even his leaders. But I also find that knowing that MLK had some character problems causes me to stumble a bit over his moral teachings. So, how do you deal with this?
Honestly, I don't know much about it - though I have heard that he may have had one - or several - affairs. Wikipedia already knows more than me.
But I actually think he's wrong on a few points of theology, too. It's hard to read through his speeches and not have several points at which I simply don't support how he arrives at his conclusion.
I don't see King preaching (so far) against the things he is accused of. He regularly sticks to a handful of themes - establishing justice, love instead of hate, and that evil means cannot bring about just ends - so I don't know that I could charge him with hypocrisy.
On the other hand, for a man of God to use his position of power to cheat on his wife with women is, in my mind, a man preying on the flock for his own benefit - something harshly denounced by God. It is a failure, and it is sin.
In the final balance, I deal with it by seeing him as just a man. In fact, I rarely think of him as a preacher, so much as I think about him as a man who believed God had a task for him to accomplish. Reading through his speeches and books, what I find most fascinating is watching his thoughts, themes, and revealed attitudes change over time.
Dr. King was a man who, by and large, tried to live his life as a servant for others. But he was still just a man. Had he lived in sin for years and been unrepentant, that may have been another matter. But given that I don't really know the whole story, I find it hard to judge.
Not an answer? The real answer is, I haven't thought much about it. But since I don't consider him perfect anyway, it doesn't alter my perspective a whole lot.
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