Scott Kamps
Only two individuals – Martin Luther King, Jr., and Christopher Columbus – have federal holidays in their honor. Both influenced society for better, in significant ways.
We ought not hesitate to recognize individuals – even though flawed – who’ve changed the world and emulate the good in them. Martin Luther King, Jr., was a man of moral failing (philandering) and neo-orthodox theology. He was also a man of tremendous moral courage. Many see his greatest literary work as his 1963 open letter entitled, “The Negroe Is Your Brother” (aka “Letter From Birmingham Jail”).
Reading it in preparation for this column, I felt inadequate to do it justice in summary; it would be more worthwhile for you to ignore this column and read the 1963 masterpiece instead. There is so much wisdom in it and timeless truths that still apply today.
His letter was a response to another open letter, “A Call To Unity,” written by eight white Birmingham pastors. They spoke against “extreme” and “unwise” measures, encouraging the black community to settle their issues in the courts, not the streets.
In defense of nonviolent civil disobedience, King wrote, “I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust … 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.”
The ideal referenced above leads to an important question of determining the difference between a just law we are morally obligated to obey and an unjust law we are equally obligated to
disobey. He answers, “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.”
King confronts progressives and conservatives alike. It’s frustrating to read about the church’s prevalent response to racial injustices that took place in his day.
King addressed those disappointing responses: “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.’ I’ve watched many churches commit themselves to a completely other-worldly religion which made a strange distinction between body and soul, between the sacred and the secular.”
Scott Kamps writes a bi-weekly column for The Graham Star. He can be reached via email, thestableguy@frontier.com.