How Martin Luther King Jr. used the pulpit to 'redeem' America's soul

[guillaumeb]

From the article:

On Monday (Jan. 20), scores of Americans will line up at shelters, soup kitchens and community centers for a day of service honoring Martin Luther King Jr., on the holiday celebrating his contributions to American civil rights.

King was, of course, one of the most important social reformers of the 20th century. His struggle against racial discrimination in the 1950s and 1960s led to changes in federal and state laws, including the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act.

But he was first and foremost a Baptist preacher. And his mission to “redeem the soul of America” cannot be understood apart from his Christian convictions and his ability to eloquently articulate those convictions for a nation hobbled by segregation and structural racism.

To read more:

https://religionnews.com/2020/01/17/book-how-king-used-the-power-of-the-pulpit-to-redeem-the-soul-of-america/?utm_source=RNS+Updates&utm_campaign=83fe8c6cc0-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2019_01_09_06_29_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c5356cb657-83fe8c6cc0-127942461

[guillaumeb]

1. In addition:

He was not chatty in the pulpit. He rarely talked about himself. He had big themes: deliverance, the Exodus story, the importance of love, what it means to be made in the image of God. He didn’t go off on tangents. The images he used were public metaphors. They weren’t personal. He talked of mountaintops and deep valleys, light and hope.

He had the gift of seeing rather bleak Southern towns like Selma or Albany, Georgia, as theaters of God’s redemption. He lifted up poverty-stricken towns as places where God was at work transforming the situation. When he talked of the police he said, "We’re tired of being trampled over by the iron feet of oppression." And when he said it, you could see jackboots coming down.

As he got older and became more angry, he became more of a "puncher" in his preaching. One of his last sermons, which I love very much, is called ‘Why I Must March.” He was in Chicago.
It ends on, "I march because I must, and because I’m a man. And because I’m a child of God." It’s really powerful. In the book, I transcribe it in poetic form, because it is poetry.

[trotsky]

2. As you yourself have admitted, religion is just a form of tribalism.

I say Dr. King's humanity - not his religion - is responsible for his commitment to justice.

That is, unless you want to admit that religion can be responsible for the people who opposed Dr. King too. But I know you won't do that.

[guillaumeb]

3. Was Dr. King wrong to say it was his religion?

Or might it be that for him personally, religion was the lens through which he saw justice?

[trotsky]

4. Just as suicide bombers and abortion doctor murderers say it was their religion?

Do you view those claims with equal validity?

You have revealed in the past that no, you don't think anyone can ever be inspired to do bad things because of religion, but they can indeed be inspired to do good. You clearly have not changed that opinion. You should know that it's highly prejudiced against non-believers, though.

[guillaumeb]

5. I asked a question about the post,

and you diverted from the actual article so you can accuse me of something for which you present no evidence.

An interesting approach to dialogue.

[trotsky]

6. You made a claim.

You can't back that claim up.

And so you get upset with me because I pointed it out.

Lather, rinse, repeat.