America on the Brink

The Most Durable Power (1956) – Always be sure that you struggle with Christian methods and Christian weapons. Never succumb to the temptation of becoming bitter. As you press on for justice, be sure to move with dignity and discipline, using only the weapon of love. Let no man pull you so low as to hate him. Always avoid violence. If you succumb to the temptation of using violence in your struggle, unborn generations will be the recipients of a long and desolate night of bitterness, and your chief legacy to the future will be an endless reign of meaningless chaos. 4 The Power of Nonviolence (1957) – Another basic thing we had to get over is that nonviolent resistance is also an internal matter. It not only avoids external violence or external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. And so at the center of our movement stood the philosophy of love. 5 An Experiment in Love (1950s) – I stressed that the use of violence in our struggle would be both impractical and immoral. To meet hate with retaliatory hate would do nothing but intensify the existence of evil in the universe. Hate begets hate; violence begets violence…We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love; we must meet physical force with our soul free. 6 His words are clear. There is little need for commentary. However, there are five statements King made that apply to the issue of verbal violence in politics. First, Dr. King reminds us that it is important to use Christian methods and weapons in justice work. His words and his warning teach important lessons for political discourse today. Doing social justice and or political work, work wrongly assumed to fall outside the parameters of religion, is not an excuse to adopt unchristian methods and principles, especially those that warn about the reckless use of the tongue (James 2). There are higher principles rooted in Scripture that guide and ground how we take up this work. Second, he challenges us not allow anyone to pull us into hatred and violence. His sober reminder not to succumb to the temptation to become what you hate is vital today. In debates about issues we must be resist the temptation to give into lesser impulses and passions – name calling. Shouting matches, trading insults, belittling others, and dog whistling. These are all manifestations of a culture of violence that has our seized political discourse today. Third, he draws attention to the violence of the spirit or what I describe as violence within oneself or recognizing one’s capacity for violence. King’s words challenge us to identify the hate and violence within us that fuels these

4 James Washington, ed. A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. (San Francisco: HarperSanFrancisco, 1986), 10.

5 Ibid.,13. 6 Ibid., 17.

10 |