Friends,
It takes one kind of courage to stand up to one’s enemies and a deeper kind of courage to stand up to one’s friends. Many democrats overlook Bill Clinton’s infidelities, while roundly criticizing Donald Trump’s infidelities, and many republicans overlook Donald Trump’s infidelities, while roundly criticizing Bill Clinton’s infidelities. That kind of inconsistency happens when we begin to identify more with a movement, party, or cause, than with truth, justice, and accountability. I have found myself having to practice that lesson when writing a protest letter to someone in office, whom I generally support. It is easier just to keep silent in order to keep the peace, or to let something slide in order to keep a “united front” against the opposition. But when a friend is truly in error, an honest and loving rebuke can be a unique act of love.
Yesterday, January 15, was the birthdate of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., born 97 years ago. Dr. King has been remembered kindly since his assassination in 1968, but for many years he was vilified by his opponents and investigated by the FBI. The Civil Rights movement expected abuse from the Klan and other professed racists, and prepared to meet that abuse with nonviolent resistance. But Dr. King’s “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” is different, because there he stands up to those who professed themselves to be his friends and allies. While some white, progressive clergy stood and marched with King, many professed “moderates” criticized the movement for being too aggressive, too impatient, and causing disruption.
Some clergy criticized King’s involvement in the struggle for civil rights in Birmingham because he was an “outsider.” In response, Dr. King penned the memorable words that “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” He argued that instead of seeing “them” over there and “us” over here, “We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.” His conclusion was that “Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.” Some clergy criticized the demonstrations in Birmingham as agitation, disturbing the peace. In response, Dr. King lamented that they were not sharing “a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the demonstrations.” After describing the kind of cleansing and non-violent regiment in which the protesters trained, Dr. King said, “Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension that a community which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue.” Some clergy accused Dr. King of being inconsistent, at times encouraging people to follow laws that desegregated, but at other times encouraging people to resist laws. In response, Dr. King said, “The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that ‘an unjust law is no law at all.’"
So many of Dr. King’s arguments sound as if they were written last week in response to criticisms of outrage over the ICE killing of Renee Good. You can read the entire letter in many publications and online here. My point is not to comment on the whole letter or even to show how it is pertinent piece by piece today. It is to say that Dr. King wrote this letter to those whom he considered allies, members of the church that he loved, served, and appreciated. It takes one kind of courage to stand up to one’s enemies, but another to stand up to one’s friends. That is the courage that I think makes this letter so compelling.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. has become a significant figure of U.S. history as a hero and a martyr. One way we can honor Dr. King is by seeing him as a sibling in Christ, whose challenge to his friends is a prophetic call to us to hold one another to the high standards of truth, justice, and accountability.
Mark of St. Mark
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