{"id":157,"date":"2009-01-19T09:35:42","date_gmt":"2009-01-19T09:35:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/tonyjones\/2009\/01\/we-are-caught-in-an-inescapabl.html"},"modified":"2009-01-19T09:35:42","modified_gmt":"2009-01-19T09:35:42","slug":"we-are-caught-in-an-inescapabl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/tonyjones\/2009\/01\/we-are-caught-in-an-inescapabl.html","title":{"rendered":"“We Are Caught in an Inescapable Network of Mutuality”"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Martin-Luther-King-1964.jpg\"<\/span>Over the past several years, on my various blogs, I’ve pointed to or republished the <\/i>Letter from a Birmingham Jail<\/a>, written to the white clergymen of that city,<\/i> to honor the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr.  Here it is again, with my emphases added.  I implore you to take the time to read it today. (It is especially trenchant for those of us who are white churchmen.)<\/p>\n

<\/i><\/p>\n

16 April 1963
\nMy Dear Fellow Clergymen:
\nWhile confined here in the Birmingham city jail, I came across your recent statement
\ncalling
\nmy present activities “unwise and untimely.” Seldom do I pause to answer criticism of my
\nwork and
\nideas.<\/b> If I sought to answer all the criticisms that cross my desk, my secretaries would
\nhave little time
\nfor anything other than such correspondence in the course of the day, and I would have no
\ntime for
\nconstructive work. But since I feel that you are men of genuine good will and that your
\ncriticisms are
\nsincerely set forth, I want to try to answer your statement in what I hope will be patient
\nand
\nreasonable terms.<\/p>\n

I think I should indicate why I am here in Birmingham, since you have been influenced
\nby the
\nview which argues against “outsiders coming in.” I have the honor of serving as president
\nof the
\nSouthern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern
\nstate, with
\nheadquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty five affiliated organizations across
\nthe South,
\nand one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights. Frequently we share
\nstaff,
\neducational and financial resources with our affiliates. Several months ago the affiliate
\nhere in
\nBirmingham asked us to be on call to engage in a nonviolent direct action program if such
\nwere
\ndeemed necessary. We readily consented, and when the hour came we lived up to our promise.
\nSo I,
\nalong with several members of my staff, am here because I was invited here. I am here
\nbecause I have
\norganizational ties here.<\/p>\n

But more basically, I am in Birmingham because injustice is here<\/b>. Just as the prophets
\nof the
\neighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their “thus saith the Lord” far beyond
\nthe boundaries
\nof their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried
\nthe gospel of
\nJesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the
\ngospel of
\nfreedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian
\ncall for
\naid.<\/p>\n

Moreover, I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I
\ncannot sit idly
\nby in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is
\na threat
\nto justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a
\nsingle garment
\nof destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Never again can we
\nafford to live with
\nthe narrow, provincial “outside agitator” idea. Anyone who lives inside the United States
\ncan never be
\nconsidered an outsider anywhere within its bounds.<\/b><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

You deplore the demonstrations taking place in Birmingham. But your statement, I am
\nsorry to
\nsay, fails to express a similar concern for the conditions that brought about the
\ndemonstrations. I am
\nsure that none of you would want to rest content with the superficial kind of social
\nanalysis that deals
\nmerely with effects and does not grapple with underlying causes. It is unfortunate that
\ndemonstrations are taking place in Birmingham, but it is even more unfortunate that the
\ncity’s white
\npower structure left the Negro community with no alternative.<\/p>\n

In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to
\ndetermine
\nwhether injustices exist; negotiation; self purification; and direct action. <\/b>We have gone
\nthrough all
\nthese steps in Birmingham. There can be no gainsaying the fact that racial injustice
\nengulfs this
\ncommunity. Birmingham is probably the most thoroughly segregated city in the United
\nStates. Its ugly
\nrecord of brutality is widely known. Negroes have experienced grossly unjust treatment in
\nthe courts.
\nThere have been more unsolved bombings of Negro homes and churches in Birmingham than in
\nany
\nother city in the nation. These are the hard, brutal facts of the case. On the basis of
\nthese conditions,
\nNegro leaders sought to negotiate with the city fathers. But the latter consistently
\nrefused to engage
\nin good faith negotiation.<\/p>\n

Then, last September, came the opportunity to talk with leaders of Birmingham’s
\neconomic
\ncommunity. In the course of the negotiations, certain promises were made by the
\nmerchants–for
\nexample, to remove the stores’ humiliating racial signs. On the basis of these promises,
\nthe Reverend
\nFred Shuttlesworth and the leaders of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights
\nagreed to a
\nmoratorium on all demonstrations. As the weeks and months went by, we realized that we
\nwere the
\nvictims of a broken promise. A few signs, briefly removed, returned; the others remained.
\nAs in so many past experiences, our hopes had been blasted, and the shadow of deep
\ndisappointment settled upon us. We had no alternative except to prepare for direct action,
\nwhereby
\nwe would present our very bodies as a means of laying our case before the conscience of
\nthe local and
\nthe national community. Mindful of the difficulties involved, we decided to undertake a
\nprocess of self
\npurification. We began a series of workshops on nonviolence, and we repeatedly asked
\nourselves: “Are
\nyou able to accept blows without retaliating?” “Are you able to endure the ordeal of
\njail?” We decided
\nto schedule our direct action program for the Easter season, realizing that except for
\nChristmas, this is
\nthe main shopping period of the year. Knowing that a strong economic-withdrawal program
\nwould be
\nthe by product of direct action, we felt that this would be the best time to bring
\npressure to bear on
\nthe merchants for the needed change.<\/p>\n

Then it occurred to us that Birmingham’s mayoral election was coming up in March, and
\nwe
\nspeedily decided to postpone action until after election day. When we discovered that the
\nCommissioner of Public Safety, Eugene “Bull” Connor, had piled up enough votes to be in
\nthe run off,
\nwe decided again to postpone action until the day after the run off so that the
\ndemonstrations could
\nnot be used to cloud the issues. Like many others, we waited to see Mr. Connor defeated,
\nand to this
\nend we endured postponement after postponement. Having aided in this community need, we
\nfelt
\nthat our direct action program could be delayed no longer.<\/p>\n

You may well ask: “Why direct action? Why sit ins, marches and so forth? Isn’t
\nnegotiation a
\nbetter path?” You are quite right in calling for negotiation. Indeed, this is the very
\npurpose of direct
\naction. Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension
\nthat a
\ncommunity which has constantly refused to negotiate is forced to confront the issue. It
\nseeks so to
\ndramatize the issue that it can no longer be ignored.<\/b> My citing the creation of tension as
\npart of the
\nwork of the nonviolent resister may sound rather shocking. But I must confess that I am
\nnot afraid of
\nthe word “tension.<\/b>” I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of
\nconstructive,
\nnonviolent tension which is necessary for growth. Just as Socrates felt that it was
\nnecessary to create a
\ntension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half
\ntruths to the
\nunfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for
\nnonviolent
\ngadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark
\ndepths of
\nprejudice and racism to the majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood.<\/b>
\nThe purpose of our direct action program is to create a situation so crisis packed that it
\nwill
\ninevitably open the door to negotiation. I therefore concur with you in your call for
\nnegotiation. Too
\nlong has our beloved Southland been bogged down in a tragic effort to live in monologue
\nrather than
\ndialogue.<\/p>\n

One of the basic points in your statement is that the action that I and my associates
\nhave
\ntaken in Birmingham is untimely. Some have asked: “Why didn’t you give the new city
\nadministration
\ntime to act?” The only answer that I can give to this query is that the new Birmingham
\nadministration
\nmust be prodded about as much as the outgoing one, before it will act. We are sadly
\nmistaken if we
\nfeel that the election of Albert Boutwell as mayor will bring the millennium to
\nBirmingham. While Mr.
\nBoutwell is a much more gentle person than Mr. Connor, they are both segregationists,
\ndedicated to
\nmaintenance of the status quo. I have hope that Mr. Boutwell will be reasonable enough to
\nsee the
\nfutility of massive resistance to desegregation. But he will not see this without pressure
\nfrom devotees
\nof civil rights. My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in
\ncivil rights without
\ndetermined legal and nonviolent pressure. Lamentably, it is an historical fact that
\nprivileged groups
\nseldom give up their privileges voluntarily. Individuals may see the moral light and
\nvoluntarily give up their unjust posture; but, as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups
\ntend to be more immoral than
\nindividuals.<\/p>\n

We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the
\noppressor;
\nit must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action
\ncampaign that
\nwas “well timed” in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of
\nsegregation.
\nFor years now I have heard the word “Wait!” It rings in the ear of every Negro with
\npiercing familiarity.
\nThis “Wait” has almost always meant “Never.” We must come to see, with one of our
\ndistinguished
\njurists, that “justice too long delayed is justice denied.”<\/p>\n

We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights.<\/b> The
\nnations of Asia and Africa are moving with jetlike speed toward gaining political
\nindependence, but
\nwe still creep at horse and buggy pace toward gaining a cup of coffee at a lunch counter.
\nPerhaps it is
\neasy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, “Wait.” But
\nwhen you have
\nseen vicious mobs lynch your mothers and fathers at will and drown your sisters and
\nbrothers at whim;
\nwhen you have seen hate filled policemen curse, kick and even kill your black brothers and
\nsisters;
\nwhen you see the vast majority of your twenty million Negro brothers smothering in an
\nairtight cage
\nof poverty in the midst of an affluent society; when you suddenly find your tongue twisted
\nand your
\nspeech stammering as you seek to explain to your six year old daughter why she can’t go to
\nthe public
\namusement park that has just been advertised on television, and see tears welling up in
\nher eyes when
\nshe is told that Funtown is closed to colored children, and see ominous clouds of
\ninferiority beginning
\nto form in her little mental sky, and see her beginning to distort her personality by
\ndeveloping an
\nunconscious bitterness toward white people; when you have to concoct an answer for a five
\nyear old
\nson who is asking: “Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?”; when you
\ntake a
\ncross county drive and find it necessary to sleep night after night in the uncomfortable
\ncorners of your
\nautomobile because no motel will accept you; when you are humiliated day in and day out by
\nnagging signs reading “white” and “colored”; when your first name becomes “nigger,” your
\nmiddle
\nname becomes “boy” (however old you are) and your last name becomes “John,” and your wife
\nand
\nmother are never given the respected title “Mrs.”; when you are harried by day and haunted
\nby night
\nby the fact that you are a Negro, living constantly at tiptoe stance, never quite knowing
\nwhat to
\nexpect next, and are plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever
\nfighting a
\ndegenerating sense of “nobodiness”–then you will understand why we find it difficult to
\nwait. There
\ncomes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be
\nplunged into
\nthe abyss of despair. I hope, sirs, you can understand our legitimate and unavoidable
\nimpatience.
\nYou express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This is certainly
\na
\nlegitimate concern. Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court’s
\ndecision of 1954
\noutlawing segregation in the public schools, at first glance it may seem rather
\nparadoxical for us
\nconsciously to break laws. One may well ask: “How can you advocate breaking some laws and
\nobeying
\nothers?” The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I
\nwould be the first
\nto advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey
\njust laws.
\nConversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St.
\nAugustine
\nthat “an unjust law is no law at all.”<\/b><\/p>\n

Now, what is the difference between the two? How does one determine whether a law is
\njust
\nor unjust? A just law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of
\nGod. An unjust
\nlaw is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St.
\nThomas Aquinas:
\nAn unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law
\nthat uplifts
\nhuman personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All
\nsegregation statutes
\nare unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality. It gives the
\nsegregator
\na false sense of superiority and the segregated a false sense of inferiority. Segregation,
\nto use the
\nterminology of the Jewish philosopher Martin Buber, substitutes an “I it” relationship for
\nan “I thou”
\nrelationship and ends up relegating persons to the status of things. Hence segregation is
\nnot only
\npolitically, economically and sociologically unsound, it is morally wrong and sinful.<\/b> Paul
\nTillich has said
\nthat sin is separation. Is not segregation an existential expression of man’s tragic
\nseparation, his awful
\nestrangement, his terrible sinfulness? Thus it is that I can urge men to obey the 1954
\ndecision of the
\nSupreme Court, for it is morally right; and I can urge them to disobey segregation
\nordinances, for they
\nare morally wrong.<\/p>\n

Let us consider a more concrete example of just and unjust laws. An unjust law is a
\ncode that a
\nnumerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make
\nbinding on
\nitself. This is difference made legal. By the same token, a just law is a code that a
\nmajority compels a
\nminority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal.
\nLet me give another explanation. A law is unjust if it is inflicted on a minority that, as
\na result of
\nbeing denied the right to vote, had no part in enacting or devising the law. Who can say
\nthat the
\nlegislature of Alabama which set up that state’s segregation laws was democratically
\nelected?
\nThroughout Alabama all sorts of devious methods are used to prevent Negroes from becoming
\nregistered voters, and there are some counties in which, even though Negroes constitute a
\nmajority of
\nthe population, not a single Negro is registered. Can any law enacted under such
\ncircumstances be
\nconsidered democratically structured?<\/p>\n

Sometimes a law is just on its face and unjust in its application. For instance, I have
\nbeen
\narrested on a charge of parading without a permit. Now, there is nothing wrong in having
\nan
\nordinance which requires a permit for a parade. But such an ordinance becomes unjust when
\nit is used
\nto maintain segregation and to deny citizens the First-Amendment privilege of peaceful
\nassembly and
\nprotest.<\/p>\n

I hope you are able to see the distinction I am trying to point out. In no sense do I
\nadvocate
\nevading or defying the law, as would the rabid segregationist. That would lead to anarchy.
\nOne who
\nbreaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the
\npenalty. I
\nsubmit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who
\nwillingly
\naccepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community
\nover its
\ninjustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.<\/b><\/p>\n

Of course, there is nothing new about this kind of civil disobedience. It was evidenced
\nsublimely in the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to obey the laws of
\nNebuchadnezzar, on
\nthe ground that a higher moral law was at stake. It was practiced superbly by the early
\nChristians, who
\nwere willing to face hungry lions and the excruciating pain of chopping blocks rather than
\nsubmit to
\ncertain unjust laws of the Roman Empire. To a degree, academic freedom is a reality today
\nbecause
\nSocrates practiced civil disobedience. In our own nation, the Boston Tea Party represented
\na massive
\nact of civil disobedience.<\/p>\n

We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was “legal” and
\neverything
\nthe Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was “illegal.” It was “illegal” to aid and
\ncomfort a Jew in
\nHitler’s Germany. Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at the time, I would
\nhave aided and
\ncomforted my Jewish brothers. If today I lived in a Communist country where certain
\nprinciples dear to
\nthe Christian faith are suppressed, I would openly advocate disobeying that country’s
\nantireligious
\nlaws.<\/p>\n

I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I
\nmust
\nconfess that over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white
\nmoderate.<\/b> I have
\nalmost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his
\nstride toward
\nfreedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white
\nmoderate, who is
\nmore devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence
\nof tension
\nto a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: “I agree with
\nyou in the goal
\nyou seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically
\nbelieves he can
\nset the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and
\nwho
\nconstantly advises the Negro to wait for a “more convenient season.” Shallow understanding
\nfrom
\npeople of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill
\nwill.
\nLukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.<\/b><\/p>\n

I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the
\npurpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose they become the
\ndangerously
\nstructured dams that block the flow of social progress. I had hoped that the white
\nmoderate would
\nunderstand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition
\nfrom an
\nobnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a
\nsubstantive
\nand positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human
\npersonality. Actually,
\nwe who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring
\nto the
\nsurface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it
\ncan be seen and
\ndealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be
\nopened with all
\nits ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with
\nall the tension its
\nexposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before
\nit can be
\ncured.<\/b><\/p>\n

In your statement you assert that our actions, even though peaceful, must be condemned
\nbecause they precipitate violence. But is this a logical assertion? Isn’t this like
\ncondemning a robbed
\nman because his possession of money precipitated the evil act of robbery? Isn’t this like
\ncondemning
\nSocrates because his unswerving commitment to truth and his philosophical inquiries
\nprecipitated the
\nact by the misguided populace in which they made him drink hemlock? Isn’t this like
\ncondemning
\nJesus because his unique God consciousness and never ceasing devotion to God’s will
\nprecipitated
\nthe evil act of crucifixion? We must come to see that, as the federal courts have
\nconsistently affirmed,
\nit is wrong to urge an individual to cease his efforts to gain his basic constitutional
\nrights because the
\nquest may precipitate violence. Society must protect the robbed and punish the robber.
\nI had also hoped that the white moderate would reject the myth concerning time in relation
\nto
\nthe struggle for freedom. I have just received a letter from a white brother in Texas. He
\nwrites: “All
\nChristians know that the colored people will receive equal rights eventually, but it is
\npossible that you
\nare in too great a religious hurry. It has taken Christianity almost two thousand years to
\naccomplish
\nwhat it has. The teachings of Christ take time to come to earth.” Such an attitude stems
\nfrom a tragic
\nmisconception of time, from the strangely irrational notion that there is something in the
\nvery flow of
\ntime that will inevitably cure all ills. Actually, time itself is neutral; it can be used
\neither destructively or
\nconstructively. More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more
\neffectively
\nthan have the people of good will. We will have to repent in this generation not merely
\nfor the hateful
\nwords and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.
\nHuman
\nprogress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts
\nof men willing to
\nbe co workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the
\nforces of social
\nstagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to
\ndo right.
\nNow is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national
\nelegy into
\na creative psalm of brotherhood. Now is the time to lift our national policy from the
\nquicksand of racial
\ninjustice to the solid rock of human dignity.<\/p>\n

You speak of our activity in Birmingham as extreme. At first I was rather disappointed
\nthat
\nfellow clergymen would see my nonviolent efforts as those of an extremist. I began
\nthinking about the
\nfact that I stand in the middle of two opposing forces in the Negro community. One is a
\nforce of
\ncomplacency, made up in part of Negroes who, as a result of long years of oppression, are
\nso drained
\nof self respect and a sense of “somebodiness” that they have adjusted to segregation; and
\nin part of a
\nfew middle-class Negroes who, because of a degree of academic and economic security and
\nbecause
\nin some ways they profit by segregation, have become insensitive to the problems of the
\nmasses. The
\nother force is one of bitterness and hatred, and it comes perilously close to advocating
\nviolence. It is
\nexpressed in the various black nationalist groups that are springing up across the nation,
\nthe largest
\nand best known being Elijah Muhammad’s Muslim movement. Nourished by the Negro’s
\nfrustration
\nover the continued existence of racial discrimination, this movement is made up of people
\nwho have
\nlost faith in America, who have absolutely repudiated Christianity, and who have concluded
\nthat the
\nwhite man is an incorrigible “devil.”<\/p>\n

I have tried to stand between these two forces, saying that we need emulate neither the
\n“do
\nnothingism” of the complacent nor the hatred and despair of the black nationalist. For
\nthere is the
\nmore excellent way of love and nonviolent protest. I am grateful to God that, through the
\ninfluence of
\nthe Negro church, the way of nonviolence became an integral part of our struggle.
\nIf this philosophy had not emerged, by now many streets of the South would, I am
\nconvinced,
\nbe flowing with blood. And I am further convinced that if our white brothers dismiss as
\n“rabble
\nrousers” and “outside agitators” those of us who employ nonviolent direct action, and if
\nthey refuse to
\nsupport our nonviolent efforts, millions of Negroes will, out of frustration and despair,
\nseek solace and
\nsecurity in black nationalist ideologies–a development that would inevitably lead to a
\nfrightening
\nracial nightmare.<\/p>\n

Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually
\nmanifests itself, and that is what has happened to the American Negro.<\/b> Something within
\nhas
\nreminded him of his birthright of freedom, and something without has reminded him that it
\ncan be
\ngained. Consciously or unconsciously, he has been caught up by the Zeitgeist, and with his
\nblack
\nbrothers of Africa and his brown and yellow brothers of Asia, South America and the
\nCaribbean, the
\nUnited States Negro is moving with a sense of great urgency toward the promised land of
\nracial
\njustice. If one recognizes this vital urge that has engulfed the Negro community, one
\nshould readily
\nunderstand why public demonstrations are taking place. The Negro has many pent up
\nresentments
\nand latent frustrations, and he must release them. So let him march; let him make prayer
\npilgrimages
\nto the city hall; let him go on freedom rides -and try to understand why he must do so. If
\nhis repressed
\nemotions are not released in nonviolent ways, they will seek expression through violence;
\nthis is not a
\nthreat but a fact of history. So I have not said to my people: “Get rid of your
\ndiscontent.” Rather, I have
\ntried to say that this normal and healthy discontent can be channeled into the creative
\noutlet of
\nnonviolent direct action. And now this approach is being termed extremist.
\nBut though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist, as I
\ncontinued to
\nthink about the<\/p>\n

\"birmingham<\/span><\/p>\n

matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label. Was
\nnot Jesus an
\nextremist for love:<\/b> “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that
\nhate you, and
\npray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.” Was not Amos an extremist
\nfor justice:<\/b>
\n“Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream.” Was not
\nPaul an
\nextremist for the Christian gospel:<\/b> “I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus.” Was
\nnot Martin
\nLuther an extremist:<\/b> “Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God.” And John
\nBunyan:<\/b> “I will
\nstay in jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of my conscience.” And Abraham
\nLincoln:<\/b>
\n“This nation cannot survive half slave and half free.” And Thomas Jefferson:<\/b> “We hold
\nthese truths to
\nbe self evident, that all men are created equal . . .” So the question is not whether we
\nwill be
\nextremists, but what kind of extremists we will be.<\/b> Will we be extremists for hate or for
\nlove? Will we be
\nextremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice? In that
\ndramatic scene on
\nCalvary’s hill three men were crucified. We must never forget that all three were
\ncrucified for the same
\ncrime–the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below
\ntheir
\nenvironment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and
\nthereby rose
\nabove his environment. Perhaps the South, the nation and the world are in dire need of
\ncreative
\nextremists.<\/b><\/p>\n

I had hoped that the white moderate would see this need. Perhaps I was too optimistic;
\nperhaps I expected too much. I suppose I should have realized that few members of the
\noppressor
\nrace can understand the deep groans and passionate yearnings of the oppressed race, and
\nstill fewer
\nhave the vision to see that injustice must be rooted out by strong, persistent and
\ndetermined action. I
\nam thankful, however, that some of our white brothers in the South have grasped the
\nmeaning of this
\nsocial revolution and committed themselves to it. They are still all too few in quantity,
\nbut they are big
\nin quality. Some -such as Ralph McGill, Lillian Smith, Harry Golden, James McBride Dabbs,
\nAnn Braden
\nand Sarah Patton Boyle–have written about our struggle in eloquent and prophetic terms.
\nOthers
\nhave marched with us down nameless streets of the South. They have languished in filthy,
\nroach
\ninfested jails, suffering the abuse and brutality of policemen who view them as “dirty
\nnigger-lovers.”
\nUnlike so many of their moderate brothers and sisters, they have recognized the urgency of
\nthe
\nmoment and sensed the need for powerful “action” antidotes to combat the disease of
\nsegregation.
\nLet me take note of my other major disappointment. I have been so greatly disappointed
\nwith
\nthe white church and its leadership. Of course, there are some notable exceptions. I am
\nnot unmindful
\nof the fact that each of you has taken some significant stands on this issue. I commend
\nyou, Reverend
\nStallings, for your Christian stand on this past Sunday, in welcoming Negroes to your
\nworship service
\non a nonsegregated basis. I commend the Catholic leaders of this state for integrating
\nSpring Hill
\nCollege several years ago.<\/p>\n

But despite these notable exceptions, I must honestly reiterate that I have been
\ndisappointed
\nwith the church.<\/b> I do not say this as one of those negative critics who can always find
\nsomething
\nwrong with the church. I say this as a minister of the gospel, who loves the church; who
\nwas nurtured
\nin its bosom; who has been sustained by its spiritual blessings and who will remain true
\nto it as long as
\nthe cord of life shall lengthen.<\/p>\n

When I was suddenly catapulted into the leadership of the bus protest in Montgomery,
\nAlabama, a few years ago, I felt we would be supported by the white church. I felt that
\nthe white
\nministers, priests and rabbis of the South would be among our strongest allies. Instead,
\nsome have
\nbeen outright opponents, refusing to understand the freedom movement and misrepresenting
\nits
\nleaders; all too many others have been more cautious than courageous and have remained
\nsilent
\nbehind the anesthetizing security of stained glass windows.<\/p>\n

In spite of my shattered dreams, I came to Birmingham with the hope that the white
\nreligious
\nleadership of this community would see the justice of our cause and, with deep moral
\nconcern, would
\nserve as the channel through which our just grievances could reach the power structure. I
\nhad hoped
\nthat each of you would understand. But again I have been disappointed.<\/p>\n

I have heard numerous southern religious leaders admonish their worshipers to comply
\nwith a
\ndesegregation decision because it is the law, but I have longed to hear white ministers
\ndeclare:
\n“Follow this decree because integration is morally right and because the Negro is your
\nbrother.” In the
\nmidst of blatant injustices inflicted upon the Negro, I have watched white churchmen stand
\non the
\nsideline and mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities. In the midst of a
\nmighty
\nstruggle to rid our nation of racial and economic injustice, I have heard many ministers
\nsay: “Those are
\nsocial issues, with which the gospel has no real concern.” And I have watched many
\nchurches commit
\nthemselves to a completely other worldly religion which makes a strange, un-Biblical
\ndistinction
\nbetween body and soul, between the sacred and the secular.<\/p>\n

I have traveled the length and breadth of Alabama, Mississippi and all the other
\nsouthern
\nstates. On sweltering summer days and crisp autumn mornings I have looked at the South’s
\nbeautiful
\nchurches with their lofty spires pointing heavenward. I have beheld the impressive
\noutlines of her
\nmassive religious education buildings. Over and over I have found myself asking: “What
\nkind of people
\nworship here? Who is their God? Where were their voices when the lips of Governor Barnett
\ndripped
\nwith words of interposition and nullification? Where were they when Governor Wallace gave
\na clarion
\ncall for defiance and hatred? Where were their voices of support when bruised and weary
\nNegro men
\nand women decided to rise from the dark dungeons of complacency to the bright hills of
\ncreative
\nprotest?”<\/p>\n

Yes, these questions are still in my mind. In deep disappointment I have wept over the
\nlaxity of
\nthe church.<\/b> But be assured that my tears have been tears of love. There can be no deep
\ndisappointment where there is not deep love. Yes, I love the church. How could I do
\notherwise? I am in
\nthe rather unique position of being the son, the grandson and the great grandson of
\npreachers. Yes, I
\nsee the church as the body of Christ. But, oh! How we have blemished and scarred that body
\nthrough
\nsocial neglect and through fear of being nonconformists.<\/b><\/p>\n

There was a time when the church was very powerful–in the time when the early
\nChristians
\nrejoiced at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church
\nwas not
\nmerely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a
\nthermostat
\nthat transformed the mores of society. Whenever the early Christians entered a town, the
\npeople in
\npower became disturbed and immediately sought to convict the Christians for being
\n“disturbers of the
\npeace” and “outside agitators.”‘ But the Christians pressed on, in the conviction that
\nthey were “a
\ncolony of heaven,” called to obey God rather than man. Small in number, they were big in
\ncommitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be “astronomically intimidated.” By their
\neffort and
\nexample they brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial
\ncontests.
\nThings are different now. So often the contemporary church is a weak, ineffectual voice
\nwith
\nan uncertain sound. So often it is an archdefender of the status quo. Far from being
\ndisturbed by the
\npresence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the
\nchurch’s
\nsilent–and often even vocal–sanction of things as they are.<\/b><\/p>\n

But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today’s church does not
\nrecapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity,
\nforfeit the loyalty of
\nmillions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth
\ncentury.
\nEvery day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into
\noutright
\ndisgust.<\/b><\/p>\n

Perhaps I have once again been too optimistic. Is organized religion too inextricably
\nbound to
\nthe status quo to save our nation and the world? Perhaps I must turn my faith to the inner
\nspiritual
\nchurch, the church within the church, as the true ekklesia and the hope of the world. <\/b>But
\nagain I am
\nthankful to God that some noble souls from the ranks of organized religion have broken
\nloose from
\nthe paralyzing chains of conformity and joined us as active partners in the struggle for
\nfreedom. They
\nhave left their secure congregations and walked the streets of Albany, Georgia, with us.
\nThey have
\ngone down the highways of the South on tortuous rides for freedom. Yes, they have gone to
\njail with
\nus. Some have been dismissed from their churches, have lost the support of their bishops
\nand fellow
\nministers. But they have acted in the faith that right defeated is stronger than evil
\ntriumphant. Their
\nwitness has been the spiritual salt that has preserved the true meaning of the gospel in
\nthese troubled
\ntimes. They have carved a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment.
\nI hope the church as a whole will meet the challenge of this decisive hour. But even if
\nthe
\nchurch does not come to the aid of justice, I have no despair about the future<\/b>. I have no
\nfear about the
\noutcome of our struggle in Birmingham, even if our motives are at present misunderstood.
\nWe will
\nreach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of
\nAmerica is
\nfreedom. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with America’s
\ndestiny. Before
\nthe pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson etched the
\nmajestic words
\nof the Declaration of Independence across the pages of history, we were here. For more
\nthan two
\ncenturies our forebears labored in this country without wages; they made cotton king; they
\nbuilt the
\nhomes of their masters while suffering gross injustice and shameful humiliation -and yet
\nout of a
\nbottomless vitality they continued to thrive and develop. If the inexpressible cruelties
\nof slavery could
\nnot stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. We will win our freedom because
\nthe sacred
\nheritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands.
\nBefore closing I feel impelled to mention one other point in your statement that has
\ntroubled
\nme profoundly. You warmly commended the Birmingham police force for keeping “order” and
\n“preventing violence.” I doubt that you would have so warmly commended the police force if
\nyou had
\nseen its dogs sinking their teeth into unarmed, nonviolent Negroes. I doubt that you would
\nso quickly
\ncommend the policemen if you were to observe their ugly and inhumane treatment of Negroes
\nhere
\nin the city jail; if you were to watch them push and curse old Negro women and young Negro
\ngirls; if
\nyou were to see them slap and kick old Negro men and young boys; if you were to observe
\nthem, as
\nthey did on two occasions, refuse to give us food because we wanted to sing our grace
\ntogether. I
\ncannot join you in your praise of the Birmingham police department.<\/p>\n

It is true that the police have exercised a degree of discipline in handling the
\ndemonstrators. In
\nthis sense they have conducted themselves rather “nonviolently” in public. But for what
\npurpose? To
\npreserve the evil system of segregation. Over the past few years I have consistently
\npreached that
\nnonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek. I have
\ntried to
\nmake clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends. But now I must
\naffirm that it is
\njust as wrong, or perhaps even more so, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends.
\nPerhaps Mr.
\nConnor and his policemen have been rather nonviolent in public, as was Chief Pritchett in
\nAlbany,
\nGeorgia, but they have used the moral means of nonviolence to maintain the immoral end of
\nracial
\ninjustice. As T. S. Eliot has said: “The last temptation is the greatest treason: To do
\nthe right deed for
\nthe wrong reason.”<\/p>\n

I wish you had commended the Negro sit inners and demonstrators of Birmingham for their
\nsublime courage, their willingness to suffer and their amazing discipline in the midst of
\ngreat
\nprovocation. One day the South will recognize its real heroes. They will be the James
\nMerediths, with
\nthe noble sense of purpose that enables them to face jeering and hostile mobs, and with
\nthe
\nagonizing loneliness that characterizes the life of the pioneer. They will be old,
\noppressed, battered
\nNegro women, symbolized in a seventy two year old woman in Montgomery, Alabama, who rose
\nup
\nwith a sense of dignity and with her people decided not to ride segregated buses, and who
\nresponded
\nwith ungrammatical profundity to one who inquired about her weariness: “My feets is tired,
\nbut my
\nsoul is at rest.” They will be the young high school and college students, the young
\nministers of the
\ngospel and a host of their elders, courageously and nonviolently sitting in at lunch
\ncounters and
\nwillingly going to jail for conscience’ sake. One day the South will know that when these
\ndisinherited
\nchildren of God sat down at lunch counters, they were in reality standing up for what is
\nbest in the
\nAmerican dream and for the most sacred values in our Judaeo Christian heritage, thereby
\nbringing our
\nnation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers
\nin their
\nformulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.<\/p>\n

Never before have I written so long a letter. I’m afraid it is much too long to take
\nyour precious
\ntime. I can assure you that it would have been much shorter if I had been writing from a
\ncomfortable
\ndesk, but what else can one do when he is alone in a narrow jail cell, other than write
\nlong letters,
\nthink long thoughts and pray long prayers?<\/p>\n

If I have said anything in this letter that overstates the truth and indicates an
\nunreasonable
\nimpatience, I beg you to forgive me. If I have said anything that understates the truth
\nand indicates my
\nhaving a patience that allows me to settle for anything less than brotherhood, I beg God
\nto forgive
\nme.<\/p>\n

I hope this letter finds you strong in the faith. I also hope that circumstances will
\nsoon make it
\npossible for me to meet each of you, not as an integrationist or a civil-rights leader but
\nas a fellow
\nclergyman and a Christian brother. Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial
\nprejudice will soon
\npass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear drenched
\ncommunities,
\nand in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine
\nover our
\ngreat nation with all their scintillating beauty.<\/b><\/p>\n

Yours for the cause of Peace and Brotherhood,
\nMartin Luther King, Jr.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Over the past several years, on my various blogs, I’ve pointed to or republished the Letter from a Birmingham Jail, written to the white clergymen of that city, to honor the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr.  Here it is again, with my emphases added.  I implore you to take the time to read it…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":134,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-justice","category-politics"],"yoast_head":"\n"We Are Caught in an Inescapable Network of Mutuality" - The New Christians<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/tonyjones\/2009\/01\/we-are-caught-in-an-inescapabl.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""We Are Caught in an Inescapable Network of Mutuality" - The New Christians\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Over the past several years, on my various blogs, I’ve pointed to or republished the Letter from a Birmingham Jail, written to the white clergymen of that city, to honor the memory of Martin Luther King, Jr.  Here it is again, with my emphases added.  I implore you to take the time to read it…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/tonyjones\/2009\/01\/we-are-caught-in-an-inescapabl.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The New Christians\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-01-19T09:35:42+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/tonyjones\/files\/import\/Martin-Luther-King-1964.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Tony Jones\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"We Are Caught in an Inescapable Network of Mutuality\" - 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