Why do we celebrate a holiday honoring a man who was jailed 29 times and ultimately assassinated? What lessons can we learn from Martin Luther King, Jr. and from American society, much of which seems to have forgotten the contributions that led to bestowing on him a national holiday?
King, a powerful pastor and speaker, was both the catalyst for and the central figure in the civil rights movement that extended from 1955 to 1968. MLK’s sermons, speeches, and writings portray a man with an unusually discerning mind grounded in timeless truths. MLK was all about non-violent action to bring about racial and social healing through public debate and protest.
Hard to come to grips with today is how the power, healing, and truth of his message can be overshadowed by today’s divisive and demoralizing philosophies of critical race theory (CRT) and diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). These divide rather than unite society. MLK stressed the importance of bringing people together through constructive dialogue and seeing all people as made in God’s image. In contrast, those who have recently claimed to hold the torch of civil rights, such as the Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, generally do so through militant action, malicious language, and confrontation.
The extremist identity politics movement in the United States is largely the progeny of BLM, an organization founded by Patrisse Cullors and Alicia Garza, who self-identify as Marxists. For those who relate identity politics to progress, a gnawing question still haunts: What good ever came out of Marxism? While some newcomers might idealistically presuppose their cause is about a socialist utopia, Marxist rule in practice has a sad history of delivering poverty, corruption, and mass death across diverse cultures.
Were it possible to resurrect and transport King into the present, he would be shocked by the regression that has taken place in America in the three generations since he led the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s. He would reject the eclipse of the group, sexual, and ethnic identity paradigm over the individual merit and character-based approach for acceptance and advancement, whether in school admission or hiring and promotion in the workplace. King would condemn critical race theory because it perpetuates negative racial stereotypes against white people.
King recognized that the self-evident truth in the Declaration of Independence “that all men are created equal…with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness,” wasn’t realized in 1776, nor when the United Constitution was ratified some 14 years later. Nor was Abraham Lincoln’s “Gettysburg Address” proposition “that all men are created equal” fulfilled through the Civil War emancipation of slaves.
In King’s most famous “I have a dream” speech, delivered from the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. on August 28, 1963, he called America to rise up and fulfill its spiritual destiny. To the self-evident truth of all people having equal value, King added an equally timeless truth, that people “should not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”
One of the timeless truths King referred to on numerous occasions was Paul’s letter to the Romans, in which he says, “Do not conform to the pattern of the world, but be transformed in the renewing of your mind.” King also drew on Thomas Jefferson’s statement, “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man.” He warned in a sermon as early as 1954, recorded in his book, Strength to Love, that “If Americans permit thought-control, business-control and freedom-control to continue, we shall surely move within the shadows of fascism.”
Seventy years later, we have moved way beyond shadows and now live in a matrix of fascism and communism that operate throughout most institutions within the United States under the camouflage of being woke, enlightened, and inclusive. Few American leaders have been as clearheaded about the dangers of groupthink as King. He reminds us of Emerson’s words: “Whoso would be a man must be a non-conformist.”
Drawing on Apostle Paul’s teachings, King implored that, “Any Christian who blindly accepts the opinions of the majority and in fear and timidity follows a path of expediency and social approval is a mental and spiritual slave.” King also commended those who went against the crowd, reminding us that, “The trailblazers in human, academic, scientific, and religious freedom have always been nonconformists…[so] in any cause that concerns the progress of mankind, put your faith in the nonconformist!”
King’s lesser-known speeches and sermons also provide prescient insight into our times. On numerous occasions, he quoted scripture about the need to be “wise as serpents, and harmless as doves,” arguing for people to adopt a tough mind and a tender heart. He expressed concern that the “prevalent tendency toward softmindedness is found in man’s unbelievable gullibility.” “Few people have the toughness of mind to judge critically and to discern the truth from the false, the fact from the fiction,” he noted.
King was also critical of the media, stating that “One of the great needs of mankind is to be lifted above the morass of false propaganda.” He concluded this theme with the warning that “a nation or a civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on the installment plan.” Such counsel is even more pressing and pertinent today than when he delivered it some 60 years ago.
Clearly there is much to learn from and reflect on in King’s life. Most significant and formidable about the man was the unique, vital, and powerful role he played in the unfinished progress of America. Despite his flaws, he rose to the challenge of refining America.
Nearly 200 years after the vision expressed in the Declaration of Independence, and 100 years after the Civil War and Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, King fulfilled his redemptive mission, sacrificing his life to finish the work he described as making Americans “free at last, free at last.”
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