The Bristol Blog features news and information about Bristol, Connecticut.
January 19, 2009
Connecticut shaped a young Martin Luther King, Jr
If you haven't seen it before, take a look at a piece I wrote a few years ago about Martin Luther King, Jr's experiences as a young man in Connecticut.
******* Copyright 2009. All rights reserved. Contact Steve Collins at scollins@bristolpress.com
Listening to the "I had a Dream" speech this morning on the radio on my way to work (Imus in the Morning WELI 960), it reinforced the idea of what a great man King was. He was a man of Jesus Christ and Christian values...completely. Those values more specifically are peace and non-violence. In the speech, although he only mentions "Chistians and Jews" "Catholics and Protestants" as well as "negroes and whites", I'm sure today he'd preach a dream where Muslims, Hindus and Buddists were included as well. He preached of equal rights and freedom which breed opportunity. Although accused of being a Marxist, in the "Dream" speech there is no reference to "justice" through the welfare state (an idea conveyed today and then by leftists although "justice" alone is mentioned many times by King). The strongist part of the speech (and the most universal) is the end where he strongly references the Lord.
Keep delving into King there, Concerned Conservative, and eventually you'll read his final book,Where We Go From Here, written the year before his murder. In that book, he argued there should be a guaranteed income for all Americans. "The curse of poverty has no justification in our age. It is socially as cruel and blind as the practice of cannibalism at the dawn of civilization, when men ate each other because they had not yet learned to take food from the soil or to consume the abundant animal life around them. The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty," King wrote in arguing the point. But I do believe you're exactly right that his politics sprung directly from the Bible, that he was a Chrisian preacher with Christian values. What drove him? Mostly the desire to see those values in our lives, our society and our government - though the man understand all too well that we all fall short.
So you're stating that King was a communist? Perhaps Hoover was right then? I don't think so.
If King wrote about a "guarantee" he surely could have been referencing one for those who worked hard...or at least worked. I don't believe he was foolish to think people should be paid for doing nothing. One would think King, a protestant, belived in the "protestant work ethic".
Also the difference between Republicans and Democrats aka socialists (according to the first black President, WJ Clinton) is that Democrats give welfare to the middle class and the poor, while Republicans only agree to dole out welfare to the impoverished. Perhaps you should "delve" into Clinton?
I believe King was a great man who did great things for black Americans, wrote stirring speeches and stood up to terrible racists. I do not think King was perfect or correct 100% of the time.
I was referencing his "dream", and I think his "dream" was great.
The famous speech by MLK was great, and we would do well to remember it. Instead of clamoring about "the first black president," his followers should be extolling "the president with great character." (Or vision, or experience, or whatever quality it is they like.) But all his followers want to talk about is his skin color. When we have a black president and no one feels a need to mention his race, then we will have achieved MLK's dream.
5 comments:
Listening to the "I had a Dream" speech this morning on the radio on my way to work (Imus in the Morning WELI 960), it reinforced the idea of what a great man King was. He was a man of Jesus Christ and Christian values...completely. Those values more specifically are peace and non-violence.
In the speech, although he only mentions "Chistians and Jews" "Catholics and Protestants" as well as "negroes and whites", I'm sure today he'd preach a dream where Muslims, Hindus and Buddists were included as well.
He preached of equal rights and freedom which breed opportunity. Although accused of being a Marxist, in the "Dream" speech there is no reference to "justice" through the welfare state (an idea conveyed today and then by leftists although "justice" alone is mentioned many times by King).
The strongist part of the speech (and the most universal) is the end where he strongly references the Lord.
Keep delving into King there, Concerned Conservative, and eventually you'll read his final book,Where We Go From Here, written the year before his murder.
In that book, he argued there should be a guaranteed income for all Americans.
"The curse of poverty has no justification in our age. It is socially as cruel and blind as the practice of cannibalism at the dawn of civilization, when men ate each other because they had not yet learned to take food from the soil or to consume the abundant animal life around them. The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty," King wrote in arguing the point.
But I do believe you're exactly right that his politics sprung directly from the Bible, that he was a Chrisian preacher with Christian values. What drove him? Mostly the desire to see those values in our lives, our society and our government - though the man understand all too well that we all fall short.
So you're stating that King was a communist? Perhaps Hoover was right then? I don't think so.
If King wrote about a "guarantee" he surely could have been referencing one for those who worked hard...or at least worked. I don't believe he was foolish to think people should be paid for doing nothing. One would think King, a protestant, belived in the "protestant work ethic".
Also the difference between Republicans and Democrats aka socialists (according to the first black President, WJ Clinton) is that Democrats give welfare to the middle class and the poor, while Republicans only agree to dole out welfare to the impoverished. Perhaps you should "delve" into Clinton?
..and in addition..
I believe King was a great man who did great things for black Americans, wrote stirring speeches and stood up to terrible racists. I do not think King was perfect or correct 100% of the time.
I was referencing his "dream", and I think his "dream" was great.
The famous speech by MLK was great, and we would do well to remember it. Instead of clamoring about "the first black president," his followers should be extolling "the president with great character." (Or vision, or experience, or whatever quality it is they like.) But all his followers want to talk about is his skin color. When we have a black president and no one feels a need to mention his race, then we will have achieved MLK's dream.
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