MLK and Religion
No one can deny the pure courage and valor that Martin Luther King, Jr. displayed throughout his life. Throughout his life, he faced hatred, violence, and persecution in response to his advocacy of civil liberties for all people. From “Our God is Able,” King sheds light on the source of his inspiration, whom he names up front in the title. He makes some very astute observations about the power of good, and how it always triumphs over evil with God’s help. Indeed, King believes that with God’s help we can move mountains with God’s assistance. What King fails to address is the issue of where the evil comes from in the first place. Granted, this is an extremely difficult question that humans have grappled with for ages, but King essentially sidesteps the entire problem. From there, King exemplifies the brilliant speechwriting that helped advance his causes so much: an essay filled with extended metaphors and poetic words that sound so moving when proclaimed with him booming voice. And yet when read on paper, his argument, while admittedly very strong, is incomplete, again ignoring a few crucial discrepancies. However, at the end of the day, one must decide whether these matters are significant enough to counteract the wonderful effect that these beliefs can have.
King practically circumvents the question of the origins of evil by simply stating that he believes that it is “the misuse of [man’s] freedom.” While I cannot claim to offer a much better explanation, I have problems with this description. This argument is reminiscent of an analogy that states that God is like a mother watching her child skateboard. The good mother grants her child the freedom to experiment with the skateboard, deciding if the scraped knees are worth the enjoyment of the activity. However, eventually the mother will say “enough is enough.” If the child were to attempt to do something potentially life-threatening such as wander out into traffic, the loving mother certainly would not allow her child to “experiment” this way. At this point, the analogy for God does not seem to hold since there are no modern examples of God deciding that enough is enough. As King mentions in his sermon, the evils of segregation existed in the country for nearly a century. A century. Certainly a loving mother would not let such hatred go on for five minutes, let alone one hundred years.
King offers an alternate theory as to why such intolerance is allowed. He suggests that sin “may have a purpose that our finite minds are incapable of comprehending.” If God really has some top secret goal he was planning on accomplishing through racism, King indeed was correct in saying that this mission is beyond human comprehension. I doubt even the president of the National Optimist Society would have trouble finding a silver lining in this thunderstorm.
King argues that “truth will ultimately conquer.” Though the pessimist in me wants to disagree, history has generally shown a trend toward social progress. However, this begs the question as to why our loving mother is making justice such a struggle. A good mother will step in immediately if kids on the playground are teasing another child too much. Why did God decide that fifty years of segregation was not enough to mandate a proverbial “time-out” for the perpetrators? If we take the title of the sermon at face value, why did God not choose to end these evils sooner? Surely if God loves us, he would strive to eliminate such evils as racism despite eating the “Forbidden Apple.”
The question of the origins of evil is a complex question that perhaps may have a psychological root as opposed to a theological root. Perhaps evil is hardwired in our brains, an inevitable curse that man must struggle daily to deny. Whatever the cause, one must not get too weighed down with this question, and instead focus on the great insights that King does provide. Whatever the cause of evil, King argues that a faith in God is a valuable, even necessary asset in persevering against the injustice we encounter. King attributes the strength to endeavor through death threats directly to his faith in God. If King can do so many great things to work against discrimination with God’s support, is it really of consequence how the evil came about in the first place. Perhaps with God’s assistance, it truly is possible to move mountains.
As you may or may not be able to tell, my last paragraph was kinda bullshitted. Gotta know your audience.
I'll make a better conclusion later.
King practically circumvents the question of the origins of evil by simply stating that he believes that it is “the misuse of [man’s] freedom.” While I cannot claim to offer a much better explanation, I have problems with this description. This argument is reminiscent of an analogy that states that God is like a mother watching her child skateboard. The good mother grants her child the freedom to experiment with the skateboard, deciding if the scraped knees are worth the enjoyment of the activity. However, eventually the mother will say “enough is enough.” If the child were to attempt to do something potentially life-threatening such as wander out into traffic, the loving mother certainly would not allow her child to “experiment” this way. At this point, the analogy for God does not seem to hold since there are no modern examples of God deciding that enough is enough. As King mentions in his sermon, the evils of segregation existed in the country for nearly a century. A century. Certainly a loving mother would not let such hatred go on for five minutes, let alone one hundred years.
King offers an alternate theory as to why such intolerance is allowed. He suggests that sin “may have a purpose that our finite minds are incapable of comprehending.” If God really has some top secret goal he was planning on accomplishing through racism, King indeed was correct in saying that this mission is beyond human comprehension. I doubt even the president of the National Optimist Society would have trouble finding a silver lining in this thunderstorm.
King argues that “truth will ultimately conquer.” Though the pessimist in me wants to disagree, history has generally shown a trend toward social progress. However, this begs the question as to why our loving mother is making justice such a struggle. A good mother will step in immediately if kids on the playground are teasing another child too much. Why did God decide that fifty years of segregation was not enough to mandate a proverbial “time-out” for the perpetrators? If we take the title of the sermon at face value, why did God not choose to end these evils sooner? Surely if God loves us, he would strive to eliminate such evils as racism despite eating the “Forbidden Apple.”
The question of the origins of evil is a complex question that perhaps may have a psychological root as opposed to a theological root. Perhaps evil is hardwired in our brains, an inevitable curse that man must struggle daily to deny. Whatever the cause, one must not get too weighed down with this question, and instead focus on the great insights that King does provide. Whatever the cause of evil, King argues that a faith in God is a valuable, even necessary asset in persevering against the injustice we encounter. King attributes the strength to endeavor through death threats directly to his faith in God. If King can do so many great things to work against discrimination with God’s support, is it really of consequence how the evil came about in the first place. Perhaps with God’s assistance, it truly is possible to move mountains.
As you may or may not be able to tell, my last paragraph was kinda bullshitted. Gotta know your audience.
I'll make a better conclusion later.