Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) was a pastor, scholar, and pioneering activist. His life was given to the work of American Civil Rights and racial reconciliation in the American church. He was dedicated to the way of nonviolent agitation as a means to bring about justice & change. (On MLK Jr. Day, so many quotes are shared, but not context. So today, please take time to read the entire speech or sermon from the quoted portion. Links provided.)
“If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority” — from “A Knock At Midnight”
“The aim of the sword is to defeat injure and humiliate an oppressor. But the true aim should be to convert him, to change his understanding and his sense of values.” — from “The Peril of the Sword”
“I have never yet engaged in a direct action movement that was ‘well timed’ according to the timetable of those who have not yet suffered unduly from the disease of segregation.” — from “Letter From a Birmingham Jail”
“Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love. And this is what we must see as we move on.”—from “Where Do We Go From Here?”
“We can stand up before our most violent opponent and say: We will match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering. We will meet your physical force with soul force. Do to us what you will and we will still love you. We cannot in all good conscience obey your unjust laws, because noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good, and so throw us in jail.” — from “The American Dream”
Jared Stacy 