Martin Luther King Jr.: Letter from Birmingham Jail This is a letter from Martin Luther King Jr. to the clergymen in response to their claim in a local newspaper that his protesting was “unwise and untimely.” This is an attempt to defend himself and his fellow protesters. He begins by explaining why he was in Birmingham and states that he is not an outsider. He was invited by the president of the Christian Leadership Conference to be there. [623] He stressed on the issue of injustice in this area and said he must “carry the gospel of freedom” wherever it is needed like Paul did in the Bible. He continues to say that while the protests were unfortunate, it is even more unfortunate that the black community was left with no other alternative action.
Also, in his letter his tone was strong, but neither violent nor threatening towards the clergymen. Similarly, King portrays a sense of concern for the clergymen and they ways in which they are willing to obtain the peaceful ends they seek. He senses the still-present fear of the white community in the letter of complaints from the clergymen. King was offended by how the clergymen only planned on addressing the African American community for their actions while letting the whites go on with their violent and oppressive actions. Dr. King fought his whole career for equality amongst the races, meaning all communities with violent, racist actions should be addressed.
This is then reinforced by Source 2, written by Edward Lee, the Archbishop of York, which says that ‘all ecclesiastical persons should preach the sincere Word of God’. These two sources reference genuine worry concerning the possible danger of the religious system and combine together to suggest that this reason was a legitimate one for the visitations. When talking about reliability, it must be noticed that the first source was written by a Royal Commissioner. These were the people sent by Cromwell to perform the visitations; therefore they would have not spoken negatively of the situation. It can be interpreted that because this is a letter from Layton to Cromwell, the messaged could very well have contained the absolute and confidential truth; by this I mean any underlying truths that were kept from the public eye could have been mentioned in this letter because it was between Cromwell and his Commissioner.
Michael Lobato Prof. Bristol English 122/ CR #1 20 August 2008 Belief in Religion One way to go about religion is to believe in what your parents believe in. The other way is to believe in what you think is right. Just like Tom Paine talks about in this brief passage “What I Believe.” I think the purpose for writing the story was not only to pass time while in a prison cell, but it was to influence his fellow citizens to think for themselves. “I intend it to be the last offering I should make to my fellow citizens of all nations, and that at a time when purity if the motive that induced me to it could not admit of a question, even by those who might disapprove of the work”(99). I imagine what Pane is trying to say is that
Situation ethics is a Christian approach in dealing with ethical problems and moral choices. Joseph Fletcher, who published his theory in his book ‘Situation Ethics’ in 1966, primarily developed the theory. The theory is teleological due to its belief that actions have no intrinsic value. Instead, the theory focuses on one intrinsic good, agape, the Greek word for self-sacrificial, impersonal love. Agape is believed to love as God loves and Fletcher described it as ‘an attitude not a feeling’, therefore separating it from all other forms of love.
So, Augustine emphasized the grace of God in his theological writings. For example, Augustine says in his book, Answer to the Pelagians, “ Conversion Proves the Gratuity of Grace—For, if faith comes only from free choice and is not given by God, why do we pray that those who do not want to believe may come to believe? We would surely do this to no purpose if we were not perfectly correct in believing that almighty God can convert to the faith even perverse wills which are opposed to the faith.” [2] Augustine's path to conversion was long. He had sought about the wisdom for the salvation but he found finally grace in the only way to be saved. He found his salvation in one miraculous moment of divine intervention.
Both speeches done by the two were very influential and both had the same goal. King was a more non-violent type of leader, he wanted everyone to gather in song and come together and unite. Malcolm X thought of non-violent acts and singing songs would not get anyone anywhere. He thought that singing songs and protesting peacefully was not going to work. In Malcolm X the “Ballot or the Bullet”, and Martin Luther King Jr. “I Have a Dream”, they both felt that they have been cheated by the American System.
He creates an understanding of values, by referring to the early Christians, Apostle Paul, and even Christ. While defending his being in Birmingham he states, “…just as the Apostle Paul…carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners…so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town.” He continues referring to their shared beliefs to further strengthen their common ground. After questioning the logic behind the clergy men’s statement pertaining to the non-violent protest precipitating violence King argues, “Isn’t this like condemning Jesus because his unique God-consciousness and never-ceasing devotion to God’s will precipitated the evil act of crucifixion?” King continually connects with his audience’s faith; he then begins targeting the religious leader’s deeper emotions. He begins to divulge on his personal experiences with the injustice of segregation. In the following quote he goes into detail why he cannot delay justice, “Perhaps it is easy for those who have never felt the stinging darts of segregation to say, “Wait.” But… when you have to concoct an answer for a five-year-old son who is asking, “Daddy, why do white people treat colored people so mean?”.” King also goes into detail about his daughter not being able to go to Fun Town, it was closed to blacks, and how painful it was to see her eyes fill with tears.
Martin Luther King grew up in a segregated society where white people oppressed black people. His father was a minister taught them nothing about race superiority which led Dr. King a lasting impression of his father. Having to be race in a segregated society and the teaching of his father has led Martin Luther King to be a creative thinker. His father being a minister made him a peaceful person in his combat toward racism. If his father had not been a minister, Martin Luther King’s critical thinking process would have been different from the Dr. King that we know today.
Phelps is a “toxic force.” He implores of his reader: “who can read these facts and not hope that Phelps is gravely punished and Albert Snyder is comforted in his loss?” While using the emotional appeal of Snyder’s side, he also attempts to persuade the reader to look deeper than that. Cohen wants the reader to consider logos over pathos. Cohen reiterates many times that the apparent real problem is not the actions of the Westboro Baptist Church, or any other group wishing to voice hurtful opinions in controversial ways. He wants his readers to see the bigger picture and what he perceives as the actual reason for worry. Cohen states “the trouble is, once courts begin making exceptions of this sort, the First Amendment quickly gets whittled away”.