Appreciating Martin Luther King Jr.'s Life

This week is a time to celebrate things accomplished by Martin Luther King Jr. Although King was a Christian minister rather than a Humanist, Humanists can still find things to appreciate in King’s life. In fact, freethinking civil rights organizers such as A. Philip Randolph and Bayard Rustin helped King organize civil rights demonstrations. What then do secular people find to appreciate in the work of a Christian minister?

Humanists appreciate King’s stands for justice and his challenges concerning discrimination and poverty. King’s stands for justice brought him into conflict with tradition, authority, and sometimes other religious beliefs. King encouraged problem solving discussions and principled action to make things better for people here and now.

King reminds us of the value in taking action with comments like these:

“He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it” and “In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

As Humanists put reason and compassion in action, we should take to heart King’s warning that “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”

Yet, Humanists can take hope in King’s observation that “Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.” Happy Martin Luther King Jr. Day!

(This message was a Dial-A-Humanist message by Derrick S.)