So, I regularly listen to the On Point radio broadcast on NPR (yeah, I’m that dorky…) via podcast, and yesterday, they were talking about Martin Luther King, Jr… More specifically, they were discussing whether he would be with today’s Republicans or today’s Democrats. From the summary:
“King personified Christian activism in politics, they say — and so do we. King said judge not by the color of skin but by the quality of character, they say — when they oppose affirmative action. King did not speak up for gay marriage, they say — and conservatives don’t either. Progressives are appalled”
The idea is that both sides want to claim him for themselves. For example, the Conservatives say that because King was a preacher, he’d be against gay marriage. Liberals say that because he was for equality in all things, he would be more sympathetic to their cause. The Conservatives also use his classic “I Have A Dream” speech to say that King wanted full equality in the workplace, so he would be against Affirmative Action (because that entire program goes against equality), while the Liberals say that sure, King was for equality, but he would want Affirmative Action to stay in place until equality was assured (which it obviously isn’t, yet).
At the link above, you can find quotes from the show from the people interviewed, as well as a recording of the 40 min. broadcast. Rather interesting to hear…
The thing that really got me, though, is the parallels I see with Christianity in general. These people were basing arguments on his singular speech. What do we, as Christians, do with Jesus? Don’t we try to fit our faiths, no matter what they are, on reported events and sayings from 2000 years ago? I mean, Dr. King died less than a century ago and people are already claiming that he believed things to suit their needs!
Perhaps we need to step back and take a different perspective on fitting our idols into a proverbial “box.” If we can’t figure out what a person would believe in today’s context, when they’ve only been gone for 50 years, how can we fit something from 2000 years ago into today’s world?
that’s a very good point. people do the same thing with Harry S. Truman.
paige told me once that Christianity is the only religion whose primary text isn’t a book – it’s someone’s life. we’re supposed to model ourselves after Christ, not Paul. that is, of course, easier said than done, but i always end up back at the verse where Jesus says that all the other commandments hang on Love the Lord your God with all your heart and all your soul and all your strength, and Love your Neighbor as yourself. it seems to me if you work on taking care of those, then you’re probably in pretty good shape.