Tuesday, April 4, 2017

Martin Luther King, Jr (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968)

Martin Luther King, Jr (January 15, 1929-April 4, 1968)... Words taken from his Christmas sermon regarding Peace, preached on the eve of December 24, 1967...

"It's one of the strangest things that all the great military geniuses of the world have talked about peace. The conquerors of old who came killing in pursuit of peace, Alexander, Julius Caesar, Charlemagne, and Napoleon, were akin in seeking a peaceful world order. If you will read Mein Kampf closely enough, you will discover that Hitler contended that everything he did in Germany was for peace. And the leaders of the world today talk eloquently about peace. Every time we drop our bombs in North Vietnam, President Johnson talks eloquently about peace. What is the problem? They are talking about peace as a distant goal, as an end we seek, but one day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means. All of this is saying that, in the final analysis, means and ends must cohere because the end is preexistent in the means, and ultimately destructive means cannot bring about constructive ends.

Now let me say that the next thing we must be concerned about if we are to have peace on earth and good will toward men is the nonviolent affirmation of the sacredness of all human life."

... Unfortunately, nothing has changed in United States, for like then and more so, this country is warring in several countries, dropping bombs, sending drones upon civilians in name of freedom, safety and peace. Like then, freedom, safety and peace will continue to elude amid the carnage until Americans simply choose to stop warring.

Come let us Reason. Peace is always a Choice.

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