"We seek justice and reconciliation, not victory."
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., as I have pointed out before, was not a preacher of tolerance as so many "students" of history believe. A lot of people seem to confuse non-violence with tolerance. Not so. On the contrary, Dr. King believed evil must be confronted. Indeed, his entire movement was a testimony to the confrontation of evil.
One does not always need to resort to violence for one's cause to come to pass. It is possible -- and this was proved by both Dr. King in America and the Apartheid Line in South Africa -- to shame one's oppressors into becoming better people. It is called passive resistance. Taking the club and chain, the beatings, the fire hoses, the dog bites, and coming back for more until your oppressors can't bring themselves to beat you any longer.
Passive resistance. Non-violent confrontation of evil.
Anyway, I saw a tv program the other day where Dr. King's niece was speaking on a panel. She mentioned that Dr. King had a list of 10 things printed up, and before you were allowed to participate in a group that was associated with his name, or march in one of his Civil Rights demonstrations, you were asked to sign your name to that list of 10 requirements. I didn't know that. I was so interested, I Googled to find out what those 10 things were.
1. Meditate daily on the teachings and life of Jesus.
2. Remember always that the nonviolent movement seeks justice and reconciliation, not victory.
3. Walk and talk in the manner of love; for God is love.
4. Pray daily to be used by God that all men might be free.
5. Sacrifice personal wishes that all men might be free.
6. Observe with both friend and foe the ordinary rules of courtesy.
7. Seek to perform regular service for others and the world.
8. Refrain from violence in fist, tongue, and heart.
9. Strive to be in good spiritual and bodily health.
10. Follow the directions of the movement and of the captain on demonstrations.
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Some of you who have been following Relax Max for a long time remember a blog he used have called "Yummy Biscuits". At the end, this blog was a joint effort of myself and my friend "A." A post on that old blog comes to mind when I think of Dr. King, although it is about the African struggle rather than the American Civil Rights Movement. It is both heartwarming and disparing to read those posts today, but I recommend this one. (Yummy Biscuits and Relax Max are the same person.)
