The historical revisionism that has assaulted the Founders of our nation has turned upon Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and has tarred him with every brush that could be found. Not a saint, not a perfect human being; however, a man who tried to do good for those around him--a man who tried to raise up a beleaguered people, a man who tried to bring us to a place of equality, and a man through whose efforts we approach that freedom.
To this man I owe a debt of great gratitude--without him my present family arrangement would be well-nigh unthinkable. His efforts allowed us to begin to look upon people and see people--all equal in the eyes of God, of equal worth, equal dignity, equal importance by their human dignity. May his dream see fruition within my lifetime--we're not there yet; however, we are a good deal closer than we had been before he dared to dream.
I'm not aware that MLK has suffered any more
revisionistic history than JFK, both of whom were
uncanonized saints until we learned of their sexual
exploits. That having been said, MLK is far more
worthy of honor than JFK.
Dear TSO,
I wasn't trying to imply anything about quantity, but only the notion that human weakness somehow undoes accomplishments. I am no real fan of Thomas Jefferson (despite the fact that he got it right regarding Federalism) but his affair or lack thereof with Sally Hemings does not color what it was that he did accomplish.
You're right MLK was a kind of plaster saint, and there was much in his life that pointed out human weakness. My point was to say that regardless of the truth of these things found out, what he did manage to accomplish was extraordinary. I think that largely because of him, we have a society which, while not color-blind, certainly is beginning to approach it without the violence of revolution, which, historically is what these transformations normally entail.
But my admiration for him is very, very personal and so I'm inclined to overlook the foibles for the sake of the good God accomplished through him. And I do add my prayers to his for eventual true equality in all walks of life--for the sake of my son and for all people--may we continue to move that way.
shalom,
Steven