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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 21, 1982)
« • ■ Non-violence: A philosophy by Harris Levon McRae “ L ove, mercy and forgiveness should stand at the center o f our lives. There is the danger that those o f us who have lived so long under the yoke o f oppression, those o f us who have been exploited and trampled ovr, those o f us who have to stand amid the tragic midnight o f injustice and indignities will enter the new age w ith hate and b itte r ness. But i f we retaliate w ith hate and bitterness, the new age will be nothing but a duplication o f the old age. We must blot out the hate and injustice o f the old age with the love and justice o f the new. This is why 1 believe so firm ly in non-violence. Violence never solves problems. It only creates new and more com pli cated ones. I f we succumb to the temptation o f using violence in our struggle for justice, unborn genera tions will be the recipients o f a long and desolate night o f bitterness, and our chief legacy to the future willbe an endless reign o f meaningless chaos.” Though he shunned violence, D r. M a rtin L u th e r K in g , J r ., was the target o f violence a num ber o f times. H is home was shot at and bombed; he was stoned, punched and stabbed. He went to jail several dozen times. Through it all D r. King continued to say, “ Let no man drag you so low as to h a te .” H is p h il osophy on non-violence and his methods o f passive resistance were vital influences in the development o f the civil rights movement. King’s non-violent social philoso phy was a mixture o f old fashioned C h ris tia n ity and views he learned from other great thinkers. He was inspired by the life o f his namesake, M a rtin Luther. Luther headed a m ovem ent that brought changes in church practices during the sixteenth century. “ T o go against conscience is neither right nor safe,” he said. The price of of freedom is high k F ** A Henry David Thoreau once said, “ The millions are awake enough for physical la b o r; but only one in a m illion is awake enough for effect ive intellectual exertion, only one in a hundred million for a poetic or di vine life .” M artin Luther King, Jr., was one in a hundred m illio n and T h o re a u ’ s w ritings touched him deeply. . -U .A’&lfcV». /*'-’• f ' uVZ ■ is unjust, men should refuse to co o p e ra te ,” T h o rea u w ro te. H e re fused to obey laws he believed un just, and just as King did later, went to ja il for acting on his belief. He showed that one man can start a movement to bring justice and peace to our world. T h o rea u ’ s w ritings had also in spired Mohandas K. Gandhi in In dia. In d ia was then a part o f the B ritish E m p ire and had trie d for years to gain independence. Gandhi used some o f Thoreau’s ideas to de velop a new way o f fighting for In dia’s independence— non-violent re sistance. G a n d h i and his follo w ers p ro tested unjust conditions with mass marches, strikes, boycotts— always in the spirit o f love. They were beat en and jailed, but they never fought back with violence or weapons. T he teachings and practices o f other loving men helped M a rtin L u th er K ing J r. to form his own philosophy o f life. Like those before him his philosophy was based on courage and love. His public career began in 1955 in M o n tg o m ery , A la b a m a where he led the working Blacks’ fight against segregation on the public buses. It ended on A pril 4, 1968 in Memphis Tennessee where he had joined the fig h t to secure better wages and working conditions for the garbage collectors. D r. K ing won the N obel Peace Prize in 1964. A t 35 he was and still is the youngest person ever to re ceive the award. The chairman o f the Nobel Peace P rize C o m m ittee called D r. King “ the firs t person in the W estern world to have shown us that a strug gle can be waged without violence.” Ironically, this peaceful man died a violent death and that death caused still more violence. When James E arl Ray, the con victed assassin o f D r. King, shot Dr. King down that fatefu l evening in Memphis, he set o ff a worldwide ex plosion. M a n y cities erupted in flames and violence as thousands o f people couldn’t keep their rage un der control. Hate is a man-made lake so easy to drown in. Love is a life preserver. W e must learn to love one another. We have to be able to struggle with out violence. I t ’s part o f the dream . . . A Love Supreme. Far West Federal Savings Salutes Dr. King VALUABLE FAMILY FINANCIAL SERVICES It’s the FAR M/EST way NOW Account (checking with interest) MasterCard High-Interest Savings Accounts Tax-Sheltered Retirement Plans n Personal Savings Counseling Mr. Moneybags* 24-Hour Teller And More! MAIN OFFICE: SW 5th & Washington, Portland, Oregon. Telephone 224-4444. 52 convenient offices throughout Oregon. ‘ SM © 1979 Far West Federal Savings WEST ^FEDERAD SAVINGS Portland Observer, January 21, 1982 Section II Page £