Martin Luther King Jr. Special Edition______ „A
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January 19, 2000
THE NEW MILLENNIUM: A TIME FOR RECKONING
B y M argo D ockendore - =
In this month when we celebrate
the life o f Martin Luther King Jr., and
his vision for humanity, and as we
move into this new millennium, one
thing that he said rings loudly: “G od’s
will expressed emotionally is love; his
will expressed politically is justice.”
And as w e enter this new millen
nium, w e are afforded a unique oppor
tunity to examine ourselves, the way
we relate to one another, where w e’ve
been a n d -m o st im p o rta n t-w h e re
w e’re going. It is a tim e for reckoning.
It is time to take an inventory-indi-
vidually and globally-to perform an
accounting and to get our bearings as
we chart a course for the future. Will
we continue into our brave new world
carrying with us all the baggage o f the
old? Will w e continue in our pattern
o f dominance, control, exploitation,
prejudice and hatred? O r will we
achieve G od's will? Will we express
that will through love and justice?
Beneath an island in the Aral sea in
what is now Kazakhstan, the Russians
have buried enough Anthrax to kill
every man, woman and child on Earth
several times over. The inland sea is
shrinking, exposing the top soils to
wind and erosion. A team o f U.S. in
vestigators is there now, testing the air
and watching the animals for signs that
the deadly virus has escaped.
India and Pakistan have each deto
nated nuclear weapons into the atmo
sphere, and have developed ballistic
missiles. Both have refused to sign
the non-proliferation and test ban trea
ties. They have been at w ar for h alf a
century. Now, both are fighting over
the small province o f Kashmir. It is a
small but bloody conflict that is in
danger o f spiraling out o f control and
engulfing the entire world in a nuclear
war.
In The Sudan, human beings are still
being bought and sold as slaves.
Around the world, children are forced
to work in sweat shops for little or no
wages. Famine, poverty and tyranny
are rampant. China is about to become
a new military superpower, and Rus
sia, still with enough nuclear weapons
to destroy human civilization forever,
is falling deeper into chaos, rendering
it more dangerous than ever in its
history. And everywhere, human be
ings are butchering one another with
self-righteous zeal. The stock mar
kets sore, driven by unparalleled cor
porate profits, while regard for human
life is plum m eting. People every
where are frightened for their sur
vival. Despite all our w ondrous ad
vances in technology, life is becom
ing more incomprehensible and dan
gerous. W e are lost and alienated,
uncertain where the tides are carrying
us. W e whistle in the dark, assuring
ourselves everything will be alright
even w hile the foundation upon which
we stand cracks beneath our feet.
William Butler Yeats wrote:
Turning and turning in the widening
gyre The falcon cannot hear the fal
coner, Things fall apart; the center
cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed
upon the world; The blood-dimmed
tide is loosed, and everywhere The
ceremony o f innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the
worst Are full o f passionate intensity.
In this new age o f ours, we have all
becom e closely linked together is a
chain. It is a chain that binds to
strengthen, but w hich also enslaves
many. In our shrinking and highly in
terdependent world, events occurring
in even the remotest areas o f our globe
impact all o f us. Isolationism is no
longer an option. Despite the enor
mous power and wealth o f America,
the burden o f maintaining global sta
bility and peace is becom ing too great.
Irrespective o f the moral arguments
on either side, the U.S. simply cannot
afford to shoulder the military or fi
nancial burden o f world peace. The
unbridled proliferation o f weapons o f
mass destruction and the ability o f
one despot, one terrorist, to inflict
sweeping chaos on the planet renders
every person on this planet weakened
and vulnerable. It is the result o f ram
pant inequality and injustice-and an
utter absence o f love. That inequality
and injustice is like a cancer affecting
the entire body o f humanity. If there is
a cancer in one part o f our body, no
matter how unthreatening it may seem
to be, do w e wait for it to spread to the
vital organs before w e take action?
Until we bring equality and justice to
our world, until w e com e to accept
that none o f us are safe until all o f us
are safe, we remain dangerously ex
posed. Until there is a truly effective
means o f global security and an effec
tive supra-national guarantor o f world
peace, all o f us remain vulnerable.
During this last year w e witnessed
a num ber o f tragedies in our own cit
ies.
None o f them captured our atten
tion like the murders at Columbine
High School. But as a result o f the
tragedy at Littleton, Colorado, we, as
a society, are beginning to take a closer
look at our behavior, our culture, our
values. Parents are sitting down with
their children and talking to them,
asking questions about their lives, their
school, their activities on the Internet.
W e are examining the climate o f vio
lence in this country, and the role o f
guns, movies, television and video
games. But mostly, we ask ourselves
how two seemingly average young
men could hold such hatred and com
mit such unspeakable violence?
M y novel M ahdi was about terror
ism and a global apocalypse. It was
written as a “wake-up call,” and an
opportunity to examine ourselves. The
overw helm in g hum an tragedy at
Littleton, Colorado also provides an
opportunity for us to examine the so
ciety in which we live and to make
fundamental choices about how we
w ant to occupy this planet. The ac
tions o f
the two teenagers in Littleton was
an act o f terrorism -no less than if
committed by any foreign terrorist
striking at the heart o f America.
It,dramatically reveals our vulnerabil
ity on a very personal level. And it
dramatically demonstrates the devas
tating impact that even two angry teen
age boys can have on a community and
a nation.
As a nation, w e condemn other cul
tures on this planet as barbaric and
cruel, as violent and primitive. Yet,
America has more violent murders
than any other nation on the planet.
But look within our own inner cities.
They are a reflection o f the world in
which we live. O ur own Third W orld is
a cauldron for violence spawned from
injustice and inequality and fueled by
the virulent anger caused by those
toxic ingredients.
But the murders in Littleton were
amidst affluence and opportunity. Still,
the actions o f those two sociopathic
youths o f Littleton are, in actuality, no
different from any individuals or
groups who commit acts o f terrorism
in their desperate fight against op
pression. While the names change;
the actions remain the same. Are those
two young men any different than any
other terrorist group? People who
find no inclusion, who feel oppressed
because they are different, may turn to
violence because they see themselves
as martyrs in a cause with nothing to
lose. They strike out in their pain and
their frustration-and their hate.
The killings at Columbine High
School also reveal the lack o f ac
countability w e have as a society. This
lack o f accountability is a reflection
o f our fear. W e try to comprehend the
reason for such actions in order to
assuage our fear, and in doing so we
try to esca p e o u r resp o n sib ility
through blaming the parents, the gun
lobby, the media. While there may be
some justification for that blame, what
about each o f us?
Because it says something about
our society, it says something about
how every one o f us chooses to live
our lives-in every aspect o f our lives.
Do we put love into the world through
even the smallest o f our actions? Do
w e forgive another’s mistakes? Do
we allow for diversity and difference?
Do we make our lives about power and
com petition?
1 wrote The Mahdi because o f a
long-held and passionate belief in the
development o f a system o f global
government that would ensure not only
our survival as a species into the next
millennium, but would guarantee free
dom, equality and justice for all hu
man beings, and which would allow
for the human spirit to escape the
enslavement o f poverty and oppres
sion that keeps us from exploring our
unlimited potential. I wanted to record
events occurring in our present world
in the hope that they might serve as a
m irror
to ourselves-a mirror that would
help us see ourselves and what could
happen if we do not take conscious
steps to change the way w e relate to
one another on this planet. Such a
system o f world government is not an
end in itself but simply a necessary
step in a very long journey.
All humanity is at war. It is not a war
among conflicting nations-such wars
are only a symptom. It is a war be
tween good and evil, the darkness and
the light-fear and love. It is what
connects the myriad conflicts and ter
rorism o f our planet with the tragedy
o f Littleton. We live in a time in which
we must make a fundamental choice
whether to create a world based upon
love or continue in one dominated by
fear. All evil stems from fear. Love
represents our highest virtues; fear
our lowest. Love flows from our spiri
tual beings-our connection to God, if
you w ill-w hile fear is bom from our
animal natures Charles Darwin said
“Man, with all his noble qualities, his
god-like intellect, still bears within
his bodily frame the indelible stamp
o f his lowly origin.
In The Mahdi, Ben Williams notes
during the midst o f World War III that
there are no more bystanders in the
world, only participants. In his actions
in unleashing evil and global chaos
into the world, Abu had made certain
o f that. It is time for all of us to choose
sides. There is no middle ground.
And that choice has never been
more critical than at the present time.
It has been observed that for evil to
triumph all that is needed is for good
people to do nothing. As Margaret
Mead said: "Never doubt the ability o f
a small dedicated group o f individuals
to change the world. Indeed, it is all
that ever has.”
Our survival on this planet is not
and never has been assured. It is the
highest form o f arrogance to assume
otherwise. Ifwe are to survive, and ifwe
are to live in a new age o f enlighten
ment, we must actively choose it. Hu
manity is in a state o f adolescence.
We are experiencing all the pain, pas
sions and conflicts attendant to that
state Before we rush to blame those
two horribly dem ented youths o f
Littleton, Colorado, maybe we should
first stop and reflect upon the possi
bility that they are us. And, just per
haps, that is what scares us the most.
If G od’s will is to be expressed
among us and upon this planet, it falls
upon us to make it happen. The choice
is ours. That is what Martin Luther
King wanted us to know; it is what his
life and his mission were all about.
“We must pray with
unceasing passion for racial
justice, but we must also use
our minds to develop a
program.. .to bring an end to
racial injustice.”
By Martin Luther King
—
M ULTNO M AH CO UNTY OREGON
"The ultimate o f a man is not where he stands in moments o f comfort and
convenience but where he stands at the time o f challenge and controversy".
M ultnomah County's Northeast Health Center joins the Portland community in
recognizing the many achievements and lasting contributions o f Dr. M artin Luther
King, Jr.
Are you looking for a place to receive medical services for you and your familyt
Give us a try.
We provide medical care for adults, children, and pregnant women.
Call 248-3333 to find out how to obtain services.
Health Department
Northeast Health Center
5329 N E . Martin Luther King Jr,
Blvd. Portland, Oregon 97211
(503) 248-5183
Celebrate
64V\ lien evil
men shout
ugly words of hatred, good men
jnust commit themselves to the
glories of love. Where evil men
would
seek to perpetuate an
•
unjust status quo, good men
must seek to bring into being
a real order of ju s tic e .”
MARTIN LUTHER KING
Day!
Martin Lather King. Jr.
Gregory P. Oliveros
Attorney At Law
2161 NE Broadway
Portland, Oregon 97232
282-7285
GASTSIDE
315O E Burnside
231-8926
M U S IC
M IL L E N N IU M
N O RTH W EST
801 NW 23rd
248-0163
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