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January 12, 200S
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2 00 5 s n e c / a 1 e d iti o n ,
King's Words Merit Lessons Today
continued
from Ml.K Front
King celebrated the world’s diversity and
that’s why if he were alive today, he would most
certainly embrace not just the Christian tradi
tions, but also Buddhist, Jewish, Muslim tradi
tions, and much more.
Would King disagree with the current Ameri
can policies in the war on terrorism? His words
are still relevant today:
“You must not harbor anger. You must be
willing to suffer the anger o f the opponent,
and yet not return anger. You must not
become bitter. No matter how emotional your
opponents are you must become calm. ”
One of the purposes of the United Nations is
to deal with major world crises in a calm and
efficient manner. Would King have agreed to
bypass the United Nations and go fight a war
alone over alleged weapons of mass destruc
tion?
U.N. Secretary Kofi Annan, Nelson Mandela,
and many others with heavy political clout all
warned America that rushing into Iraq was not
the right thing to do. Would King have found a
better way? His words:
"The nations have believed that greater
armaments will cast out fear. But alas they
have produced greater fear... We must shift
the arms race into a peace race. ”
King saw how war begets more war. Though
the winners may celebrate, the losers will be full
of hate for the victors. He believed that war
couldn’t bring peace, that only peace can bring
peace:
During the Civil Rights era, Dr. King was not
only looking for better schools for black chil
dren, but also for children of any color en
trenched in poverty. Would he have chose the
tools of war and left our school children behind?
His words are still relevant today:
“A nation that continues year after year to
spend more money on military defense than
on programs o f social uplift is approaching
spiritual doom. ”
A nation that continues year after
year to spend more money on military
defense than on programs o f social
uplift is approaching spiritual doom.
-M artin Luther King Jr.
The Civil Rights era that both built and tore
down the great Alabama minister was pivotal in
breaking the backs of the Ku Klux clan and all
it represented. Though King was murdered, a
nation finally opened its eyes. Again, his words:
"Non-violence does not mean refusing to
fight. Nonviolence is a way o f fighting with
out resorting to violence. It is a method o f
fighting fo r what you believe in, without
giving in to oppression and without oppres
sion others. It is a way o f winning a lasting
victory' instead o f a temporary advantage. It
is a way o f ending the conflict by refusing to
perpetuate it. It is a way o f overcoming evil
by refusing to play the game according to
evil’s rules."
King said one of the most persistent ambigu
ities of world leaders is that everybody talks
about peace as a goal, but among the wielders
of power peace is practically nobody’s busi
ness;
"Many men cry "Peace! Peace! But they
refuse to do the things that make for peace."
More from King:
"It is one o f the strangest things that all
the great m ilitary geniuses o f the world
have talked about peace. The conquerors
o f old who came killing in pursuit o f peace
- Alexander, Julius Caesar, Charlemagne,
and Napoleon — were akin in seeing a
pea cefu l w orld order. I f you w ill read
"M ein K am pf” closely enough, you will
discover that H itler contended that every
thing he did in German was fo r peace. ”
Even Dr. King knew that he would die a
violent death as a result of his pursuit for peace.
As our president speaks of an “Axis of Evil” in
the world, would King have added our own
country to that list? Consider his words:
"In spite o f the fact that the law o f revenge
solves no social problems, men continue to
follow its (revenge) disastrous leading. His
tory is cluttered with the wreckage o f nations
and individuals that pursued this self-de
feating path.
Just minutes after the Sept. 11,2001 tragedy,
George Bush spoke of "getting them back."
Would King have approved of our plan to go
after "the bad guys?” King often spoke of the
wrongness of the eye -for-an-eye approach:
"Above all, our experience has shown
that social change can take place without
violence...The United Nations is a gesture
in the direction o f non-violence on a world
scale...It (Violence) is immoral because it
seeks to hum iliate the opponent rather
than to win his understanding; it seeks to
annihilate rather than to convert. Vio
lence is im m oral because it thrives on
hatred rather than love. It destroys com
munity and makes brotherhood impossible.
It leaves society in monologue rather than
dialogue. Violence ends by defeating it
self. It creates bitterness in the survivors
and brutality in the destroyers”
W ELLS
FARGO
The Next Stage®
Can you put a price on words?
Words that secure men’s hearts and move them to tears.
Words that inspire every generation to dream.
Words that multiply in value when proclaimed by a King.
Wells Fargo honors Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
A man whose words will always he treasured.
c 2005 Wells ta rq o Bank N A AH rtqhts reserved M em ber FDK.
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