Martin Luther King, Jr. and the Tale of Two Marches
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“We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood. … We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream. … and until all God’s children … will be able to sing … ‘Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!’ ” — Martin Luther King, Jr. (1963)
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The March for Freedom and the March for Life
No, the quote above does not refer to the battle for life that is raging in America today. Yet, the words ring as true for the unborn today as it did in 1963 when Martin Luther King, Jr. was marching and fighting for those — 100 years after Emancipation – who were still crippled by the “chains of discrimination”.
Attached below is an updated column that I wrote for the Daily News-Record last year entitled “The Tale of Two Marches”. It draws a parallel between the Great March for Justice and Freedom in Washington in 1963 and the Great Marches for Life that take place there every January on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade.
Just as history has judged MLK favorably, so history will one day also judge these Champions of Life favorably. It will show that they were right to speak out against one of the most horrific crimes in America’s history – the legalized murder of over 3,000 unborn babies each day. We cannot stay silent.
Therefore, please join this massive gathering of Champions this Thursday, Jan. 22, for our 41st annual March on DC as we call on the Supreme Court, the Congress, and the President to reverse Roe v. Wade, to shut down the abortuaries, and to help rebuild a culture of life in America.
For Reservations
We still have room. Our bus leaves from the Blessed Sacrament Church in Harrisonburg at 8:00 a.m. with an 8:30 stop in New Market, a 9:00 stop in Luray, and a 9:30 stop in Front Royal, if needed. We then return via the same route, arriving in Harrisonburg around 9:00 p.m. The cost is $20/person. For reservations, reply by return e-mail to family@valleyfamilyforum.org or call (540) 438 -8966.
For God, for Country, and for Life,
Dean
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A Tribute to Martin Luther King, Jr.
A brutal march from Selma. The “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”. And a massive march on Washington, climaxed by the “I Have a Dream” speech from the Lincoln Memorial.
These are just some of the images that come to mind as we honor the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., celebrate his great achievements, and mourn his tragic death. More than four decades later, we continue to be inspired by his courage and his leadership that led to a dramatic expansion of civil rights in America.
While time has healed some of the pain and blurred some of the harsh realities of that difficult period, it is good to remember that the gains for which he fought did not come easily in the face of deadly opposition.
The Churches’ Sin of Silence
Nor can we overlook the soft resistance that King faced from an often silent and even critical church, some of whose leaders accused him of being “extreme”. They urged him to stop the marches as being unwise, untimely, and too confrontational.
In his response, written from a Birmingham jail, King cited Biblical heroes like Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and American heroes like the Boston Tea Party patriots who engaged in “civil disobedience” against unjust laws. He also referred to other “extreme” examples like Jesus, the Apostle Paul, Martin Luther, and Abraham Lincoln – all of whom spoke out against injustice and oppression.
Finally, he expressed his disappointment with some church leaders who “have remained silent behind the anesthetizing security of stained glass windows”. King said he “wept over the laxity of the church” in this struggle.
At the same time, however, he expressed appreciation for other leaders who were able to break loose “from the paralyzing chains of conformity” and to stand up “for what is best in the American dream and for the most sacred values of our Judeo-Christian heritage”.
The Second March
Today, King’s fight for justice is a reminder of a second battle that continues to rage in our courts, our legislatures, and our churches — this one for Life. Like Liberty, it too is enshrined in our Declaration of Independence as an inalienable right endowed on us by our Creator.
Nevertheless, in both cases, the battles were provoked by misguided Supreme Court decisions, Dred Scott in 1857 and Roe v. Wade in 1973, that refused to acknowledge the rights of “personhood” for black people in the first instance and for unborn babies in the second.
In the case of abortion, the Court even imposed its decision on all 50 states, despite the fact that all of them had passed laws making it illegal. It was, as dissenting Justice Byron White described it, “an exercise in raw judicial power”.
Finally, both battles face(d) the same tired arguments that “You can’t legislate morality and you shouldn’t impose your morality on others,” followed by “If you don’t want one (a slave or an abortion), don’t have one.” And like King, pro-life advocates today also face attempts to silence their voices and to censor reports of the bloody atrocities taking place as being in “poor taste”.
We Have a Dream!
Nevertheless, like King, they too march on. Every year, for the past 42 years, tens and even hundreds of thousands march on Washington to mark the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Each year, they call on the President, the Congress, and the Supreme Court to overturn this tragic decision that has led to an estimated 56 million aborted babies since 1973.
Like King, they too have a dream, that one day we can close the chapter of this bloody and unconscionable war on the unborn. They too vow, as King pledged in his “I Have a Dream” speech, that “We have come here to dramatize a shameful condition, (and like the prophet Amos), we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream”.
Join the March
As noted above, this year’s 41st annual March for Life will take place on Thursday, January 22. (For details, go to www.marchforlife.org ). If you would like to join our bus with other marchers from throughout the Valley, please write to family@valleyfamilyforum.org or call (540) 438-8966.