A Tale of Two Marches: For Liberty and for Life
“I Have a Dream” — for Life, Friday, Jan. 27
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“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men.”
(The Declaration of Independence)
“If you don’t have Life, you can’t have Liberty, and if you don’t have either, you can’t pursue happiness.” (Rakazzi)
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“I Have a Dream”: Martin Luther King, Jr.
A brutal march in 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 in 1963.
These are just some of the images that come to mind as we honor the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. today. More than four decades later, we continue to celebrate his courage and his leadership in bringing about a long overdue 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 those gains did not come easily in the face of sometimes deadly opposition.
Do Do or Not to Do: A Divided and Complacent Church
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 church 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”.
Another Dream and another March — for Life
Today, King’s fight for justice and for liberty is a reminder of a second battle that continues to rage in America — this one for Life. Like Liberty, it too is proclaimed by Scripture and enshrined in our Declaration of Independence as an inalienable right endowed on us by our Creator.
In addition, both battles were fueled by horribly misguided Supreme Court decisions, Dred Scott in 1857 and Roe v. Wade in 1973, and then accepted by too many “law-abiding” citizens who refused to acknowledge the rights of black people in the first instance and of unborn babies in the second.
In the case of abortion, the Court made matters worse by imposing its judgment on all 50 states, despite the fact that nearly all of them had standing laws that made abortion illegal in many cases. 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”, or “You shouldn’t impose your morality on others,” or “If you don’t want one (a slave or an abortion), don’t have one,” or that “Churches should stay out of politics.”
The March on DC – for Life
Nevertheless, like King, today’s marchers also fight on. On January 27, hundreds of thousands of marchers will again call on the President, the Congress, and the Supreme Court to overturn this tragic Roe v. Wade decision that has led to an estimated 58 million aborted babies since 1973. They will continue to call for new laws that will welcome the unborn in life and protect them in law.
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) we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream”.
And like King, they too are determined: “We won’t give up, we won’t give in, and we won’t quit until we win – for Life!” So help us God.
For Reservations
There is still room but bus seats for the March are filling up fast. Therefore, please get your reservations in now, and pass the word to your friends, as repeated below.
The March for Life will take place in Washington DC on Friday, Jan. 27, calling for an end to abortion in America. Chartered buses will leave from Blessed Sacrament Church in Harrisonburg at 8:00 a.m., with stops in New Market, Luray, and Front Royal, as needed, and return to Harrisonburg around 8:30 p.m. The cost is $20/person. For reservations, write to family@valleyfamilyforum.org or call (540) 438-8966.
The Rally itself will begin at the foot of the Washington Monument at 12:00, followed by the March on the Supreme Court at 1:00. For details, go to www.marchforlife.org.
For Life, for God, and for Country,
Dean