Dr. Martin Luther King Day

Thirdson

Monday in the USA is MLK day and many will reflect on the life and work of the great civil rights leader and the dream he set in motion.

While generally I agree with being law-abiding to the utmost degree I hope that if I had lived in the US during the 60's I would have stood up for the rights of minorities in America. This leads me to my question. What was the Watchtower Society's stance on the civil rights movement? Did they encourage desegregation? Were Kingdom Halls, particularly in southern States havens for people of color, were they the first to integrate and were they ahead of general society by being different and treating people of all color and ethnic background as equals?

I ask the questions because of the strict law-abiding requirements of the WTS. Were civil rights regarded as God given rights? Did the laws of Caesar get overridden by God's principles that caused the Watchtower to lead the way in civil rights movement? Or did the WTS stay out of confrontation, faithfully obeying Caesar and telling blacks in the org to wait on Jehovah to sort things out?

Since today minorities enjoy a degree of equality, not perfect, but much better than the early 1960's who do black JWs credit the change to? Do they look favorably on the Watchtower's role, agree that waiting and doing nothing was right (if this was the policy) or do they credit the change for the better to the personal sacrifices made by many, many people, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. included?

Thirdson

LDH

HMMM before everyone starts commenting. I just want to make the comment that MLK did not only campaign for civil rights for black Americans, but for women, Hispanics, etc.

His first platform was economic equality--equal work for equal pay. Did you know he first successfully fought to have city workers (garbage men) paid a fair salary?

Please, don't turn MLK into a black thang. He was concerned about the rights of ALL AMERICANS as human beings. He realized that better conditions for women and minorities made for a better USA.

Lisa
We now return you to your regularly scheduled program Class

Thirdson

Thanks Lisa, for your comments. I don't want this to be a "black thang". I want to point out the work done by some for the betterment of others in contrast to the "do nothing" attitude of the one institution we all came to love and hate. Since I didn't grow up in the USA I have no knowledge of that time period and am genuinely interested in the experiences of people who were JWs during those times.

Thirdson

Tatiana

Happy Birthday, Martin........thank you.

April
I was angry with my friend; I told my wrath, my wrath did end. I was angry with my foe; I told it not, my wrath did grow. (William Blake, A Poison Tree)
http://www.network54.com/Forum/171905

Francois

Pre-civil rights times, Kingdom Halls were segregated in the main. There were KHs for black congregations, and KHs for white congregations. At least this was true in the South. I don't know about KHs in other parts of the country.

Francois

drahcir yarrum

I can remember as a grade schooler in the late 1950's and early 1960's the demonstrations in the south. Particularly the de-segregation of the Little Rock, Arkansas High School, less than 150 miles south of where I grew up. The whole thing didn't make that much sense to me at the time, since in Missouri I was already going to school with black kids. Over the years, my perceptions about the civil rights events that occurred has changed quite a bit. Not only do blacks like Martin Luther King deserve praise for the courage to speak out and take the actions that they did, at the cost of life and limb, but white America also deserves a great deal of credit.

Most of us who are living today, if we were transported back in time to the south and other places where separation of the races existed would think we were in a foreign country. There still exist attitudes today in both the white and black community that are not constructive and positive, but if you consider how far race relations have come in this country in 50 years it is amazing. More needs to be done, but changing peoples hearts can't be legislated. There are cultural issues that may never be fully bridged. But if what's happened in my lifetime is any indication, I wouldn't bet against it.

Social justice is a worthwhile pursuit that benefits society in every sense in the long run.

"Fat, drunk and stupid is no way to go through life son." Dean Vernon Wormer, Faber College

Nathan Natas

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a
nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by
the content of their character."
-- Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-68), speech in Washington DC, August 27, 1963

We have a dream. Someday, in this great land of ours, people, including even lawyers and political activists, will come to believe that character really does matter.

We have a dream. We will no longer deify people who plagiarize their
doctoral theses. If a man takes the title of Reverend, we'll expect him to honor at least a few of the Ten Commandments. If a married man
competes with Hugh Hefner for sexual conquests we won't feel compelled
to listen to his moral wisdom.

We have a dream. Someday black churches in America will not be
manipulated as institutional power bases by ambitious black men. We're
starting to worry that the good reverends are using the Borgia Popes as their role models. We dream that the day will come when lawyers and
politicians stop cynically using race as leverage to increase their
wealth and power.

We have a dream. Someday, quiet people leading lives of unheralded
virtue and real productivity will be honored. Someday all people, black
and white, will realize that the real heroes aren't the ones giving
speeches filled with bombastic rhetoric. Real heroes are quietly doing
real work: building houses, writing software code, nursing the elderly, parenting the young - the whole cornucopia of human endeavor that actually results in better lives for real people.

We have a dream. Someday holidays will really matter, instead of serving as crass, meaningless tools of political correctness. People will actually give thanks on Thanksgiving. Christians will actually celebrate the birth of Christ on Christmas. New Year's Day will mean something other than recovering from a hangover and watching football on the tube.

We have a dream. Someday Americans will realize that there's something
perverse about the idea of devoting an equal amount of time, and
reverence, to:

· A single civil rights leader

· All of America's presidents including founding fathers like George
Washington and Thomas Jefferson

· And the thousands of men and women who have died defending the United States in wartime.

Yet we have one day for Presidents Day, one day for Memorial Day, and
one day to celebrate the life of Martin Luther King, Jr.

We have a dream. Although we're as sentimental as the next fool, we hope that someday we'll all realize that early death does not qualify one for sainthood. Whether it be John F. Kennedy, Marilyn Monroe, Elvis Presley, Princess Diana, or Martin Luther King Jr., dying young may be the road to legend, but hardly a guarantee that the life was worth remembering, much less celebrating.

Our final dream is that the day will come in America when one can
criticize black cultural icons without being labeled a racist. We call
this the impossible dream.

Copied from : www.theoutrage.com

Pureheart

Martin Luther King should be held in high esteem by all. He was one of the greatest men to live on the earth. I love you!

Pureheart

Nathan Natas

Pureheart said,

Martin Luther King... was one of the greatest men to live on the earth.

I'll bet you can't tell me WHY you believe this.

...go ahead, I'm waiting...

"If Martin Luther King and Ghandi had a fight, who do you think would win?"

Pureheart

OK Nathan, you got my feathers up!

Martin Luther King is one of the greatest men that lived in my estimation, because he made people aware of their constitutional rights and champeoned those rights to the world by whatever means he could use. He did not shrink back in the face of adversity. He spoke in hehalf of everyone no matter what race they were. Because of him, human and civil rights were enforced more speedily.
Need more? Ask and you will receive.

Pureheart

Dr. Martin Luther King Day

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