Trending
Martin Luther King, Jr., whose birthday will be commemorated this month with a series of events here in Williamsport and across the country, should be remembered for many more achievements than being a great civil rights leader. For the purposes of this column, however, I will focus on the fact that he was a person of faith. His speeches, personal letters, and other writings often made reference to his Christian faith. The Bible served as his primary source of wisdom and direction.
But Dr. King's engagement with religion reached far beyond Christianity. His work invited the world to consider the value and dignity of ALL human life, not only across racial divisions, but also across denominational and inter-religious ones. He welcomed people of all faiths into the work of the Civil Rights Movement. The most famous example of this cooperation may be the image of Dr. King marching from Selma to Montgomery arm in arm with Rabbi Abraham Heschel.
His interfaith cooperation was a two-way street, as Dr. King was also known to speak out against religious bigotry. When a fellow civil rights leader publicly made an anti-Semitic remark, King denounced the statement as not only being anti-Jewish, but also "anti-man and anti-God."
Dr. King's openness to people of other faiths even led to a humble willingness to learn from them. While his adherence to the principle of non-violence was directly inspired by Jesus' teaching on the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5-7), he learned ways to put that principle into action from Hindu activist Mohandas Gandhi. He wrote in his autobiography that "Christ furnished the spirit and motivation while Gandhi furnished the method."
As might be expected, Dr. King did not find inter-religious cooperation in every corner. There were those of other faiths (and even of the Christian faith) with whom he found himself to be philosophically and politically incompatible. Nonetheless, he remains for us a model amid the challenges of our own time. The work which he began is not done, nor is it limited to racial justice.
As we continue to work toward the realization of Dr. King's dream, his legacy reminds us that it is possible to remain faithful to our own beliefs while reaching out in love to work on common causes with willing partners from all faith perspectives. During the week of January 17th, I encourage you to participate in some or all of the events commemorating the work of this servant of God.
Rev. Jeff LeCrone, pastor, St. Luke Lutheran Church, Williamsport