Everyone experience this word in their lifetime. Whether it subsist referable to frustration, anger or resentment, it has echoed through ages. It is one of the few words that everyone has fare to know too well. You acknowledge this word when the police stop you for going seventy in a sixty-miles-per-hour zone. Or when you state, “The world is not fair.” The word is “just,” a word meaning acting or being in conformity with what is morally upright or good (Merriam-Webster Dictionary). Martin Luther King in “Letters from Birmingham Jail” apply biblical allusion, ethos, and pathos to argue for just laws. But in his optimistic view of humans and in setting up the dichotomy of just and unjust laws, is he neglect the nature of human beings?
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Specifically, with his comparison to Jesus, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, he introduces the term extremist. Extremist although heavily packed with a negative connotation is premised here as positive by King. In his letter, King says, “Was not Jesus an extremist for love... Was not Amos an extremist for justice...? Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel...? Was not Martin Luther an extremist...And John Bunyan? (706)” By mentioning all those biblical figures along with influential Christian figures, King demonstrate that in times where morality hangs in the balance, it is right to exercise civil disobedience in other for just laws to …show more content…
The fact that there are civil right movements is itself a testament to the inability for human beings to discern between what is morally just and unjust. It is a testament that when given an unjust law, only half or less of us can distinguish that the law is unjust and only about five percent of us will be willing to correct this unjust law. This question of human nature was less emphasis throughout the letter, yet it is one of the most important focus to making sure that human nature does not take over. King recognized this to some extent and in his attempt to discuss this problem, he came up with the four basic steps in any nonviolent campaign: a collection of the facts to figure whether injustices exist; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action (700). Focusing on the third step, self-purification, Martin Luther King Jr thought that if he told his followers that they were to self-purify themselves before taking nonviolent action, the negative side of human nature like violence, inability to follow just laws and inability to recognize the just and unjust will be corrected. In this, Martin Luther King is being too optimistic and unrealistic to recognize the importance of human nature and its effect on our society. In his setting up of a dichotomy of just and unjust laws, he is ignoring human
One-way …show more content…
Specifically, with his comparison to Jesus, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, he introduces the term extremist. Extremist although heavily packed with a negative connotation is premised here as positive by King. In his letter, King says, “Was not Jesus an extremist for love... Was not Amos an extremist for justice...? Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel...? Was not Martin Luther an extremist...And John Bunyan? (706)” By mentioning all those biblical figures along with influential Christian figures, King demonstrate that in times where morality hangs in the balance, it is right to exercise civil disobedience in other for just laws to …show more content…
The fact that there are civil right movements is itself a testament to the inability for human beings to discern between what is morally just and unjust. It is a testament that when given an unjust law, only half or less of us can distinguish that the law is unjust and only about five percent of us will be willing to correct this unjust law. This question of human nature was less emphasis throughout the letter, yet it is one of the most important focus to making sure that human nature does not take over. King recognized this to some extent and in his attempt to discuss this problem, he came up with the four basic steps in any nonviolent campaign: a collection of the facts to figure whether injustices exist; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action (700). Focusing on the third step, self-purification, Martin Luther King Jr thought that if he told his followers that they were to self-purify themselves before taking nonviolent action, the negative side of human nature like violence, inability to follow just laws and inability to recognize the just and unjust will be corrected. In this, Martin Luther King is being too optimistic and unrealistic to recognize the importance of human nature and its effect on our society. In his setting up of a dichotomy of just and unjust laws, he is ignoring human