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How Did Martin Luther King Jr Appeal To The Southern Church

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On April 12, 1963, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was forcefully arrested for violating Birmingham law concerning parades. For the preceding week, he and hundreds of other demonstrators had been peacefully protesting the humiliating segregation laws that were everywhere in Alabama and across the South. These protests involved sitting in “whites only” restaurants, riding on “whites only” buses, and picketing for equality. These peaceful, passive actions were met with force and violence by police and white citizens of Birmingham, who wished to maintain the laws of segregation. Throughout their demonstrations, 8 white clergymen of the South, including rabbis, pastors, and priests, had been calling for Black Southerners to reject King and the Civil …show more content…

He makes an especially compelling appeal when he compares the contemporary Southern church to the church of the early Christians. Dr. King says, “There was a time when the church was very powerful. It was during that period that the early Christians rejoiced when they were deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed...Wherever the early Christians entered a town, the power structure got disturbed and immediately sought to convict them for being ‘disturbers of the peace’ and ‘outside agitators.’” Here, Dr. King paints an image of early Christians that shows them to be passionate challengers of the status quo, placing greater importance on morality and their message than on the stability of society. In this passage, he compares the labels he has been branded with by his opposition to the convictions placed upon early Christians - “disturbers of the peace, outside agitators.” This comparison begins to plant the seeds of doubt in his audience’s minds. Could they really be opposers of morality, like those that challenged the early Christians they so admired? King goes on to say, “Things are different now. The contemporary church...is so often the arch supporter of the status quo.” King now confirms the fears he had planted - the contemporary church is no different now from those heathens who had rejected the early Christians. In this passage, through his dual comparisons between the Civil Rights Movement and the early Christians vs. the contemporary church and the persecutors of early Christians, King shows that the contemporary church was now going against its own morality and its very core to maintain the status quo. King delivers the final blow through this passage: “But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If the church of today does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authentic ring, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an

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Samford University professor Jonathan Bass has argued against the vitriolic responses to the eight Alabama clergymen. The essence of Bass’ argument is that while the white clergymen can easily be called close-minded hypocrites, further scrutiny reveals that their intentions were fairly aligned with that of Martin Luther King Jr.’s and that of the black community in Birmingham, Alabama. The eight clergymen elaborated in their public statement that, “When rights are consistently denied, a cause should be pressed in the courts and in negotiations among local leaders, and not in the streets” (Eight Alabama Clergymen, par. 7). The misconception that Bass reveals is that the white clergymen were denouncing King’s demonstrations, when they were actually

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The author extends his gratitude toward them through the use of figurative language, particularly imagery. For instance, he claims that these religious leaders have “carved a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment” (43). This image of light in the midst of darkness appeals to emotion. By creating this sense of hope, King inspires the audience to join him in his fight for desegregation. Though it is undoubtedly disappointing that there is a lack of support from the majority of clergymen, King conveys his faith in them through this image and shifts his focus from disappointment to

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Dr. King uses descriptive words and metaphors to convey the emotions and things he is feeling. King is condemning the clergymen saying other religious leaders have come and joined us, then why will you not help us? He speaks of the other religious leaders helping his cause as a way to convince and urge the clergymen to join his side. King wants freedom breaking out of the metaphorical “chains” and not conforming and is thankful to everyone that has decided to join in and help him do so. “Too long has our beloved Southland been bogged down in the tragic attempt to live in monologue rather than dialogue” (King 354).

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On April 16, 1963. Dr. Martin Luther King Junior, a persistent civil rights leader, addressed 8 white clergymen on the way they responded to the protests from nonviolent Negros. He supports this claim by first emphasizing that all of what is going on is part of their heritage and how everyone has rights, then by telling them breaking the law and standing up for what they believe in embodies the American spirit, and finally indicates the protesters are heroes and they are doing what they can to defend themselves and show others their side of what is going on. Through King’s use of tone, rhetorical appeals, and rhetorical tools he effectively persuades the clergymen and the people of the U.S, to fathom what is happening everyday around them and

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On April 16, 1963 Martin Luther King, Jr. while confined in the Birmingham City Jail wrote a letter to the clergymen whom disapproved of his actions by calling him and other nonconformists “outsiders coming in”. During the civil rights movement the city of Birmingham was known to be one of the most segregated city in the United States. The City of Birmingham was known for its police brutality against blacks. They’re where also many unsolved cases such as bombing of homes and churches occupied by blacks. Kings letter was an opportunity for him to express the purpose behind the nonviolent campaign.

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In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. led a peaceful movement in Birmingham, Alabama. The purpose of the demonstration was to bring awareness and end to racial disparity in Birmingham. Later that night, King and his followers were detained by city authorities. While in custody, King wrote the famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” This letter voiced out his disappointment in the criticisms, and oppositions that the general public and clergy peers obtained.

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King describes he is disappointed in the church. “All Christianity know that the colored people will receive equal rights eventually, but it is possible that you are in too great a religious hurry” (King 26) This appeal of pathos proves that white preachers were racist even though they are men of God. King let his readers know that even though he does not have the churches approval he will succeed without their

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… Was not Paul an extremist for the gospel of Jesus Christ?... Was not Martin Luther an extremist?... Was not John Bunyan an extremist?”(7). King is comparing what he is doing to these known people whom others look up to.

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On April 16, 1963 Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a letter to seven, white clergymen as a response to their criticisms of King’s approach to tackle segregation and other racial issues in Birmingham, Alabama. Coincidentally, King was also a clergyman—a clergyman with tons of influence as the president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization that has 85 affiliated groups. Throughout his letter, King’s use of allusions both of historical and religious significance supports King’s position as a highly influential and educated clergyman, provide the inspirations behind King’s strategy of nonviolence, and a strong ethos to criticize his fellow clergymen who act as bystanders. In the beginning of King’s letter, the first thing he does is to address his own credibility the seven clergymen questioned.

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The study that I have chosen to speak about is the Stanford Prison Study. The reason being is that I felt this study led to the most harm that was documented. The Stanford Prison study was a barbaric study that caused the participants especially the acting prisoners to be subjected to humiliation, a disturbing psychological treatment, and severe verbal abuse. This study should have been and could have been better controlled and administered. A few ways this could have been done would have a set of predetermined controls in place in case a certain situation happened.

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King uses biblical allusions to appeal to the eight white clergymen and their religious affiliation when he states his duty to carry the “gospel of freedom beyond his home town... Like Paul.” His final point of this section is the clergymen’s failure to recognize the underlying causes of the demonstrations they so harshly condemn, a failure causing further ignorance and confusion on racial

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A Letter From Birmingham Jail Martin Luther King Jr. is a name that will never be forgotten, and that will go down in the books for all of time. He was foremost a civil rights activist throughout the 1950s and 1960s. during his lifetime, which lasted from January of 1929 to April of 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and a social activist and was known for his non- violent protests. He believed that all people, no matter the color, have a moral responsibility to break unjust laws and to take a direct action rather than waiting forever for justice to come through and finally be resolved. In the Spring of 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. stated in a speech that Birmingham was among one of the most segregated cities in the world.

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MLK’s ultimate claim is that the church is to blame for these happenings and “the judgement of God is upon the Church as never before”(276). King stated how even the people who were in the church trying to fight for justice had been looked down upon and some had been kicked out of their own churches. King’s claims were passionately presented. He relentlessly provided evidence to prove his position on the issue of injustice and also showed ample amounts of examples to solve these problems.

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Civil rights leader and social activist Martin Luther King Jr. wrote a world renown correspondence, Letter From Birmingham Jail, in April of 1963, during a time when segregation was at it’s peak in the South. When King was making his mark in American history, the United States was experiencing great social unrest due to the injustice towards their colored citizens, which would lead to social rights rallies and unnecessary violence. In response to King’s peaceful protesting, the white community viewed “[his] nonviolent efforts as those of an extremist,” and subsequently imprisoned the pastor (para 27). King specifically wrote to the white clergymen who had earlier addressed a letter to him as to why he was apprehended, in which they argued that his actions were untimely and unconstitutional. In response, King emphasized that justice is never timely, and the refusal to acknowledge equal rights was inhumane and regressive.

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In the following essay I will attempt to provide a brief illustration of the intellectual landscape that King developed over his short life as well as touch major influential experiences that contributed to King’s ethical and theological developments. I will use these important highlights to demonstrate the impact that had upon his quest for truth and how it ultimately determined his fate. Lastly, I will look at the implications this has upon the Christian with a particular focus on the implications for my own ministry context. To begin it is important to first reflect on the childhood experiences and the culture that King was raised. As Burrow poignantly notes, “Martin Luther King was a human being, no more or less so than any member of

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