Thoughts on Civil Disobedience

[Billy Britt]

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a United States holiday marking the date of birth, 15 January, 1929 of the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and is observed on the third Monday in January each year.This year Martin Luther King Jr. Day will be celebrated on January 19, the day before the historic presidential inauguration of Barack Obama.The confluences of events leading to this point in time are many and varied but, like America itself, is based on the ideals and the promise of one nation, with liberty and justice for all.Dr. King like others before him turned to Civil Disobedience, as the method by which to bring about social change.Civil disobedience is the active refusal to obey certain laws, ordinances and policies of a government, without resorting to physical violence.The tactic is open and overt nonviolent resistance against injustice and inequities. Such acts as a march, a sit-in, or any nonviolent demonstration by an individual or group that points out the wrong in an institutional unfairness is its aim.“I became convinced that noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good,” Dr. King wrote in his autobiography. He accredits his inspiration for this idea as coming from writer Henry David Thoreau. King said, “No other person has been more eloquent and passionate in getting this idea across than Henry David Thoreau. As a result of his writings and personal witness, we are the heirs of a legacy of creative protest.”Thoreau’s essay began as a lecture delivered on January 26, 1848. It was later published as Resistance to Civil Government, in May of 1849, we know it today as simply Civil Disobedience.The German phrase for civil disobedience is “Über die Pflicht zum Ungehorsam gegen den Staat” or “On the Duty of Disobedience to the State.” This meaning carries the weight of what Dr. King was referring to in his writings.Perhaps astonishingly, Thoreau’s actual act of civil disobedience was an overnight stay in jail for refusing to pay the poll tax.Of course the genius of the event was that Thoreau, the writer, was able to synthesize the reason that this type of rebellion was not only necessary but also effective.Thoreau wrote, “[I]t is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law, so much as for the right. The only obligation which I have a right to assume is to do at any time what I think right.… Law never made men a whit more just; and, by means of their respect for it, even the well-disposed are daily made the agents of injustice.”These word not only inspired King but also Mohandas Gandhi who would lead the people of India in independence from British Colonial rule.Gandhi wrote, “Thoreau was a great writer, philosopher, poet, and [withal] a most practical man, that is, he taught nothing he was not prepared to practice in himself.... He went to gaol [jail] for the sake of his principles and suffering humanity. His essay has, therefore, been sanctified by suffering. Moreover, it is written for all time. Its incisive logic is unanswerable.”So it was, that, one man’s words gave a practical approach to overcoming injustice by non-violent means.Gandhi referred to the Indian form of civil disobedience as Satyagraha. At its essence Satyagraha seeks to eliminate antagonisms without harming the antagonists. It is the direct opposite of violent resistance, the aim of which is to cause harm to the adversary.This “silent force” or “soul force,” as King referred to it, armed the individual with a moral power far superior to physical supremacy.Gandhi and King both believed that to stand against unjust laws was a citizen’s moral duty and that, as Edmund Burke said, “All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.”Of course, in Matthew 5:44, Jesus says, “But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you…” this answering of violence with love strains the carnal mind but finds purity of purpose in its moral clarity.It is an all too human mistake to turn a blind eye to injustice not personally experienced, but once seen it is also human to understand that injustice must end. But, there is always a price to be extracted for the error of our ways. Many of the founding fathers of this country knew that slavery was wrong yet they did nothing to bring it to an end. Years in the making, the Civil Rights Movement and its nonviolent protest brought about a change that asked for no more than what had been offered at the nations founding, that all men be treated equal according to the law, nothing more nothing less. As is inherent in human nature we have not stopped with “nothing more or nothing less,” and have, with grand failure, tried to improve upon a perfect concept.But passive resistance led to a moment in which a thousand drops of human conscience collected to bring about a watershed of righteous action.Many have said that they never thought they would see the day a black man would be president of the United States. On the other hand, I have always thought the opposite. The very nature of Americanism is based on the idea of the exceptional individual. Mr. Obama certainly fits that ideal of exceptionalism.So as we celebrate Dr. King and the presidential inauguration of Barack Obama we should remember that America is an experiment, one that has gone horribly wrong at times and beautifully right at others. But it has always been our willingness to change, grow and expand our vision of America as one nation under God with liberty and justice for all that has made us great.

[John Richeson]

One of the great speeches of all time. Somehow I thought of this event a lot today. I was only 10 at the time and didn't understand a lot of this but I remember seeing it on tv and hearing this speech. I would like to have been there.

[Jim Landmark]

Billy, God bless you. From Christ's sermon on the mount we are encouraged also to walk. carrying the burden an extra mile. The blessedness is that we walk that second mile not under law but IN LIBERTY! Praise the Lord and thanks for your sharing.
Much love
Jim Landmark