Original Article: http://dartreview.com/archives/2004/01/23/letters_to_the_editors.php
Friday, January 23, 2004
The Faith Of Rev. King
Sirs,
While recently watching a national morning news show, I listened to the sentence carried out against the stone monument of the Ten Commandments at the Alabama Supreme Court building. It was moved to a non-public area where we would not be offended by the message. We cannot have anything "religious" on display in a public place, we are told. In an ironic twist of programming, the very next story chronicled, with great enthusiasm, the installation of a stone monument at the Lincoln Memorial in memory of Dr. Martin Luther King and his "I Have a Dream" speech. The apparent contradiction grabbed my attention. How this can be? Consider this excerpt from that famous speech Dr. King gave on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial on August 28, 1968:
"I have a dream that one day the state of Alabama, whose governor's lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.
"When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, 'Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!'"
It is clear that Rev. King was inspired by his faith in the Lord and that his dream is securely rooted in his Christian worldview. His dream is so much larger than racial equality. Does the following text sound familiar to Dr. King's words?
"As is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: 'A voice of one calling in the desert, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. And all mankind will see God's salvation.''" (Luke 3:4-6)
When Rev. Dr. Kind dreamt of "all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics" being free, what was he referring to? Certainly Jews and Gentiles and Catholics are not bound by the racial bigotry that Dr. King fought to overcome. He was talking about being free from the bondage and judgment of unforgiven sin. He dreamt of a day when all God's people will live in the precious freedom of forgiven sins and when men acknowledge their loving God.
Unfortunately, we don't celebrate these truths about the late Dr. King. Just as modern secular humanism would remove any vestige of Christian influence from our public forums, so does it memorialize Dr. King's life and work in a sterile form. We don't refer to him as Reverend, but Doctor. We don't recognize his faith in God as his root motivation: to see the black man able to live in the reality of an America whose principles of justice and liberty are established and endowed by their Creator.
We won't champion his real dream that "all men will see the glory of the Lord" and the brotherhood of man will love God and acknowledge Him for all that is. The first century Jews were looking for a political king who would throw off the rule of Rome and did not recognize Jesus Christ as the kind of Savior He was. We have made a similar misjudgment with Dr. King and have eulogized him for something that suits our politically correct notions—a black man who freed the slaves.
Rev. King was so much a type of modern Moses, a man who led his people out of bondage—and told the ruling authorities what the Lord says about how things ought to be; a man, like Moses, who only saw the "Promised Land" from a distance. We sadly commemorate him as a secular liberator, a man stripped of his faith that we might not offend anyone of another religion and whose mantle is lamentably carried by the likes of Jesse Jackson. The truth is that we want to remove from our lives the moral absolutes defined by God and employed by our founders as the basis for our American society. It cramps our style, you know. Oh, that we would acknowledge what Rev. King really lived for and honor him for the truth of his life and the God he so faithfully served.
Joseph Figley '74
Shades of Gay
Sirs,
I read with great interest Joseph Rago's review in TDR of The Metrosexual Guide To Style: A Handbook for the Modern Man. To supplement this wonderful review, may I suggest that Mr. Rago try being a woman for one week? Yes, the whole shebang: facials, Pilates classes, shopping, French manicures, hot oil hair treatments and all. He seems to write from the point of view of someone who has never exercised with a stretchy rubber Theraband or been wrapped in kelp and mud for two hours while a strong-fingered masseuse snickers at him. Clearly this must be rectified so he can speak disparagingly—from experience—about exfoliating and moisturizing. Personally, I think metrosexuals have really hit on something brilliant—they get all the fun of being a woman without any of the excruciating sexual functions (periods, childbirth, Manolo Blahnik stiletto heels, etc.).
As for the cocktails, Mr. Rago sounds dreadfully like he has not ventured beyond his keg-and-Keystone-Light comfort zone. Many of the drinks popular with metros actually do taste better: margaritas; appletinis; B-52s; good old screwdrivers; strawberry daiquiris. Cosmopolitans are passe this season, by the way. Mr. Rago ought to try some of these drinks. I would buy him one if I was of age, but I'm not. No one will think he is a metrosexual-in-training—after all, there are many shades of gay.
Grace Chua '07
Haines His Way
Sirs,
I just wanted to compliment you for your interview with Robert Haines. I met Mr. Haines last month in Valley Forge National Park and it was probably one of the funniest experiences of my life. I don't even know where to begin. Perhaps the highlight was his encounter with the park ranger who had come to ask him to leave and arrest him. Somehow, he thought "asserting his liberty" (being arrested) would be a good campaign move.
In the course of our two hours with him, we learned about the CIA's conspiracy against him, that he himself is an "earthquake in American history...even the climax of American democracy" and about his famous family. When the park ranger was asking him to leave, Haines told my friend and I that we had to carry on the campaign because he was "in all probability going to be taken away by this ranger to be imprisoned by the CIA." He drew a map to his house, gave me his car keys, and handed over "the documents that must be returned to headquarters or else destroyed." The "documents" were in reality a few gas station receipts and his car registration. He then named us co-chairs of the campaign.
Anyway, I just wanted to share my encounter with "president-elect" Haines, far and away the highlight of my winter break. I hope to see more of Mr. Haines over the next few months—just wait until Jon Stewart finds this guy.
Nick Gaspari