[Peace-discuss] Fwd: FCNL INFOLINE (11/07/02): ELECTION IMPACT

[Jay Mittenthal]

>SILENCE IS BETRAYAL.  We offer the following inspiring words from Dr. Martin
>Luther King, Jr., delivered at Riverside Church, New York City, April 4th,
>1967.
>
>A time comes when silence is betrayal. Even when pressed by the demands of
>inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their
>government's policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit
>move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought
>within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world. Moreover, when the
>issues at hand seem as perplexing as they often do in the case of dreadful
>conflict, we are always on the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty. But
>we must move on.
>
>Some of us who have already begun to break the silence of the night have
>found that the calling to speak is often a vocation of agony, but we must
>speak. We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our
>limited vision, but we must speak. For we are deeply in need of a new way
>beyond the darkness that seems so close around us.
>
>We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for the victims of
>our nation, for those it calls "enemy", for no document from human hands can
>make these humans any less our brothers. I think of them, too, because it is
>clear to me that there will be no meaningful solution until some attempt is
>made to know them and hear their broken cries.
>
>I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world
>revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We
>must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a
>person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and
>property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant
>triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of
>being conquered.
>
>A true revolution of values will lay hand on the world order and say of war,
>"This way of settling differences is not just." A nation that continues year
>and year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social
>uplift is approaching spiritual death.
>America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead
>the way in this revolution of values. There is nothing except a tragic death
>wish to prevent us from reordering our priorities over the pursuit of war.
>
>This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond
>one's tribe, clan, race, class, and nation is in reality a call for an
>all-embracing and unconditional love for all mankind. We can no longer
>afford to worship the God of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation.
>The oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides of hate.
>History is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that
>pursed this self-defeating path of hate.
>
>We still have a choice today: nonviolent coexistence or violent
>co-annihilation. We must move past indecision to action. If we do not act,
>we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful corridors of
>time reserved for those who posses power without compassion, might without
>morality, and strength without sight.
>
>Now let us begin. Now let us rededicate ourselves in the long and bitter,
>but beautiful struggle for a new world. If we will but make the right
>choice, we will be able to speed up the day, all over America and all over
>the world, when justice will roll down like waters, and righteousness like a
>mighty stream.
>
>May our country, on the brink of war, take to heart the final refrain of
>"America, the Beautiful": "America! America! God mend thine ev'ry flaw,
>Confirm thy soul in self-control, Thy liberty in law."
>--------------------------------------------
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>
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>--------------------------------------------
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>--------------------------------------------
>We seek a world free of war and the threat of war
>We seek a society with equity and justice for all
>We seek a community where every person's potential may be fulfilled
>We seek an earth restored...
>--------------------------------------------