Grandpa Harley Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 OK... contentious subject. The man made history, or did he? Hero or hypocrite? I personally admire the man, and I think I can number the people I admire on the fingers of one hand... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garnet Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 I lived in Montgomery, AL from 2004 to 2006. From what I observed, some 40 years later, I am amazed a what the bus boycott accomplished. I have nothing but admiration for what they did. I'm just saddened that racism still has such a powerful hold there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Warrior_of_god Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 Who gives a damn what he was? He did good in the world, thats what counts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vigile Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 A non religious black leader could not have accomplished at that time, and perhaps even now, what MLK did. And he was a damn fine speaker. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Asimov Posted May 15, 2007 Share Posted May 15, 2007 Well he's certainly a shitload better than those stupid guys who try to get the word "Nigger" banned in the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Unknowing1 Posted May 21, 2007 Share Posted May 21, 2007 Regardless of his religious beliefs he did a great service to the world. I don't know enough though about all of his beliefs so sometimes I wonder if he hadn't have been killed if his message would not have turned more toward the biblical teachings. I mean in my opinion while he preached love, compassion and tolerance for his fellow man I wonder what his message would have been about woman and gays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Harley Posted May 21, 2007 Author Share Posted May 21, 2007 Bear in mind one of his major influences was Thich Nhat Hahn... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbobrob Posted May 22, 2007 Share Posted May 22, 2007 As well as Ghandi. I think that is what makes MLK jr. special, he saw past religion and dealt with real problems in practical ways. He destroyed Jim Crow Laws not by whining to the media, but by showing what an economic impact Blacks could and did make on the community. He was a good man. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lycorth Posted May 22, 2007 Share Posted May 22, 2007 MLK is proof that anyone can take any ideology and utilize it for positive results. How he found anything in the Babble to encourage notions of acceptance and the erasure of discrimination, I'll never know; even as a fervent Xian, I could never find anything to support those ideas, but there are exceptions to every rule, I suppose... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robbie Posted May 22, 2007 Share Posted May 22, 2007 MLK is proof that anyone can take any ideology and utilize it for positive results. How he found anything in the Babble to encourage notions of acceptance and the erasure of discrimination, I'll never know; even as a fervent Xian, I could never find anything to support those ideas, but there are exceptions to every rule, I suppose... I disagree...I think there's an awful lot in Christianity and its scriptures that can inspire very positive things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Harley Posted May 23, 2007 Author Share Posted May 23, 2007 While people are bursting blood vessels over that, would you care to share the selected bits that bear that out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dhampir Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 A couple years back, there was a guy on this site, a "white nationalist", who made the contention that MLK day should be abolished on the grounds that MLK was not as great as his public legacy, that is, he wasn't the shiniest beacon of the civil rights struggle, nor was he that great a representative of his race. He had for his evidence, transcriptions of taps placed on his phones at varying times. The taps were placed not only for the obvious reasons, but because apparently someone suspected him of supporting monetarily some terrorist activity ( I think it might have been nazism or something else, I can't remember what it was). In one of them, he was allegedly caught having an affair, with a white woman no less, and saying something to the effect of "I'm not a nigger tonight!" Now, I never verified any of this, so consider it a hypothetical: if this were true, does this fact make him less worthy of the accolades given to him? Is he less a great man, and should his achievements be considered no better than any other Civil Rights leader, or event of the struggle? I contended that the taps never found any evidence of subversive, or terrorist activity, what's more, no one in history has ever been perfect, and his private life never had any bearing on his public actions, and therefore detracts little from his accomplishments. I suppose I could look past the christianity, and the following of outspokenly racist leaders, given his ability to glean what was needed and discard the rest, but what would you say to the above? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Taphophilia Posted May 23, 2007 Share Posted May 23, 2007 I don't care what the man was doing in his personal life. I've read his speeches to my children since they were little. The man is a hero. A bit of trivia: Julia Roberts, the actress, mother was best friends with Corretta Scott King. Mrs. King paid the hospital bill when Julia was born. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grandpa Harley Posted May 23, 2007 Author Share Posted May 23, 2007 A couple years back, there was a guy on this site, a "white nationalist", who made the contention that MLK day should be abolished on the grounds that MLK was not as great as his public legacy, that is, he wasn't the shiniest beacon of the civil rights struggle, nor was he that great a representative of his race. He had for his evidence, transcriptions of taps placed on his phones at varying times. The taps were placed not only for the obvious reasons, but because apparently someone suspected him of supporting monetarily some terrorist activity ( I think it might have been nazism or something else, I can't remember what it was). In one of them, he was allegedly caught having an affair, with a white woman no less, and saying something to the effect of "I'm not a nigger tonight!"Now, I never verified any of this, so consider it a hypothetical: if this were true, does this fact make him less worthy of the accolades given to him? Is he less a great man, and should his achievements be considered no better than any other Civil Rights leader, or event of the struggle? I contended that the taps never found any evidence of subversive, or terrorist activity, what's more, no one in history has ever been perfect, and his private life never had any bearing on his public actions, and therefore detracts little from his accomplishments. I suppose I could look past the christianity, and the following of outspokenly racist leaders, given his ability to glean what was needed and discard the rest, but what would you say to the above? I'd say someone is regurgitating stuff that J. Edgar Hoover tried to prove with illegal wire taps and failed. The white woman canard is from an FBI memo considering framing MLK to discredit him (bearing in mind, 1950s American 'morality')... Over all, the only black people the Nazi Party of America liked were the Nation of Islam and that was because they preached seperatisim. There's a Time photo of them attending a Black Separatist Rally in the 1960s... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lycorth Posted May 24, 2007 Share Posted May 24, 2007 I disagree...I think there's an awful lot in Christianity and its scriptures that can inspire very positive things. It all depends on perspective, being that's all relative anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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