We are here to honor and celebrate the life of a transformational figure in American history. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was a transformational figure in American history because, as a quintessential American, he challenged America to fulfill her promise.
He understood the power of words to transform. "I have a dream," he said, "that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'" With this speech, Dr. King penned one of the most eloquent defenses of the moral law: the law that formed the basis for his speech, for the civil rights movement itself, and for all laws for that matter.
For Dr. King understood the transformational power of ideas.
Charles Colson recently described that power, writing about the spring of 1963, when Dr. King was arrested for leading a series of massive, non-violent protests against the segregated lunch counters and discriminatory hiring practices in Birmingham, Alabama. While in jail, Dr. King received a letter from eight Alabama ministers. They agreed with his goals, but thought he should call off the demonstrations and obey the law.
Dr. King explained why he disagreed in his famous "Letter From a Birmingham Jail." "One may well ask, how can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?" The answer "... is found in the fact that there are two kinds of laws: just laws, and unjust laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws," Dr. King said. "But conversely," he said, "one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws." How does one determine whether the law is just or unjust? A just law, Dr. King wrote, "squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law... is out of harmony with the moral law." Then Dr. King quotes Saint Augustine: "An unjust law is no law at all." He also quoted Saint Thomas Aquinas: "An unjust law is a human law not rooted in eternal or natural law." This remains a great issue in today's public square. Is the law rooted in truth? Is it transcendent, immutable, and morally binding? Or is it merely what each succeeding generation of culture says it is? Dr. King was a transformational figure in American history, not a transitory political personality. He was able to rise above the generally accepted cultural and political wisdom of the day, and dream of an America that lived in harmony with transcendent moral law.
Our nation is stronger today because Dr. King chose to address the scourge of racial injustice. And he did so from a strong moral, theological and philosophical foundation.
As Dr. King said in that same letter from Birmingham: "We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom." We have not yet reached that goal fully. But Dr. King ultimately knew the power of faith. And by his example, we are inspired to continue moving forward to make his dream, and that of our forebears, a reality in our generation, and for posterity.
Thank you very much.
Source: U.S. Department of Commerce
