KNOW THIS: Martin Luther King, Jr. Had the Courage to Speak Out Against Unjust War. Who Speaks the Truth Now?
February 5, 2010
One of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s most challenging speeches, “Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam” was given on April 30, 1967 at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. This sermon was incredibly powerful for those of us who lived through the Vietnam War…and particularly for those who did not.
The universality of Dr. King’s quest for freedom and justice and the truths he spoke that ring true today deserve international recognition, but first they must be recognized and celebrated here at home, regardless—and because—of how directly they sometimes oppose(d) government policies. Indeed, Dr. King addressed the difficulties citizens often face when they “assume the task of opposing their government’s policy, especially in time of war,” insisting, however, that “the day has passed for superficial patriotism.”
Fighting for what is right, he stated, involves overcoming our government’s “rationalizations and the incessant search for scapegoats,” the “psychological cataracts that blind us.” Overcoming “all the apathy of conformist thought” one faces and the crippling uncertainty often experienced when one’s government heads down a wrong path makes resistance to what is so very wrong even more difficult. “But we must move on,” Dr. King extolled, despite the fact such a commitment can amount to “a vocation of agony,” …we must move on to “the high grounds of firm dissent, based upon the mandates of conscience and the reading of history.”
What of those who would call such dissention unpatriotic? Dr. King’s response:
“Now, of course, one of the difficulties in speaking out today grows [from] the fact that there are those who are seeking to equate dissent with disloyalty. It’s a dark day in our nation when high-level authorities will seek to use every method to silence dissent. But something is happening, and people are not going to be silenced. The truth must be told, and I say that those who are seeking to make it appear that anyone who opposes the war in Vietnam is a fool or a traitor or an enemy of our soldiers is a person that has taken a stand against the best in our tradition.
“Yes, we must stand, and we must speak.”
While candidate for president of the United States, Barack Obama separated himself from other candidates in both parties because he opposed the Iraq war. His elegant truth-telling then inspired a nation. As president, his actions have raised serious questions about his resolve in this regard. No matter how eloquent, words are not enough. Martin Luther King, Jr. walked the walk and gave his life for what he believed in. Public servants need not risk their lives, they simply need to do the right thing and risk their political ambitions.
—Sherry Seiber
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