Angered by this critique, he maintains a diplomatic tone throughout the letter. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere,” (Dr. King, pg. 170). One of the most powerful wordings in his letter, depict the main reason why Dr. King and the SCLC decided to come to Birmingham; which was to stand by those who felt their same injustice. Dr. King talks about law-breaking when they are unfair, or any idea that is unethical. Going back to the quote shared above; if justice anywhere is having some threat to justice everywhere, then a man who believes this ideal should attempt to stop this for the good of
Martin Luther King Jr. made a decision to write back to the clergyman after they addressed him. Martin Luther King Jr. expressed his reasons why he fights for everyone 's rights because we all deserve to be equal and the clergyman did not see the reason why it was necessary for the King to act against the clergyman. King wrote a profound letter that must have influence everyone. King used pathos, logos, and ethos. Martin Luther King Jr. used various types of techniques to persuade the clergyman and the other critics, but the method that I believe that was the most effective convincing the audience was pathos.
Civil Disobedience Compare and Contrast Henry Thoreau and Martin Luther King both wrote persuasive discussions that oppose many ideals and make a justification of their cause, being both central to their argument. While the similarity is obvious, the two essays, Civil Disobedience by Thoreau and Letter from a Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr. do have some similarities. King tries persuading white, southern clergymen that segregation is an evil, unfair law that ought to defeat by use of agitation of direct protesting. Thoreau, on the other hand, writes to a broader, non-addressed audience, and focuses more on the state itself. He further accepts it at its current state, in regard to the battle with Mexico and the institution of slavery.
does use historical and biblical allusions through out his whole letter, there are two allusions that really stand out. On page 289 paragraph 31 Martin Luther King Jr. is referring to the clergymen letter of calling himself an “extremist” King proclaims “ But although I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist......... Was not Jesus an extremist for love: “your enemies, bless the, that cure you, do good to them that hate you and pray for them which despitefully use and persecute you”. In this biblical allusions Marting Luther King Jr. talks about God being an extremist he does this because does it not just create common ground for everyone who knows those are Gods words but is use effectively to his power. When Marting Luther King calls God an extremist he goes on saying “ the question is not whether we will be an extremist, but what kind of extremist” these two follow after one another because some not all people think it is insane to love your enemies, to bless them because they are bringing you down but people go by it because it is the right thing to do so with that being said Martin Luther King Jr. is claiming he might be considered an “extremist” now for doing something out of the ordinary
King shows Ethos in his letter by writing back to the clergy men who had objections against King’s protest in Birmingham. They basically called him an outsider but by establishing his credibility, King shows that he is in fact an
Martin Luther King, Jr. explains in his “Letter From Birmingham Jail” that what is going on in the United States is ethically unstable. “ I have tried to make clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends. But now I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or perhaps even more so, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends” (7). An author John Patton even chimes in on King 's approach and questions “ Can the plan be ethically justified in line with King’s strong believe that the means for social change are as important as the ends?” (61).
Summary of Major Ideas In this article “Death and Justice,” Edward Koch adequately defends the view of capital punishment on many fronts. He doesn’t, however, approach the topic in an offensive way. He defends the issue primarily by defending opposing vies by counteracting common arguments made against the subject. He shows that any argument someone could make against the matter he could undermine it through examples, statistics, and even the Bible.
Furthermore this letter is written to members of the Birmingham clergy and the religious community, revoking their decision to start a violent demonstration with the American government. Overall Martin Luther Kings main goal is to get the removal of laws that were
In a similar light, King addressed the speech ‘I have a dream’ to a peaceful mass gathering in Washington asking for change. The speech deemed racial segregation to be an inhumane practice that subdivides society into groups that essentially alienate them from the true sense of humanity; which is brotherhood. King argues that all people are created equal and directly challenged the outdated and abhorrent views that upheld the false flag of racial superiority among White Americans. Luther’s speech was a passionate rhetoric that preached his views about the future. Furthermore his speech did not
He is trying to state that all people, no matter the race were and still should be equal. That we should end slavery and all the racism out there, to have a free and equal country again. In conclusion, Abraham Lincoln delivers a very persuasive speech due to his use of figurative language and utilization of pathos styled techniques. He uses these examples very well in his speech to persuade people to believe him when he says that these men that died in the battle of Gettysburg shouldn’t of died in vain, that they died for a reason, and that reason is that all men, no matter the race or religion, should be treated
Although, King did not use destructive force to get his point across, he did break some laws. King refused to take no for answer. He wanted to diminish slavery in America and would take excessive measures to make it happen. Instead of expressing his thoughts through violence, he obtained attention by protesting the Jim Crow Laws in a parade. King was thrown in jail for disobeying a junction that his group was not allowed in.
Many articles have been written on the controversial nature of the Westboro Baptist Church. One such article is titled “A funeral for free speech?” by David Hudson Jr. and Ronald Collins. In this article, the two scholars argue that freedom of speech should be upheld even in the instance of funeral protests. They write that “even if the messages of the funeral protesters are offensive, one of the core purposes of the First Amendment is to protect offensive, obnoxious, and even repugnant speech. ”[20] The authors do not condone the hateful nature of the protests but recognize that they are indeed protected by the Constitution.
For example, his explanation of the steps involved in a non-violent campaign, which were: “collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self-purification; and direct action (Kirszner, Mandell 564)”. He wanted his fellow clergymen to understand the necessary steps were taken to ensure that peaceful negotiations would take place with the leaders of the city. Another example, was his reference to the Boston Tea Party which represented the epitome of civil disobedience. By explaining what was necessary to ensure a peaceful demonstration, and referencing one of the most monumental historical events in history which correlated to the event that took place in Birmingham, he effectively provided the rationale behind the need for the
Obama uses logos when talking about how the nation should continue their lives after this tragedy. He says, ““it would be a betrayal of everything Reverend Pinckney stood for, I believe, if we allow ourselves to slip into a comfortable silence again.” He goes on to state, “That’s what we so often do to avoid uncomfortable truths about the prejudice that still infects our society.” This is a call to action by the president for the nation to not forget about this incident. We cannot become quiet about this disaster as we have done for many others.
Although that was enough reason to be in Birmingham King goes on further to say that he is in Birmingham because injustice is here. King says he couldn’t ignore the fact there was injustice in Birmingham regardless if he was an outsider or not. King goes on to say that “injustice anywhere is a danger to justice everywhere” this builds on the theory that “whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly. Defending his belief on just and unjust laws, King uses a quote of St. Augustine the quote says, “A unjust law is no law at all.” King uses this to answer the criticism on how can you advocate people to obey one law but breaking others.