King and Douglass to a considerable degree. In "Letter from Birmingham Jail," King responds to the clergymen with logical reasoning whom write his community off as extremist (6). He emphasizes that his community has practiced and highlighted the power of nonviolent protest and communicates that the "excellent way of love and nonviolent protest" is one that they practice (6). This way, Dr. King seems to reclaim and rationalize the charged term 'extremist,' which is often carried with negative connotation. With a string of rhetorical questions, he inquires "Was not Jesus an extremist for love?
In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. was arrested and imprisoned in Birmingham regarding his protest activities on segregation. While in jail, King wrote an open letter in response to eight white clergymen who were criticizing his actions. In the letter, King defends the use of nonviolent protests and demonstrations against segregation and racism through the use of allusions to religious figures and values. Throughout his letter, her makes various references to symbols of religious authority and uses the ideas of extremism and togetherness to show the clergymen the reasoning behind his passionate cause. King begins his letter showing his authority in the Christian denomination as he states that he serves as the president of the Southern Christian
Martin Luther, the man who changed church history, was dedicated in finding the truth about church believes and why he believed the church needed to make changes. Although the Reformation happened in 1517, it is still important to remember all that took place during these crucial times. Through hard work, Luther studied Scripture and pointed out to the church what they were doing differently, according to Scripture. Through his perseverance, Luther changed church history for the better. Once Martin Luther realized there was a difference of beliefs among the church and himself, he investigated the truths.
Letter from Birmingham Jail – Analysis Questions 1.) Audience: The audience the clergymen were trying to reach was Martin Luther King Junior; they were trying to explain why they feel like the segregation movements are, as the letter describes it, a bother to the people of Alabama. The Clergyman’s letter was discussing the people who feel as though they are having to “deal with racial problems in Alabama.” Martin Luther King Junior’s speech was trying to explain to the clergymen why black people feel the need to cause a movement, and why he feels the need to lead such a big event, like ending racism. MLK’s speech was discussing the people who feel as though they are being segregated against, and people who are participating in the movement
Martin Luther King Jr., arguably the most well-known civil rights activist, is most credited to his infamous “I Have A Dream” speech, but he has also done some incredible influencing in a letter titled “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” King addressed this letter to his colleague clergymen, superficially explaining his previous actions, but inspiring and persuading his audience to join him on the path to racial equality in between the lines, specifically by unifying his audience to himself with parallelism of the Christian faith and using the either/or fallacy to his advantage. The most obvious technique King uses is unifying his audience and himself together by repeatedly alluding to their similar faith. King alludes to past saints and other
Dr. Martin Luther king Jr. even describes their frustrations on a letter that he wrote to his oppose white fellow. In this letter, he explained the reasons of their action, he also responded back all the criticism that he received. He was taken as extremist for fighting for his rights and the rights of his people
And he further states that “there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth”. 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
After Auld whipped a young woman, he justified his actions by quoting the Bible: “He that knoweth his master’s will, and doeth it not, shall be beaten with many strips” (33). Auld’s misinterpretation of the passage emphasizes slave owners use of religion to reinforce their power over their slaves. Christianity rationalized the concept of buying and selling human beings, and that God approved this too. In addition, Douglass used religion as a way to fuel his abolition movement. Under Master Hugh’s, Douglass began to learn how to read and write.
In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Martin Luther King responds to the clergymen’s critics of his actions by justifying why action is needed. King describes the long-awaited freedom and equality the black community has been waiting for. He discusses about time being neutral, and how it can be used constructively or destructively. King explains that action needs to be taken, and used constructively in order for things to change. Just like King, Terry Tempest Williams, in her own ways uses time constructively to take action for her family and the rest of the victims of the atomic bomb testings.
Martin Luther king’s Letter from Birmingham Jail, is a response to fellow clergymen who advocated for King to be more patient and not to violate the law, as well as criticizing his approach for civil rights (MLK letter). Additionally King see justice as: “Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.”(MLK) His fellow clergyman agreed with King 's ideology that the laws were unjust, but furthermore agreed with Socrates ideology in that King shouldn’t have refuse to comply with the law. In response to that Martin Luther King Jr. said that “one has a moral responsibility to disobey just laws; because if we did not disobey them, then unjust acts would continue to occur, causing our country to be harmed.” According to king he believes that we should challenge unjust laws if and only if you are ready and willing to accept the punishment that follows (MLK). King states that “an unjust law is no law at all” because he believed that laws were put in place in order to benefit and aid the citizens of the state.