Summary Of Letter From Birmingham Jail

In his “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Martin Luther King expresses his opinions and thoughts in response to a letter written by eight clergymen. As a justification of his actions for his recent activities, King was put under scrutiny that his actions were “unwise and untimely”. The main concept King was supporting was that, “Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.” A possible interpretation of this concept is that between agreeing and disagreeing on an allegation, there are people who will agree and disagree at a cost of misunderstanding or being blinded by its paradox. King’s statement is agreeable because in my own experiences, observations, and position of the story, an impaired judgment is far more difficult to

The clergymen described that hatred and violence were unnecessary to their government’s religious and political traditions. Regardless of their religious beliefs, there should have been no oppositions anyways. They believed these actions “have not contributed to the resolution of [their] local problems.”, which was implying that the clergymen were looking down upon their actions and attempts to placate the situation. King makes an effort to address this point in his “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”, and counters the clergymen’s statement through the explanation of the four basic steps in a nonviolent campaign. Through this essay in response to the clergymen’s letter, King was able to fully support his and the other demonstrators actions and that their intentions were pure and for the better of society. During this process, the rejection presented to the audience by these clergymen could be an indifferent position that would either convince or be