[lit-ideas] Re: MLK on extremism

Having finally, and most obtusely, noted Brian's pov, I might humbly  
suggest, Brian, that you would like well Simone Weil's "Gravity and Grace" (a  
book 
I've mentioned frequently on this list).
 
Julie Krueger

========Original  Message========     Subj: [lit-ideas] Re: MLK on extremism  
Date: 1/15/2007 9:35:39 P.M. Central Standard Time  From: 
_john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxxx (mailto:john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx)   To: 
_lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx 
(mailto:lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx)   Sent on:    
Brian,

Doesn't it strike you as just a wee  bit ironical that you cite MLK who
quotes Jesus, "Love your enemies,bless  them that curse you, pray for
them that despitefully use you" Long way  between this and extremism in
either a Militant Islamic or John Birch  sense.

John

On 1/16/07, Brian <cabrian@xxxxxxxxx>  wrote:
> But as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a  bit
> of satisfaction being considered an extremist. Was not Jesus  an
> extremist for love -- "Love your enemies, bless them that curse  you,
> pray for them that despitefully use you." Was not Amos an  extremist
> for justice -- "Let justice roll down like waters and  righteousness
> like a mighty stream." Was not Paul an extremist for the  gospel of
> Jesus Christ -- "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord  Jesus." Was
> not Martin Luther an extremist -- "Here I stand; I can do  none other
> so help me God." Was not John Bunyan an extremist -- "I will  stay in
> jail to the end of my days before I make a butchery of  my
> conscience." Was not Abraham Lincoln an extremist -- "This  nation
> cannot survive half slave and half free." Was not Thomas  Jefferson an
> extremist -- "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that  all men
> are created equal." So the question is not whether we will  be
> extremist but what kind of extremist will we be. Will we be
>  extremists for hate or will we be extremists for love? Will we be
>  extremists for the preservation of injustice--or will we be
> extremists  for the cause of justice? In that dramatic scene on
> Calvary's hill,  three men were crucified. We must not forget that all
> three were  crucified for the same crime--the crime of extremism. Two
> were  extremists for immorality, and thusly fell below their
> environment. The  other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love,
> truth and goodness, and  thereby rose above his environment. So, after
> all, maybe the South, the  nation  and the world are in dire need of
> creative  extremists.
>
> Letter From The Birmingham Jail, pg. 22-23
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-- 
John  McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN
Tel.  +81-45-314-9324
http://www.wordworks.jp/
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