Martin Luther King’s Effect Upon Politics & Religion in America
Why is it that religion seems to play a bigger role in America’s politics than those of any other major industrialized country? Why do America’s conservatives appeal to God and the Bible to justify all their stands on social issues, while liberals invoke the name of Jesus every time they make a point?
The growing influence of religion over American politics is particularly puzzling because it is a thoroughly modern phenomenon, just forty years ago religious issues barely registered in American politics. Today they seem to be the only issues, the advocates and opponents of virtually every cause abortion, gay rights, stem cell research, war, peace, welfare etc. invoke God and Jesus to justify their arguments.
This is largely the work or rather the effect of one man, one of the giants of the 20th Century Martin Luther King Junior. MLK didn’t plan to politicize American religion instead that was a side effect of King’s ministry. King was a man of God, an ordained minister who used his ministry, his personal charisma and his gifts as an orator to achieve a highly political goal the dismantling of the system of racial segregation. He later expanded his ministry to include stands on the Vietnam War and the issue of poverty.
King succeeded by taking a political issue and defining it in moral and religious terms much as Gandhi had done a generation earlier. Like Gandhi, King defined his mission in moral and religious terms rather than political ones. King’s principal tool in achieving this end was the sermon, he used the traditional southern Sermon to appeal to both his black followers and his white opponents.
In achieving his goals and incredible fame King redefined the role of religion in American life and the role of the clergy. King became something more than just a pastor, he became a moral critic of society something akin to the Biblical prophets. For the first time in American history, a clergyman had power and influence over the nation’s political leaders. King’s tragic death in a shadowy circumstances made him into a Christ like martyr.
King created a new activist brand of American Christianity by challenging Christians to take stands on political issues and become politically active. His influence was compounded by the fact that MLK was the last great American orator or at least the last orator to be in a position to influence public opinion. The next great American to gain prominence as a speaker was Ronald Reagan who used a chatty style of speech more attune to television and radio commentary than the pulpit. This means King will be quoted long after he is gone by vast numbers of people who disagree with everything King stood for.
Now it must be pointed out here that King had to use religion to achieve his goals. Because he was a pastor who used the language of the Bible, King could promote the cause of Civil Rights without being labeled a Communist in Cold War America. Instead of a radical promoting a new social agenda, King was simply a man of God preaching brotherly love. There was probably no other way to carry out the Civil Rights Revolution that transformed America in the 1950s and 60s.
Unfortunately, King also demonstrated what a potent force for political and social change faith can be. By moving America closer to racial equality, MLK showed conservatives how to use faith to achieve their goals of traditional values and smaller government and MLK showed leftists how to use faith to achieve their radical agenda of Anti-Americanism and socialism.
Both the Religious Right and the Religious Left are the illegitimate stepchildren of Martin Luther King Jr’s ministry. Both the Religious Right and the Religious Left claim to be King’s heir, both groups evoke his memory constantly and mindlessly repeat his oratory. The more radical elements of both groups try to utilize King’s strategy of Civil Disobedience to achieve their goals. The pro life movement sits in at abortion clinics, the peace movement at recruiting stations. Both try to transform America by mobilizing the Church to take political action.
So what does this mean for us today? Fortunately, King’s great achievements of Civil Rights and racial equality seem to be irreversible, unfortunately, so does King’s unintentional politicizing of American religion. Hopefully, the end of the separation of church and state and the freedom it guarantees us won’t join segregation in the ash heap of history.
The growing influence of religion over American politics is particularly puzzling because it is a thoroughly modern phenomenon, just forty years ago religious issues barely registered in American politics. Today they seem to be the only issues, the advocates and opponents of virtually every cause abortion, gay rights, stem cell research, war, peace, welfare etc. invoke God and Jesus to justify their arguments.
This is largely the work or rather the effect of one man, one of the giants of the 20th Century Martin Luther King Junior. MLK didn’t plan to politicize American religion instead that was a side effect of King’s ministry. King was a man of God, an ordained minister who used his ministry, his personal charisma and his gifts as an orator to achieve a highly political goal the dismantling of the system of racial segregation. He later expanded his ministry to include stands on the Vietnam War and the issue of poverty.
King succeeded by taking a political issue and defining it in moral and religious terms much as Gandhi had done a generation earlier. Like Gandhi, King defined his mission in moral and religious terms rather than political ones. King’s principal tool in achieving this end was the sermon, he used the traditional southern Sermon to appeal to both his black followers and his white opponents.
In achieving his goals and incredible fame King redefined the role of religion in American life and the role of the clergy. King became something more than just a pastor, he became a moral critic of society something akin to the Biblical prophets. For the first time in American history, a clergyman had power and influence over the nation’s political leaders. King’s tragic death in a shadowy circumstances made him into a Christ like martyr.
King created a new activist brand of American Christianity by challenging Christians to take stands on political issues and become politically active. His influence was compounded by the fact that MLK was the last great American orator or at least the last orator to be in a position to influence public opinion. The next great American to gain prominence as a speaker was Ronald Reagan who used a chatty style of speech more attune to television and radio commentary than the pulpit. This means King will be quoted long after he is gone by vast numbers of people who disagree with everything King stood for.
Now it must be pointed out here that King had to use religion to achieve his goals. Because he was a pastor who used the language of the Bible, King could promote the cause of Civil Rights without being labeled a Communist in Cold War America. Instead of a radical promoting a new social agenda, King was simply a man of God preaching brotherly love. There was probably no other way to carry out the Civil Rights Revolution that transformed America in the 1950s and 60s.
Unfortunately, King also demonstrated what a potent force for political and social change faith can be. By moving America closer to racial equality, MLK showed conservatives how to use faith to achieve their goals of traditional values and smaller government and MLK showed leftists how to use faith to achieve their radical agenda of Anti-Americanism and socialism.
Both the Religious Right and the Religious Left are the illegitimate stepchildren of Martin Luther King Jr’s ministry. Both the Religious Right and the Religious Left claim to be King’s heir, both groups evoke his memory constantly and mindlessly repeat his oratory. The more radical elements of both groups try to utilize King’s strategy of Civil Disobedience to achieve their goals. The pro life movement sits in at abortion clinics, the peace movement at recruiting stations. Both try to transform America by mobilizing the Church to take political action.
So what does this mean for us today? Fortunately, King’s great achievements of Civil Rights and racial equality seem to be irreversible, unfortunately, so does King’s unintentional politicizing of American religion. Hopefully, the end of the separation of church and state and the freedom it guarantees us won’t join segregation in the ash heap of history.
posted by great one at 5:54 PM
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