"A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily
on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth."
-Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Among others, our world has had the renaissance age, the industrial age, and the information age. Throughout each of these periods in our world's history, a breakthrough has first been imagined and held in vision by the forward thinkers of their times. Concepts, once only dreamed about, were manifested into existence, pushed through barriers that once were thought improbable, even impossible. Each time, a fireworks grand-finale explosion of ideas re-created mankind into a new awareness of thought and deed.
Today I say to you, this is the start of a new age... a defining period in the history of the New World that has been brewing and bubbling to the surface for hundreds of years. This is the start of the Spiritual Age, an age where tolerance is insisted upon and brought into a grander acceptance based in Universal Love.
One of my greatest heroes is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who stood up, under deep oppression of segregation, to face the course of our country and incite strength and movement in our people who had the power to speak up and demand FREEDOM and liberty for ALL. What Dr. King spoke about then and what he later spoke about in reference to the war in Vietnam, still holds true today when applied to the Freedom of Religion and the foundation of the separation of Church and State upon which our government was founded. But more than that, Dr. King's messages are founded in Love, Spirit, Acceptance, Equality, and Diversity - the same spirit in which our oppression shall, too, be liberated.
"Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government's policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world. Moreover, when the issues at hand seem as perplexed as they often do in the case of this dreadful conflict, we are always on the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty; but we must move on."
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in "Beyond Vietnam - A Time to Break the Silence"
As I sit here today in front of my keyboard typing these thoughts, I am thankful for the freedoms we currently have in our great country. Without those freedoms, the Right to Free Speech not in the least of them, I would not be able to speak my mind without serious repercussions. Our country was founded on LIBERTY, and today as a great many of us see it, our freedoms are being eroded away. The will of the minorities are being over-ruled by the righteousness of the majority, however slight that majority is in reality. The difference between this point in history and that of previous majority-minority rights causes is this battle divides not based on race, but based on spirituality and religion. This cannot go on. If we are to lead our world in peaceful cooperation, we cannot go down this road of war, revenge, self-righteousness and division that is currently the flavor of those with the influence over those who conform in the name of morality.
This "morality" that the moral elite conveys does not represent the spirit of the new age. It insists upon the rest of us digesting and accepting new laws now being created that limit our choices, remove our rights to privacy, and effectively impose religious beliefs (morals) in which not all of us are in agreement. Soon, the laws that protect our freedoms will be challenged and possibly overturned because of the gathering conformist moral elite. While they insist their views are the ultimate truth and way to lead the world to justice and peace, they are actually representing the spirit of resistance and fear of that which they do not understand.
It is not my intention to convince anyone that MY way is the RIGHT way. My personal spiritual beliefs should be insignificant to the equation of equal rights. My intimate beliefs of whether or not God would approve of my actions or the actions of others should never be the basis upon which a law is approved or not approved. What should prevail is the right for all Americans to choose their religious path without laws imposed upon them that prohibit expression of their beliefs, without laws imposed upon them that prohibit their liberties. Not in the least of these is the liberty to marry, or join in a civil union with someone they love, and share in the benefits that legal unions provide such as healthcare, decision-making rights in their family units, and last but not limited to - death benefits. These are the same liberties many of us enjoy, but some withhold from others. For what other reason is this withheld than fear, fear of something unknown and expressed upon us by these liberty withholders as immoral?
"And some of us who have already begun to break the silence of the night have found that the calling to speak is often a vocation of agony, but we must speak. We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak. And we must rejoice as well, for surely this is the first time in our nation's history that a significant number of its religious leaders have chosen to move beyond the prophesying of smooth patriotism to the high grounds of a firm dissent based upon the mandates of conscience and the reading of history. Perhaps a new spirit is rising among us. If it is, let us trace its movements and pray that our own inner being may be sensitive to its guidance, for we are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness that seems so close around us."
- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in "Beyond Vietnam - A Time to Break the Silence"
I present to you the idea that Dr. King's ideologies still apply today within this time of mass "moral" insistence across our nation. This is a GREAT nation. I believe firmly in the spirit of our founders. It's time we stand up for that spirit, speak out against those who have consistently spoken out against us. It's time we insist upon our rights to be who we are inside, as they have had the right to be who they are inside. No one should have the moral majority; morals based in religion should NOT be a part of our laws. Morals based in freedom are inherent and should be protected.
Yet, despite all I have said here, there is one thing that trumps all our national disputes on who makes what laws, but not trumping the concern on why, War. When we take our self-righteousness out and impose it upon other countries, we will undoubtedly eventually lose. Again, I quote Dr. King (as he quotes an unnamed source):
"This is the message of the great Buddhist leaders of Vietnam. Recently one of them wrote these words, and I quote:
Each day the war goes on the hatred increases in the heart of the Vietnamese and in the hearts of those of humanitarian instinct. The Americans are forcing even their friends into becoming their enemies. It is curious that the Americans, who calculate so carefully on the possibilities of military victory, do not realize that in the process they are incurring deep psychological and political defeat. The image of America will never again be the image of revolution, freedom, and democracy, but the image of violence and militarism (unquote)."- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in "Beyond Vietnam - A Time to Break the Silence"
At this time in history with the inauguration of this new Spiritual Age, lies the battle scarred cries of humanitarians around the world. This must stop; the hatred and oppression must stop.
Postscript: Say what you will. I will not disable comments. I unlock my heart and expose my hopes and dreams and take my bruises with dignity while fortify myself in the Love that flows through the foundation of our Universe. That said, I do not claim to be a literary or history scholar, nor a writer. I am merely an average American with the conviction to speak up for what I believe.
from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
and for the Audio MP3 of the speech itself.
There is so much more in this speech that resonates with the War in Iraq and the trials of our time, much as America went through during the Vietnam War.
It is painfully clear, America has not learned from its past and we are called, yet again, to speak up for the injustices that are running rampant.
