18 Aug Explain King’s position on the role of the church and social justice.
Order Instructions
Assignment 7d: King Response
Objective: Explain King’s position on the role of the church and social justice.
Mindset: Demonstrate King’s vision on how the church can aid in achieving social justice.
Instructions
The son of a pastor, and a Baptist minister himself, Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968) became a key leader in the Civil Rights movement. In 1957, he and fellow ministers founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to coordinate civil rights activities. In April 1963, he was jailed in Birmingham, Alabama for his protest activities. In response, he felt compelled to explain his reasons for civil disobedience and penned a letter from jail that was addressed specifically to ministers. In this letter, he chastised ministers for their complacency in the civil rights movement and charged them with sins of omission, more than sins of commission. In his view, the problem was not that churches protested the civil rights movement, but that they were too silent in the face of suffering. His letter was written to urge churches to more actively engage the civil rights movement.
Read the Primary Document: Martin Luther King, Jr. “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” (April 16, 1963). (Links to an external site.) https://www.africa.upenn.edu/Articles_Gen/Letter_Birmingham.html
Write a 1- 2 page double spaced paper that answers the following:
What were the general contents of Martin Luther King’s letter?
What were the circumstances of its writing?
Why was it addressed to pastors?
What was King’s chief indictment against pastors and churches in relation to the civil rights movement?
What vision did King lay out for churches on social justice?
