There was a lot of noise being made yesterday about how MLK was actually a Republican, and I think that the assertion bears some scrutiny. While Rev. King was, indeed, a Republican back then, there's no way he would relate to the party of today. Heck, even I found myself more closely aligned with GOP principles at one time, but Nixon effectively ushered in a new set of principles with which I disagreed. And some of the more recent actions by some Democrats have inspired me to abandon that party, as well.It is worthy of note that many groups have aligned themselves with Christianity, yet engage in actions and promote ideals that are diametrically opposed to Christ's teachings. From the Crusades to the current actions of people who bomb Planned Parenthood clinics or claim that the poor are merely lazy and should therefore be left solely to their own devices, I seriously doubt that Christ would align himself with groups that would abandon - much less, kill - the very people he would embrace.
By the same token, in China, the Dragon of Retribution Tong was originally a noble organization, comprised of Shaolin priests who devoted themselves to protecting the temple against the warlords who would destroy it. Over time, the Tong evolved into the Chinese equivalent of the Mafia, killing at whim to enforce its own power, and was ultimately banished by the priests.
The focus and imperative of groups can and does change at will, whereas the core ethics and principles upon which the groups were founded do not. When those imperatives change as significantly as have the groups mentioned above, they forfeit the right to portray themselves as instruments of the original, noble principles. And that applies to all political parties, religions, and even governments. Martin Luther King was indeed a Republican. In today's political environment, he would likely be ashamed to be so aligned - with either party.
1 comment:
Good post, Ron (and I'm glad you're blogging again!). For that matter, Abe Lincoln was a Republican. In my observation, some of the folks who love to point out that MLK (or Abe) were Repubs don't particularly care about civil rights. In some cases, at least judging by the remarks I've seen these enlightened folks make in various social media, they are actually racist. Some don't hesitate to use the n-word whenever they can, though mostly in private conversations. This isn't to say that *all* Repubs or conservatives are like that; not at all. But some are. It's profoundly hypocritical of them to use MLK to give themselves leverage, when their true opinions and prejudices are so obvious.
That said, I'm pretty disillusioned with both major political parties in the US and have been for a long time. I'm glad you took the time to point out that while political parties and other organizations are ever-changing, certain core values are more lasting. (Hmmm... it seems we've been having a discussion about some of these matters on my own blog. :-))
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