Lincoln Memorial August 28, 1963 Reverend Martin Luther King

Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today, signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity...

But one hundred years later, the Negro still is not free. One hundred years later, the life of the Negro is still sadly crippled by the manacles of segregation and the chains of discrimination. One hundred years later, the Negro lives on a lonely island of poverty in the midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land...

I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”...

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I HAVE A DREAM TODAY!
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low. The rough places will be plain and the crooked places will be made straight, “and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.”...

Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia; let freedom ring from Lookout Mountain of Tennessee...“From every mountainside, let freedom ring.”

And when this happens, and when we allow freedom to ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: “Free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.”

He had a dream and which has largely come to pass, but along with it, new challenges. I can hear Dr King's ringing tones, unlike Lincoln's high shrill voice, his was deep and reverberant, honed in many a church setting. Both voices still carry forward now through the ages, calling men to treat all as equals and brothers. No man since Lincoln, had the same authority as Reverend King to revisit Lincoln's own speeches as he did: harking back to Emancipation Proclamation, Gettysburg Address, and 2nd Inaugural as Dr King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech.

Thank you for posting this. Believe it or not I have found not many people have actually read it. It's always a surprise when they read that MLK talked about Lincoln.

Re.: "No man since Lincoln, had the same authority as Reverend King to revisit Lincoln's own speeches as he did."

Maharba, with all due respect to Dr. King and his achievements, it just strikes me that you obviously, unlike you did Lincoln, don't critisize Dr. King for referring to God in his speech although the FBI found he was an adulterer belieing the Bible's Commandment "Thou shalt not commit adultery". Do you apply double standards? Just striking. And as a reverend and public person he should have acted a role model IMO.

(01-18-2016 05:17 AM)maharba Wrote:  No man since Lincoln, had the same authority as Reverend King to revisit Lincoln's own speeches as he did: harking back to Emancipation Proclamation, Gettysburg Address, and 2nd Inaugural as Dr King delivered his "I Have a Dream" speech.

Is this the same Abraham Lincoln you made the following comment about?

Quote: maharba Wrote
"Lincoln lost his first election because of his atheism. After that, he dissembled and concealed his atheism. Worse, he continually couched phrases in Biblical terms when convenient, so as to make it appear that his familiarity with Scripture actually meant that he was a follower of Christ."

"...it is clear to me that Abraham Lincoln concealed his atheism with ever more frequent resort to pious verbiage and biblical phrases in his speeches"

" He would use those same make-believe pious appeals, and finally in the 2nd Inaugural he would blame the War on...GOD.

and
"Why was Lincoln even in his final years so resistant to God in his edicts and addresses? DID the original, spoken Gettysburg Address say "under God" or was that added in later, for printed glosses? My guess is that Seward and others told Lincoln to be sure to include that, and he couldn't stomach to saying it out loud."

Based upon what you say, it is surprising Martin Luther King would want to revisit speeches from a man like this.

The news says there were many symbolic 'marches' today in memory of Reverend King. Especially large ones in So Carolina and TX. Today Martin Luther King Day, Monday, January 18, 2016, the stock market was closed, no mail delivery, the banks were closed. I hope that in many places across the country, Dr.King's I Have a Dream Speech will again be heard. And why not, at the same time, at least the Gettysburg Address for comparison. I like King's first paragraph "It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity". There's stirring visual and bright animation in those words. Other phrases there are more familiar to most folks, and still voice a hopeful message that is half prophecy, half sermon,

"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."

And I like the invocation, his very religious closing, in a strong preacher's cadence,

“Free at last. Free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!"

Are you aware this is a discussion forum, not a monologue forum or blog? Thanks for considering to reply (hope dies last).

I'm glad you enjoyed rehearing his speech, LincolnMan. And among other reasons, since Reverend King very historically there recalled and memorialized Lincoln's Gettysburg Address on that day, I believe it highly relevant here in this Symposium, and on this day. Hopefully, more folks will remember and rethink the I Have a Dream speech, with thoughtful insights contrasting Dr King's speech with Lincoln's own speeches. Not merely in Roger's Lincoln Symposium, but in school, church, and even political venues, beyond here.

You wonder why, Gene, I may seem to be harsh on Lincoln's pieties and not so on Reverend King. And Eva, why don't I delve into elements of his personal life and even Federal claims? Lincoln was an atheist, Reverend King clearly was not, he was a preacher not an elected politician. From a Christian viewpoint of scrutiny, each time I hear or read Martin Luther King speaking of God and Jesus, it immediately rings true. Reverend King never urged on his followers to violence, while sitting back in an easy chair and claiming to have 'malice toward none'. Reverend King was in the vanguard for peaceful change, he spent time in jail for it, gave up his life for it. Were the Federals outraged by Dr King's activities, should I debate what I feel may have taken place, here? That would stray far off topic, and really not in keeping with the essence of this thread, or even the place in this forum.

Thanks for replying.
1. I as well as many for valid reasons disagree Lincoln was an atheist in later life. Neither side will ever know what the fact was, so please don't word you opinion that way.
2. Adultery belies the Bible and is not in line with Christianity. (Perhaps with Islam, at least polygamy.) It is unfaithful acting.
3. If you don't judge Dr. King upon his private life (to which religion belongs - unless it's your profession, and you yourself argued upon King was a revered) then you shouldn't apply this to Abraham Lincoln either.

I don't mean to criticize MLK for taking the Commandment not serious - that is (was) up to his maker and his family. I just ask you not to apply double standards.

It's nice you appreciate Lincoln's words and efforts/achievements at least indirectly via MLK's appreciation.

(01-19-2016 01:38 AM)maharba Wrote:  Lincoln was an atheist

IMO the evidence is overwhelming that Lincoln's faith in God grew strongly, especially late in life. He may have been a skeptic in early and mid-life, but during the Presidential years he changed and had a very powerful faith. This is clearly shown in his letters, conversations with others, and speeches. I simply do not feel he was faking (or deceiving) it for political gain, etc.

In 1872 John T. Stuart said, "Truthfulness was a prominent trait in Mr. Lincoln's character, and it would be impossible for any intimate friend of his to believe that he ever aimed to deceive, either by his words or his conduct."

Lincoln and King lived at different times and circumstances in history.
They both faced and dealt with different challenges in their lives. Customs and values change over time and we need to take that into account.
Does what is right and what is wrong change over time, or merely our perception of right and wrong change?

I get the impression you believe Lincoln was trying to use God, where I believe Lincoln was challenged with how to effectively have God use him.

I am glad that King left a favorable impression with you and that his statements ring true. King appears to have valued Lincoln's words and actions since he referred to them and used the Lincoln Memorial as a background to his well known speech. He chose to use Lincoln's monument and words instead of Washington, Jefferson, or a different well known leader's.
King must have had reasons that were important to him for choosing Lincoln over George Washington, and over the authors of the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights.
It appears he looked upon Abraham Lincoln very differently than you do.

Very well said, Gene. I wonder if schools (and maybe churches?) today have the children to memorize some of, and recite this classic I Have A Dream speech? It would be pleasing to hear some of it recited along with some of the Gettsburg Address.

For those of outside the U.S. and may not know, today is the American holiday honoring Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

It's disappointing that on the one day a year MLK is honored the results of the FBI investigation is brought up. Please keep in mind that he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize irregardless of J. Edgar Hoovers efforts to smear him. This county's history is replete with adulterous leaders from Jefferson through JFK to the present. America struggles with the legacy of MLK along the same lines as the issue of the display of Confederate flags and monuments. We continue to struggle with our diversity and past with no resolution in site.

(01-19-2016 05:30 AM)RJNorton Wrote:  

(01-19-2016 01:38 AM)maharba Wrote:  Lincoln was an atheist

IMO the evidence is overwhelming that Lincoln's faith in God grew strongly, especially late in life. He may have been a skeptic in early and mid-life, but during the Presidential years he changed and had a very powerful faith. This is clearly shown in his letters, conversations with others, and speeches. I simply do not feel he was faking (or deceiving) it for political gain, etc.

In 1872 John T. Stuart said, "Truthfulness was a prominent trait in Mr. Lincoln's character, and it would be impossible for any intimate friend of his to believe that he ever aimed to deceive, either by his words or his conduct."

I agree with Roger.

Neither party expected for the war the magnitude or the duration which it has already attained. Neither anticipated that the cause of the conflict might cease with or even before the conflict itself should cease. Each looked for an easier triumph, and a result less fundamental and astounding. Both read the same Bible and pray to the same God, and each invokes His aid against the other. It may seem strange that any men should dare to ask a just God's assistance in wringing their bread from the sweat of other men's faces, but let us judge not, that we be not judged. The prayers of both could not be answered. That of neither has been answered fully. The Almighty has His own purposes. "Woe unto the world because of offenses; for it must needs be that offenses come, but woe to that man by whom the offense cometh." If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through His appointed time, He now wills to remove, and that He gives to both North and South this terrible war as the woe due to those by whom the offense came, shall we discern therein any departure from those divine attributes which the believers in a living God always ascribe to Him? Fondly do we hope, fervently do we pray, that this mighty scourge of war may speedily pass away. Yet, if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman's two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, as was said three thousand years ago, so still it must be said "the judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether."

With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we are in, to bind up the nation's wounds, to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan, to do all which may achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with all nations.