[Pablo Rafael]

Antony,

Thanks for starting this discussion. It's a rather long speech to read, but as with all of Dr. King's speeches, well worth the time.

The aftermath of nonviolence is the creation of the beloved community. The aftermath of nonviolence is redemption. The aftermath of nonviolence is reconciliation. The aftermath of violence however, are emptiness and bitterness. This is the thing I’m concerned about. Let us fight passionately and unrelentingly for the goals of justice and peace, but let’s be sure that our hands are clean in this struggle. Let us never fight with falsehood and violence and hate and malice, but always fight with love, so that, when the day comes that the walls of segregation have completely crumbled in Montgomery. that we will be able to live with people as their brothers and sisters.

This reminds me of the kids on the playground. One thing that I won't allow from students is when they use as a rationale for bad behavior, "He did it first." or "He started it." Using someone else's bad behavior as a reason for our own only fosters continuing strife. To be honest, true and faithful is a weapon that is very strong indeed.

There’s another thing that Ghana reminds us. I’m coming to the conclusion now. Ghana reminds us that freedom never comes on a silver platter. It’s never easy. Ghana reminds us that whenever you break out of Egypt, you better get ready for stiff backs. You better get ready for some homes to be bombed. You better get ready for some churches to be bombed. You better get ready for a lot of nasty things to be said about you, because you're getting out of Egypt, and, whenever you break aloose from Egypt, the initial response of the Egyptian is bitterness. It never comes with ease. It comes only through the hardness and persistence of life. Ghana reminds us of that. You better get ready to go to prison. When I looked out and saw the prime minister there with his prison cap on that night, that reminded me of that fact, that freedom never comes easy. It comes through hard labor and it comes through toil. It comes through hours of despair and disappointment.

Christians look to the four Gospels as the center and pivotal point of the Bible. The Jewish people look to the story of the Passover and Exodus from Egypt. Both stories are stories of freedom. Freedom from oppression. Freedom from sin. Freedom from the law. Freedom seems to be such an important concept to God. How many voices of freedom have people tried to silence, yet the struggle for freedom goes on.

But something else came to my mind: God comes in the picture even when the Church won’t take a stand. God has injected a principle in this universe. God has said that all men must respect the dignity and worth of all human personality, "And if you don’t do that, I will take charge." It seems this morning that I can hear God speaking. I can hear him speaking throughout the universe, saying, "Be still and know that I am God. And if you don’t stop, if you don’t straighten up, if you don’t stop exploiting people, I’m going to rise up and break the backbone of your power. And your power will be no more!"

I am a Christian and make no apologies for it. But it is a sad fact that throughout history the church has not been one of the strong driving forces from freedom. The church oftentimes has a tendency to try to hold on to prejudices. Change is frightening to the church. In the United States the power and reputation of the church is waning dramatically. (Read the book Dave suggested Unchristian to really see the statistics on that.) As the church has fallen into legalism and oppression instead of the message of freedom in the Gospel, its power has begun to wane.

And I say to you this morning, my friends, rise up and know that, as you struggle for justice, you do not struggle alone, but God struggles with you. And He is working every day. Somehow I can look out, I can look out across the seas and across the universe, and cry out, "Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord. He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored." Then I think about it, because His truth is marching on, and I can sing another chorus: "Hallelujah, glory hallelujah! His truth is marching on."

This goes right along with the discussion on Galatians chapter six. The struggle we face is long, but God's truth is marching on. I sort of envy those brave people who put their lives on the line during the civil rights struggle. But I think with LGBT rights, we are the pioneers that are making the change. We are the ones who also will put our lives, jobs and reputations on the line for the cause of freedom. The generations that follow us I trust will be proud of what we stood up for and accomplished.