A Response to
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s
“Letter from
Birmingham Jail”
Response to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail
April 16, 2013
By Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A.
Formed in 2006, Christian Churches Together in the
U.S.A. is a fellowship of 36 national communions, including
African American, Catholic, Evangelical/Pentecostal, Historic
Protestant, and Orthodox; and seven national organizations, including American Bible Society, Bread for the World,
Evangelicals for Social Action, Habitat for Humanity, National
Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, Sojourners, and
World Vision. National leaders of the participant churches
and organizations meet annually for mutual support, to foster Christian unity, to foster evangelism, and to speak to society
with a common voice whenever possible.
For more information, visit christianchurchestogether.org.
Response to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail
TABLE OF CONTENTS
We Are Grateful .............................................................................5
We Are Challenged .......................................................................5
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—3 —
Christian
Churches Together
in the U.S.A.
Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A.
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—4 —
Response to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail
We Are Grateful
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We Are Challenged
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TO REALIZE OUR ESSENTIAL INTERDEPENDENCE.
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are
caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all
indirectly.”1
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1 “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” Liberation Curriculum, Martin Luther
King Jr. Papers Project, P. 1. Page number references in the footnotes are
to this source, unless otherwise indicated.
2 P. 9
—5 —
“Injustice
anywhere is
a threat to
justice everywhere. We
are caught in
an inescapable network
of mutuality,
tied in a single garment
of destiny.
Whatever
affects one
directly, affects
all indirectly.”
Christian
Churches Together
in the U.S.A.
“I am sure that
none of you
would want
to rest content with the
superficial
kind of social
analysis that
deals merely
with effects
and does not
grapple with
underlying
causes.”
Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A.
TO ADDRESS THE CAUSES OF INJUSTICE,
NOT JUST THE SYMPTOMS.
“I am sure that none of you would want to rest content with the
superficial kind of social analysis that deals merely with effects
and does not grapple with underlying causes.”3
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TO RECOGNIZE THAT THE STRUGGLE IS NOT ONLY
ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL, BUT PERSONAL.
“[W]hen you are … plagued with inner fears and outer resentments; when you are forever fighting a degenerating sense of
‘nobodiness’—then you will understand why we find it difficult
to wait.”5
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Christian
Churches Together
in the U.S.A.
3 P. 1
4 P. 6
5 P. 3
—6 —
Response to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail
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TO SEEK A HIGHER STANDARD FOR PUBLIC POLICY
AND POLITICAL PARTICIPATION.
“One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey
just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey
unjust laws. ... Any law that degrades human personality is
unjust.” 8
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6 P. 3
7 “Where Do We Go from Here?” (address to the Southern Christian
Leadership Conference, 1967)
8 P. 3-4
9 P. 4
—7 —
“[W]hen you
are … plagued
with inner
fears and outer
resentments;
when you are
forever fighting
a degenerating sense of
‘nobodiness’—
then you will
understand
why we find
it difficult to
wait.”
Christian
Churches Together
in the U.S.A.
“The question
is not whether
we will be
extremists, but
what kind of
extremists we
will be. Will we
be extremists
for hate or for
love? Will we
be extremists
for the preservation of
injustice or for
the extension
of justice?”
Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A.
TO BE EXTREMISTS FOR LOVE, JUSTICE,
AND PEACE IN CHRIST.
“The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what
kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or
for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice
or for the extension of justice?” 10
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TO ACT NOW.
“We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the
hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling
silence of the good people.”14
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Christian
Churches Together
in the U.S.A.
10 P. 6
11 P. 4
12 P. 4; also see Michael O. Emerson and Christian Smith, Divided by
Faith: Evangelical Religion and the Problem of Race
13 P. 7
14 P. 5
15 P. 5
—8 —
Response to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail
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TO ENGAGE IN NONVIOLENT DIRECT ACTION AS A
STRATEGY FOR SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION.
“There is the more excellent way of love and nonviolent protest...
Nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as
the ends we seek.”16
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“There is the
more excellent way of
love and nonviolent protest.
… Nonviolence
demands that
the means we
use must be
as pure as the
ends we seek.”
Christian
Churches Together
in the U.S.A.
16 P. 9
17 P. 4
—9 —
“Injustice must
be exposed,
with all the
tension its
exposure
creates, to the
light of human
conscience
and the air of
national opinion before it
can be cured.”
Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A.
TO CHALLENGE INJUSTICE BY BRINGING
IT INTO THE LIGHT.
“Injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national
opinion before it can be cured.”18
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UIBUQFSQFUVBUFTiUIFCPOEBHFPGNZUITBOEIBMGUSVUITw
TO CHERISH THE CHURCH, WHILE HOLDING
IT TO A HIGHER STANDARD.
“There was a time when the church was very powerful. ... In
those days the church was not merely a thermometer that
recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a
thermostat that transformed the mores of society.”21
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Christian
Churches Together
in the U.S.A.
18 P. 5
19 P. 6
20 P. 2
21 P. 8
—10 —
Response to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail
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TO HOLD FAST TO THE TRUE FOUNDATION
OF THE AMERICAN DREAM.
“When these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch
counters, they were in reality standing up for what is best in the
American dream and for the most sacred values in our JudeoChristian heritage, thereby bringing our nation back to those
great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in their formulation of the Constitution and the
Declaration of Independence.”23
*OPVSFSBGFBSEPNJOBUFTUIFQPMJUJDBMFUIPTUISFBUTGSPN
UFSSPSJTNUIFSFDFTTJPOEFĕDJUDSJTJTBOEOBUVSBMEJTBTUFSTIBWF
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“When these
disinherited
children of God
sat down at
lunch counters,
they were in
reality standing up for
what is best in
the American
dream and
for the most
sacred values
in our JudeoChristian
heritage... .”
Christian
Churches Together
in the U.S.A.
22 P. 8
23 P. 9
—11 —
Segregation is
no longer the
law, but a form
of it is experienced as a fact
of life for many
Americans.
Christian
Churches Together
in the U.S.A.
Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A.
We Reflect
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GSFRVFOUBOEPQQPSUVOJUJFTGPS"GSJDBO"NFSJDBOTJOCVTJOFTTFEVDBUJPOBOEQVCMJDMJGFBSFWBTUMZHSFBUFSUIBOXIFO
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MFEUPCPUIDPOGFTTJPOBOESFTPMWF
24 P. 4
—12 —
Response to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail
We Confess
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$ISJTUJBOTIBTCFFOHVJEFECZUIFQVSTVJUPGQFSTPOBMPSHSPVQ
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8FDPOGFTTUIBUXFPęFOQSFGFSTUBCJMJUZUPVQIFBWBMFWFO
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%S,JOH3FDFOUFČPSUTJOUIF$ISJTUJBODPNNVOJUZUPXBSE
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TIPSUPG%S,JOHTWJTJPOPGUSVFKVTUJDFBOEGFMMPXTIJQ4VOEBZ
25 P. 8
26 P. 5
—13 —
We confess
that we often
prefer stability to upheaval,
even when
upheaval is the
necessary precondition for
the establishment of justice.
Christian
Churches Together
in the U.S.A.
Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A.
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ćPTFPGVTXIPMFBEQSFEPNJOBOUMZXIJUFDIVSDIFTDPOGFTT
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UPPWFSMPPLUIFXBZTJOXIJDIXFIBWFSFQMBZFEUIFSPMFPGUIF
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#FDBVTFUIFIJTUPSZBOEFYQFSJFODFPGUIFEJČFSFOUGBNJMJFT
JO$ISJTUJBO$IVSDIFT5PHFUIFSBSFEJČFSFOUFBDIGBNJMZGFFMT
DPNQFMMFEUPDPOGFTTJOJUTPXOWPJDFWJFX"QQFOEJY
We Thank
8FBMTPKPJO%S,JOHJOUIBOLGVMOFTTGPSiOPCMFTPVMTGSPN
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EFOPNJOBUJPOTIBWFTUBČEFEJDBUFEUPVOEPJOHSBDJTNBOEGPTUFSJOHNVMUJDVMUVSBMNJOJTUSZ8FZFBSOGPSUIJTDPNNJUNFOUUP
CFDPNFFWFSNPSFEFFQMZSPPUFEBOEXJEFTQSFBE
We Resolve
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BMMJTBMTPSPPUFEEFFQMZJOUIFCFTUPGPVS"NFSJDBOJEFBMTIPXFWFSJNQFSGFDUMZPVSOBUJPOIBTMJWFEUIFN
Christian
Churches Together
in the U.S.A.
27 P. 9
28 P. 6
29 P. 8
—14 —
Response to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail
*OSFTQPOTFUPUIJTIJHIDBMMJOHPOUIFDIVSDIUPKPJO(PET
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MPDBMDIVSDINFNCFSTTUBČBOEWPMVOUFFST
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30 P. 8
—15 —
We proclaim
that, while our
context today
is different, the
call is the same
as in 1963—
for followers of
Christ to stand
together, to
work together,
and to struggle
together for
justice.
Christian
Churches Together
in the U.S.A.
Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A.
MFBEFSTBOEMPDBMDIVSDINFNCFSTPOXBZTUPTQFBLUSVUIUP
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PVSCSPUIFSTBOETJTUFST
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PVS$ISJTUJBOVOJUZCFKVTUJDF"OENBZUIFGSVJUPGKVTUJDFCFUP
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Christian
Churches Together
in the U.S.A.
—16 —
Response to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail
APPENDIX
$POGFTTJPOTPG*OEJWJEVBM'BNJMJFT
"TUIFEvangelical/PentecostalGBNJMZPG$ISJTUJBO$IVSDIFT
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"TUIFCatholicGBNJMZPG$ISJTUJBO$IVSDIFT5PHFUIFSXF
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ićFOFXGPSNTPGSBDJTNNVTUCFCSPVHIUGBDFUPGBDFXJUI
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31 National Conference of Catholic Bishops, “Brothers and Sisters to
Us: U.S. Bishops’ Pastoral Letter on Racism in Our Day” (Washington,
32 P. 8
—17 —
As the
Evangelical/
Pentecostal
family of
Christian
Churches
Together, we
confess with
sadness and
shame that we
were at best
silent and often
even hostile…
Christian
Churches Together
in the U.S.A.
Christian Churches Together in the U.S.A.
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Christian
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in the U.S.A.
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34 P. 7
—18 —
Response to Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from Birmingham Jail
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As the
Orthodox
Christian family of Christian
Churches
Together, we
repent before
God our habitual focus on
ethnic and cultural identities
and our failure to advance
our ancient
tradition of
concern for the
poor and the
oppressed.
Christian
Churches Together
in the U.S.A.
—19 —