Quotable

"War is the greatest threat to public health." - Gino Strada, Italian war surgeon and founder of the UN-recognized Italian NGO Emergency

Sunday, January 20, 2013

MLK: Beyond Vietnam

Friends,

Last Saturday at Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action we honored Martin Luther King Jr's legacy of nonviolence and his opposition to war and nuclear weapons. We shared this video of his sermon titled Why I am against the war in Vietnam with the attendees. There was absolute silence in the room throughout the 23 minutes of this remarkable video in which the people at The Real News Network put together powerful images to accompany one of the great sermons of our (or any) time.

This sermon resonates for me (as it did for everyone in that room on Saturday) as much today as it did nearly 46 years ago.  One could switch a country's name or two and it would seem as if this sermon was written in 2013.  A slight variation on this sermon was given by Dr. King nearly a month before (at the Riverside Church), and has come to be known as Beyond Vietnam.

It is a fitting meditation in this time in which we celebrate the birth of one the greatest peacemakers of all time. May we resolve to continue the struggle that Dr. King waged until his untimely death nearly 45 years ago.  Together may we move beyond Vietnam, beyond Iraq, beyond Afghanistan.  May we move beyond war altogether.

In the spirit of Dr. King and Nonviolence,

Leonard

P.S. - The video contains an abridged (abeit well edited) version of this sermon.  You can (and should) read the full sermon (showing the parts left out of the video) at The Real News Network.

 

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