Last weekend marked the birthday of Martin Luther King. King was born on Jan. 15, 1929 and his birthday was celebrated as a national holiday Monday, Jan. 16. With the Iraq War finally over, but with us still fighting a semisecret war in Pakistan, and of course the war in Afghanistan, I suggest it would be interesting and thought-provoking to again look back and see what Dr. King said and wrote about war.

I posted these quotes two years ago, but they remain as relevant today as they ever have been. Dr. King wrote and spoke more eloquently than I do, and his words still ring true after all these years. Here are some quotes from Dr. King on war and peace:

“A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.” (“Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?” 1967).

“Man was born into barbarism when killing his fellow man was a normal condition of existence. He became endowed with a conscience. And he has now reached the day when violence toward another human being must become as abhorrent as eating another's flesh.” (“Why We Can't Wait,” 1963).

“Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time: the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love. I believe that even amid today's mortar bursts and whining bullets, there is still hope for a brighter tomorrow. I believe that wounded justice, lying prostrate on the blood-flowing streets of our nations, can be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men.” (Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Stockholm, Sweden, Dec. 11, 1964).

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction... The chain reaction of evil –

hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars – must be broken or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.” (“Strength to Love,” 1963).

“Far from being an impractical idealist, Jesus has become the practical realist. The words of this text (“Love Your Enemies”) glitter in our eyes with a new urgency. Far from being the pious injunction of a utopian dreamer, this command is an absolute necessity for the survival of our civilization. Yes, it is love that will save our world and our civilization, love even for enemies. Now let me hasten to say that Jesus was very serious when he gave this command; he wasn’t playing. He realized that it’s hard to love your enemies. He realized that it’s difficult to love those persons who seek to defeat you, those persons who say evil things about you. He realized that it was painfully hard, pressingly hard. But he wasn’t playing. And we cannot dismiss this passage as just another example of Oriental hyperbole, just a sort of exaggeration to get over the point. This is a basic philosophy of all that we hear coming from the lips of our master. Because Jesus wasn’t playing; because he was serious. We have the Christian and moral responsibility to seek to discover the meaning of these words, and to discover how we can live out this command, and why we should live by this command” (“Loving Your Enemies,” Nov. 17, 1957).

We will never know for sure, but I remain convinced that Dr. King would have opposed the Bush and Obama wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. And I believe, if he came back today, that while Dr. King would be very happy that Obama was elected president, he would be disappointed at the lack of progress we and the world have made in ending war as a means of settling disputes among nations and groups. King had high standards for America in his future. We have a long way to go to truly honor his wishes.

There were several Martin Luther King celebrations in our area. May we take Dr. King's words to heart and build a more peaceful world.

Note: All of the MLK quotes above can be found at http://www.mlkonline.net/quotes.html.

Campaign. Learn more at www.coalitionforpeaceandjustice.org and www.unplugsalem.org. He can be reached at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or (609) 335-8176. Comment at www.shorenewstoday.com.