In reading Martin Luther King Jr's Letter from Birmingham Jail it is apparent that he is influenced by many great peace and justice fighters on his views of morality and justice for all. One person from which he quoted in his letter was Reinhold Niebuhr. In his letter to congress he reminds them of what Niebuhr once said, "Groups tend to be more immoral than individuals." When giving this quote more thought and paralleling it to incidents throughout history and present day this simple statement embodies all the unjust and immoral acts people have justified because their were people following and believing their every thought.
Reinhold Niebuhr was a protestant American theologists who studied and contemplated morality in individuals and collectives. He sought out to determine what the difference between morality was during the Liberal Movement from a religious and secular stand point. Many of the injustices Martin Luther King Jr. saw in society Niebuhr also saw as problematic. In his book, Moral Man and Immoral Society : A Study of Ethics and Politics his first chapter opens with his confusion of why humans still cannot live peacefully, "For all the centuries of experience, men have not yet learned how to live together without compounding their vices and covering each other 'with mud and with blood'"(pg. 1). In Martin Luther King Jr's letter he raises the same questions of how it is possible for a civilization so advanced to not be able to look past color and race. Martin Luther King Jr. parallels Niebuhr's thoughts on morality when he states, "Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly...Anyone who lives inside the United States can never be considered an outsider anywhere within its bounds." Both Niebuhr and King Jr. see the United States as a society in which people should feel they belong rather than one that has not been able to look past race, classes, or nations.
While Martin Luther King Jr. is influenced by many different scholars, philosophers, and people Niebuhr was a white protestant who shared many of the same confusions that Martin Luther Kings Jr. found himself fighting his whole life. Both men question the notion of morality, injustice, and equality during unjust and difficult times.
Works Citied:
Niebhur, Reinhold. Moral Man and Immoral Society: A Study of Ethics and Politics. 2nd ed. Rev. Louisville, Kentucky: Westminster John Knox Press, 1960.
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I agree that people tend to act more immoral when placed within a group than they would individually. It gives great insight to how discrimination and injustice occur all over the world.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that people act more immoral when in a group. When an entire group is immoral it is certainly easier to be influenced amd swept away by immorality. On the other hand, I might suggest that people can also act more moral when in a group.
ReplyDeleteI find it interesting that Obama has mentioned Reinhold Niebhur in the past as well, in that he is one of his favorite philosophers. I am also interested in the fact that Nebhur has changed his views throughout the years, adapting and growing as an individual and as a free thinker. Case in point, he once felt that Jews should be converted to Christianity. After WWII his views on this changed due to the obvious atrocities that befell Jews amongst other ideals of human right.
ReplyDeleteKings argument was seriously strengthened by his use of examples from white protestant leaders in his letter. This gave him more credibility in his assertions when writing to other clergymen of his time. It is a wonderful thing to use ideas that one's opponents cherish to support ones own argument, and he does this with as much precision as a riposte by a defending fencer deftly wielding his blade.
HGrising it is extremely interesting that Obama has referenced Niebhur in the past especially since both him and MLK have made strides for social change. While people can act immorally in groups they can also do good similar to what KAS217 raises. Without his followers MLK would not have been able to accomplish what he sought out to do.
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