I do not mourn the loss of evil
Some on the left seem to be annoyed that Conservatives and even Republicans are unequivocally cheering something President Obama did. The left considers them enemies, and they’re worried that their enemy is happy when, politically, they shouldn’t be. It’s all politics, and they don’t understand anything that transcends politics. It’s unnerving them so much they’ve started to hallucinate. For example, this quote has been popping up all over Facebook and the net:
I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
Martin Luther King, Jr., did not say that. Now, I would disagree with this even if King had said it. But he didn’t. It’s a cheap sentiment that someone hoped would not look as cheap if they attached it to a hero’s name.
The parts of the quote that are correct come from King’s Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?• As you might guess from the title, King was speaking to the civil rights movement, which, with new blood from the sixties counterculture, was seriously considering civil war. This was the time that spawned Bill Ayers’ Weathermen, and there were splinter groups coming off of the already violence-friendly Nation of Islam who were seriously ready for war. Talk of revolution was everywhere in the counterculture. In that context, King was correct: a bloody uprising in the United States, however justified, would have “multiplied evil”.
The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes… Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
Clearly, King was antiviolence, and he was also antiwar, at least in the Vietnam era. He may well have expressed sentiments similar to this spurious quote were he alive today. But I don’t think he would, if the facts were analogized to his situation: imagine that a southern state had targeted 2,000 random, mostly affluent blacks, brutally murdered them in a single day, brutally murdered the people who tried to save them, and then threatened that that was just the beginning, all while the north cheered. Would he have counseled working within the system if that happened? I doubt it.
Conservative blogs often like to point out that King was a Republican. It’s worth remembering why he was a Republican. He was a Republican, ultimately, because Republicans were willing to wage war to end slavery.
In response to Hangover on Miracle Monday: “There is a right and a wrong in the Universe.” So, yeah. Good morning to you, too!
- Break In Hunt for Bin Ladin May Have Been Provided By Not Only Enhanced Interrogation Techniques…: Ace at Ace of Spades HQ
- “Telegraph, citing Wikileadks: Break In Hunt for Bin Ladin May Have Been Provided By Not Only Enhanced Interrogation Techniques, But by Enhanced Interrogation Techniques Performed On An Al Qaeda Operative Captured in Iraq”
- Martin Luther King, Jr. at Wikipedia
- “I met Malcolm X once in Washington, but circumstances didn't enable me to talk with him for more than a minute. He is very articulate… but I totally disagree with many of his political and philosophical views… I feel that Malcolm has done himself and our people a great disservice. Fiery, demagogic oratory in the black ghettos, urging Negroes to arm themselves and prepare to engage in violence, as he has done, can reap nothing but grief.”
- Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?•: Martin Luther King, Jr.
- “…within the civil rights movement, a ‘black power’ mentality was gaining prominence. Some argued that whites should be excluded from the civil rights movement, and that nonviolence should be abandoned. Dr. King insisted that this approach would only balkanize our country, having disastrous effect, especially on blacks.”
- Why Martin Luther King Was Republican: Frances Rice
- “It should come as no surprise that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a Republican. In that era, almost all black Americans were Republicans. Why? From its founding in 1854 as the anti-slavery party until today, the Republican Party has championed freedom and civil rights for blacks. And as one pundit so succinctly stated, the Democrat Party is as it always has been, the party of the four S’s: slavery, secession, segregation and now socialism.”
More evil
- Spotlight on: Evil
- No one considers themselves Evil. So how does the Evil moral code relate to the game of Gods & Monsters? How and why do Evil non-player characters act?
More Martin Luther King, Jr.
- The Reader revisits Reverend King’s Meloncollie Dream
- Hark Thrice the Walkerville Weekly Reader’s columnist emeritus, recalls Martin Luther King, Jr.’s most important speech on its 55th anniversary. All animals are created peaceful… but some are more peaceful than others.
Remember: Trump reassures crowd after assassination attempt fails. (read more…)
Blogroll
- According To Hoyt
- Ace of Spades HQ
- The Anchoress
- John Hayward
- Legal Insurrection
- National Motorists blog
- The Other McCain
- samizdata.net
- Sultan Knish
It's funny that you should automatically assume that the above misquote is the work of liberals, and even imply that it was done deliberately by the vast left-wing conspiracy to... what?
As for Mr. King, you suppose that he would be ready to go to war if affluent blacks were killed. At least toward the end of his career, King focussed on economic injustice, and I believe he would have cried for war much more readily if a few thousand impoverished Polish immigrants were slaughtered by your affluent blacks.
Jerry at 7:55 a.m. May 5th, 2011
XZXfM
Hey, Other Jerry. I think you’re posting drunk again. The quote was posted by people who self-identify on the left. I deliberately did not choose to label them as liberal. It’s funny that you should automatically assume that liberals make up the left.
I did not deliberately choose not to claim conspiracy; it never occurred to me that this might be a conspiracy. I’m guessing that if there is one, you’re part of it, since you protest too much about a claim that wasn’t made.
I’m not even going to touch your version of the hypothetical, except to point out that you still have King in favor of violence when appropriate.
capvideo at 1:58 p.m. May 5th, 2011
tVAhq
Yeah, I have to admit that there was beer involved with my comment.
Yet, the number of people who posted that quote was so huge that I'm sure you can find adherents of any part of the political spectrum you wish to scoff at. The thing was everywhere. Mostly it seems to me it was passed around by people who wanted to appear to be thoughtful and restrained without having to do any thinking of their own, and while there are plenty on the left like that, they certainly do no have a monopoly on condescension.
I suppose I read implications of conspiracy innuendo in your use of a global 'they' when really I don't think one exists here. I don't necessarily disagree with your conclusion, but the evidence you cite here is really reaching.
Maybe I should pay more attention to your terminology, because I do associate liberals and the left. I suppose 'liberal' is social while 'left' is political. If you stick to that distinction it is almost as hard to find a liberal in politics as it is a conservative.
Jerry at 5:26 a.m. May 8th, 2011
XZXfM