Martin Luther King - But if Not - FULL SPEECH (pt 1 of 2)

Beginning of a sermon given by Martin Luther King, Jr. at the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta in November, 1967. The title, "But if Not", comes from Daniel chapter 3, verse 18 in the story of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.

Audio is from the Internet Archive: http://www.archive.org/details/MlkButIfNot
Picture is from the Library of Congress via wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Martin_Luther_King_Jr_NYWTS.jpg

Full transcription available on my blog: http://notoriousbiggins.blogspot.com/2010/01/but-if-not-sermon-by-martin-luth...

One great quote:
Now I want you to notice first, here, that these young men practiced civil disobedience. Civil disobedience is the refusal to abide by an order of the government or of the state or even of the court that your conscience tells you is unjust. Civil disobedience is based on a commitment to conscience. In other words, one who practices civil disobedience is obedient to what he considers a higher law. And there comes a time when a moral man can't obey a law which his conscience tells him is unjust. And I tell you this morning, my friends, that history has moved on, and great moments have often come forth because there were those individuals, in every age, in every generation, who were willing to say "I will be obedient to a higher law." These men were saying "I must be disobedient to A king in order to be obedient to THE King." And those people who so often criticize those of us who come to those moments when we must practice civil disobedience never remember that even right here in America, in order to get free from the oppression and the colonialism of the British Empire, our nation practiced civil disobedience. For what represented civil disobedience more than the Boston Tea Party. And never forget that everything that Hitler did in Germany was legal! It was legal to do everything that Hitler did to the Jews. It was a law in Germany that Hitler issued himself that it was wrong and illegal to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler's Germany. But I tell you if I had lived in Hitler's Germany with my attitude, I would have openly broken that law. I would have practiced civil disobedience. And so it is important to see that there are times when a man-made law is out of harmony with the moral law of the universe, there are times when human law is out of harmony with eternal and divine laws. And when that happens, you have an obligation to break it, and I'm happy that in breaking it, I have some good company. I have Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. I have Jesus and Socrates. And I have all of the early Christians who refused to bow.

Category:

Education

Tags:

• civil rights
• civil disobedience
• MLK
• martin luther king
• jr
• racism
• bible
• sermon
• religion
• 1960s
• faith
• scripture

[Kendorager]

King's speeches are transcendent. They speak to the dignity of all of us, everywhere. When human history has ended, and the last men look back to our greatest moments, it will be people like Martin Luther King who will have understood us the most.

[KyIeMcCIeIIan]

A beautiful voice to forever remind us of our obligation to serve a higher power, be it God, Allah, or Jehova, all are the same Abrahamic Lord. It's a great pity such strife exists between the monotheists who all share a common heritage through faith.

[153redankh]

Wonderful, Wonderful!!! Powerful, true, and sublime! A man of incredible courage speaking courageously about every man's need to show courage against the beast, whatever form it may take. Peace!

[chirrin615]

God bless you for the contribution

[jamindian91]

Thanks for posting! Thank you, thank you!

[62grossman]

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