Letter from Birmingham Jail, Part 1: Letter From Alabama Clergy to MLK

January 20, 2013 By 2 Comments

This letter from Alabama Clergymen was sent to Martin Luther King, Jr while he was in jail in Birmingham, Al. It prompted the famous “Letter from Birmingham Jail.”

Statement by Alabama Clergymen

12 April 1963

 We the undersigned clergymen are among those who, in January, issued “An Appeal for Law and Order and Common Sense,” in dealing with racial problems in Alabama. We expressed understanding that honest convictions in racial matters could properly be pursued in the courts, but urged that decisions of those courts should in the meantime be peacefully obeyed.

Since that time there had been some evidence of increased forbearance and a willingness to face facts. Responsible citizens have undertaken to work on various problems which cause racial friction and unrest. In Birmingham, recent public events have given indication that we will have opportunity for a new constructive and realistic approach to racial problems.

However, we are not confronted by a series of demonstrations by some of our Negro citizens, directed and led in part by outsiders. We recognize the natural impatience of people who feel that their hopes are slow in being realized. But we are convinced that these demonstrations are unwise and untimely.

We agree rather with certain local Negro leadership which has called for honest and open negotiation of racial issues in our area. And we believe this kind of facing of issues can best be accomplished by citizens of our own metropolitan area, white and Negro, meeting with their knowledge and experience of the local situation. All of us need to face that responsibility and find proper channels for its accomplishment.

Just as we formerly pointed out that “hatred and violence have no sanction in our religious and political traditions,” we also point out that such actions as incite to hatred and violence, however technically peaceful those actions may be, have not contributed to the resolution of our local problems. We do not believe that these days of new hope are days when extreme measures are justified in Birmingham.

We comment the community as a whole, and the local new media and law enforcement officials in particular, on the calm manner in which these demonstrations have been handled. We urge the public to continue to show restraint should the demonstrations continue, and the law enforcement officials to remain calm and continue to protect our city from violence.

We further strongly urge our own Negro community to withdraw support form these demonstrations, and to unite locally in working peacefully for a better Birmingham. When rights are consistently denied, a cause should be pressed in the courts and in negotiations among local leaders, and not in the streets. We appeal to both our white and Negro citizenry to observe the principles of law and order and common sense.

Signed by:

C.C.J. Carpenter, D.D., LL.D., Bishop of Alabama

Joseph A. Durick, D.D., Auxiliary Bishop, Diocese of Mobile-Alabama

Rabbi Milton L. Grafman, Temple Emanu-El, Birmingham Alabama

Bishop Paul Hardin, Bishop of the Alabama-West Florida Conference of the Methodist Church

Bishop Nolan B. Harmon, Bishop of the North Alabama Conference of the Methodist Church

George M. Murray, D.D., LL.D., Bishop Coadjutor, Episcopal Diocese of Alabama

Edward V. Ramage, Moderator, Synod of the Alabama Presbyterian Church of the United States

Earl Stallings, Pastor, First Baptist Church, Birmingham, Alabama

Filed Under: America, Calling Evil Good, Christian Persecution, Christianity, clergy, Following Christ, Freedom of Speech, HHS Mandate, Politics, Religious Freedom, Scripture, Slavery, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , , 2 Comments

HHS Mandate: How Far Will This Fight Go?

January 19, 2013 By 9 Comments

St Paul and most all of the Apostles did it. Martin Luther King did it. Christ the Lord did it.

Would you be willing to do it, too?

Go to jail, that is.

In this country, we normally associate going to jail with some sort of public misbehavior that most of us agree is reprehensible. Going to jail is disgraceful. Embarrassing. A blot on your record, your reputation and your honor.

But that isn’t always so. Demonstrators in this country and others have accepted the possibility of going to jail as the price for civil disobedience to unjust laws many times. The question is are we coming to a time when that kind of civil disobedience and the subsequent price of jail is something Christians must consider to protect their religious freedom?

One prominent prosecutor says we have. Virginia ATtorney General Ken Cuccinelli said in a recent radio interview that civil disobedience and a willingness to go to jail by Christians would “expose the tyranny” of the HHS Mandate.

I think it’s important to understand that Mr Cuccinelli was running for election when he made that statement. I do not know him, so I can not evaluate this more than add that caveat.

On the other hand, I know that the American Bishops said something similar in their statements concerning this mandate in early 2012.

The owners of Hobby Lobby has already made the decision to risk their company rather than accede to the Mandate. Even though they’ve found a way to delay the fines for not following the mandate, it still hands over them.

Where is all this going? If the Supreme Court does not overturn this Mandate (and it’s anybody’s guess what they are going to do) where will it lead?

The National Catholic Register article discussing Mr Cuccinelli’s comments says in part:

‘Civil Disobedience’ Would Expose HHS MandateVirginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli advises citizens to risk jail, if necessary, to protest against the contraceptive and abortifacient health insurance mandate.

by BRIAN FRAGA 01/17/2013 Comments (25)

RICHMOND, Va. — Citizens should defy the federal government’s contraceptive mandate, even to the point of going to jail, Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli said in a recent radio interview.

Cuccinelli, a Catholic who is running this year for governor of Virginia, told conservative Iowa radio host Steve Deace that civil disobedience would expose the “tyranny” behind the federal law that would compel religiously affiliated organizations and private businesses to cover contraception, abortifacients and sterilization in their employee health-insurance plans.

“My local bishop said he told a group, ‘Well, you know, I told a group I’m ready to go to jail,’ and I told him, ‘Bishop, don’t take this personally — you need to go to jail,’” said Cuccinelli, one of the first state attorneys general to file a federal lawsuit against the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

Cuccinelli’s spokesman Brian Gottstein said the attorney general was not available for comment because of the busy state legislative session.

Cuccinelli spoke about the issue in a subsequent interview with The Washington Times.

“I’m certainly not advocating that people go to jail, but religious liberty is why a lot of people came to this country,” Cuccinelli said. “If our government is driving so many people to be contemplating this kind of civil disobedience, I think there’s a good reason to double check and ask, ‘Have we gone too far here?’”

A spokeswoman for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops declined to comment on his remarks. However, the attorney general’s statements are in line with a March 2012 USCCB document that warned Catholics to be prepared to engage in civil disobedience if the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ contraceptive mandate was not rescinded.

“Some unjust laws impose such injustices on individuals and organizations that disobeying the laws may be justified,” the bishops wrote in the message, which was formatted for use as a parish bulletin insert. “Every effort must be made to repeal them. When fundamental human goods, such as the right of conscience, are at stake, we may need to witness to the truth by resisting the law and incurring its penalties.”

The bishops also cited a passage from Rev. Martin Luther King’s 1963 “Letter From Birmingham Jail,” in which the civil-rights leader noted St. Augustine’s proverb “An unjust law is no law at all.”

 

Read more: http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/civil-disobedience-would-expose-hhs-mandate-tyranny?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NCRegisterDailyBlog+National+Catholic+Register#When:2013-01-17%2016:43:01#ixzz2ISJr2DSe

Filed Under: America, Catholic, Christian Persecution, Christianity, Culture, Following Christ, Health Care, HHS Mandate, Politics, Pro Life, Religious Freedom, Uncategorized Tagged With: , , , , 9 Comments