MLK: Great Man, Great Speech, And Now… Spirituality-“lite.”

[Note: This blog was written on April 3, 2011, the anniversary of the night before MLK’s assassination.]

On this night in 1968, MLK delivered his last speech. He was shot and killed the next day.

These are words that haunt, inspire, challenge, and motivate me. I see signs of this kind of radical Christianity, this kind of critical patriotism, and this kind of unabashed spiritual boldness in various places around the world, but not so much in the country I call home. What happened?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMQYMBhMGpI

(The clip above is the final minute/climax of the speech. Here’s a clip of the full speech – 43 minutes).

Are we afraid to speak truth to power? Have we become domesticated?

Has our spirituality become merely a selfish practice? Do we just like to sing rockin’ praise songs, hear some reminders that God loves us and wants us to thrive and prosper, and then somehow not give a flip about the plight of others? Discuss.

Eventually, one Facebook reader says, “Mostly yes to all. You hit the nail on the head.”

I respond:

I was afraid of that. Okay, so did King’s death scare us? Did it burst our bubbles? Did it cause us to become disillusioned? did it cause us to fear and submit to the powers that be? Was it like Jesus Christ had been crucified again? Did we collectively think, “Bummer. Oh well, guess the Worldly powers won. Let’s just all try to go along with the flow without making waves in life?” — to just accept the status quo and then go to “Shiny-Happy-People-Church,” and/or, do some “spiritual practices” as a form of narcissistic self-medication to help us not confront the big hole in our collective souls and address the rampant tearing of our social fabric?