LFBJ Paragraphs 26-39 Quiz

I had the strange feeling when I was catapulted (suddenly thrown) into the leadership of the bus protest in Montgomery several years ago that we would have the support of the white church. I felt that the white ministers, priests, and rabbis of the South would be some of our strongest allies. Instead, some few have been outright opponents, refusing to understand the freedom movement and misrepresenting it leaders; all too many others have been more cautious than courageous and have remained silent behind the anesthetizing security of stained-glass windows.

What irony is Martin Luther King Jr. pointing out?

• Hiding behind glass didn't seem safe.

• Civil rights in Birmingham turned out to be more of a challenge than in Montgomery.

• The religious leaders he thought would be his allies turned out to be opponents.

• He was thrown into being a leader.

I have heard numerous religious leaders of the South call upon their worshipers to comply with a desegregation decision because it is the law, but I have longed to hear white ministers say, follow this decree because integration is morally right and the Negro is your brother. In the midst of blatant injustices inflicted upon the Negro, I have watched white churches stand on the sidelines and merely mouth pious irrelevancies and sanctimonious trivialities. In the midst of the mighty struggle to rid out nation of racial and economic injustice, I have heard so many ministers say, "Those are social issues which the gospel has nothing to do with," and I have watched so many white churches commit themselves to a completely other worldly religion which made a strange distinction between bodies and souls, the scared and the secular (non religious).

Martin Luther King Jr. says that people of faith should know the difference between

• their own thoughts and what other people want them to think.

• unfair/unmoral laws and moral laws.

• passing fads and things that will last the test of time.

• the truth and propaganda.

There was a time when the church was very powerful. It was during that period that the early Christians rejoiced when they were deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was the thermostat that transformed the morals of society. Wherever the early Christians entered a town the power structure got disturbed and immediately sought to convict them for being "disturbers of the peace" and "outside agitators." But they went on with the conviction that they were "a colony of heaven" and had to obey God rather than man. They were small in number but big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated." They brought an end to such an ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contest.

Martin Luther King Jr. is saying Christians used to be

• powerful change makers.

• trouble makers.

• government spies.

The early Christian movement is a useful example to white churches during the Civil Rights movement because

• current Christians are giving up their power.

• other religions are making more progress.

• each generation is supposed to do better than the previous ones.

• Christians come in all colors and all deserve the same basic rights.

I hope the church as a whole will meet the challenge of this decisive hour. But even if the church does not come to the aid of justice, I have no despair about the future. I have no fear about the outcome of our struggle in Birmingham, even if our motives are presently misunderstood. We will reach the goal of freedom in Birmingham and all over the nation, because the goal of America is freedom. Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with the destiny of America. Before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson scratched across the pages of history the majestic word of the Declaration of Independence, we were here. For more than two centuries our foreparents labored here without wages; they made cotton king; and they built the homes of their masters in the midst of brutal injustice and shameful humiliation - and yet out of a bottomless vitality our people continue to thrive and develop. If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of out nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands.

Martin Luther King Jr. says they will achieve their goal because

• morality always wins in the end.

• they have enough supports without white Christians.

• if they overcame slavery they can overcome being denied civil rights.

• they have fought in major wars for the United States.

Abused and scorned though we may be, our destiny is tied up with the destiny of America. Before the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, we were here. Before the pen of Jefferson scratched across the pages of history the majestic word of the Declaration of Independence, we were here. For more than two centuries our foreparents labored here without wages; they made cotton king; and they built the homes of their masters in the midst of brutal injustice and shameful humiliation - and yet out of a bottomless vitality our people continue to thrive and develop.

This passage is an example of

• Simpaticos

• Pathos

• Ethos

• Logos

I must close now. But before closing I must mention one other point in your statement that troubled me profoundly. You warmly praised the Birmingham police force for keeping "order" and "preventing violence." I don't believe you would have so warmly commended the police force if you had seen its angry violent dogs literally biting six unarmed, nonviolent Negroes here in the city jail; if you would watch them push and curse old Negro women and young Negro girls; if you would see them slap and kick old Negro men and young Negro boys, if you would observe them, as they did on two occasions, refusing to give us food because we wanted to sing our grace together. I'm sorry that I can't join you in your praise for the police department.

What is MLK Jr.'s attitude toward the white clergy praising the Birmingham police?

• Accusatory; blaming them of unfoundedly praising the police.

• Contrite;

  Agreeing but pointing out their mistakes.

• Regretful;

  agreeing and putting blame on the demonstrators.

• Judgmental; yelling them their biases make them unable to accept the truth.

It is true that they have been rather disciplined in their public handling of the demonstrators. In this sense they have been publicly "nonviolent." But for what purpose? To preserve the evil system of segregation. Over the last few years I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek. So I have tried to make it clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends. But now I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or even more, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends.

What does Martin Luther King Jr. point out as the opposite of what should be happening?

• The police are openly immoral.

• The police are more supportive than the white clergy.

• Instead of upholding the law the police are still supporting segregation.

I wish you had commended the Negro demonstrators of Birmingham for their outstanding courage, their willingness to suffer, and their amazing discipline in the midst o the most inhuman provocation. One day the South will recognize its real heroes. They will the be James Merediths, courageously and with a majestic sense of purpose facing jeering and hostile mobs and the agonizing loneliness that characterizes the life of the pioneer.

MLK Jr. says that people who have fought for Civil Rights are

• agitators

• unconscious bystanders

• unintentional criminals

• heroes

Never before have I written a letter this long - or should I say a book? I'm afraid that it is much too long to take your precious time. I can assure you that it would have been much shorter if I had been writing from a comfortable desk, but what else is there do do when you are alone for days in the dull monotony of a narrow jail cell other than write long letters, thing strange thoughts, and pray long prayers?

If I have said anything in this letter that is an understatement of the truth and is indicative of an unreasonable impatience, I bet you to forgive me. If I have said anything in this letter that is an overstatement of the truth and is indicative of my having a patience that makes me patient with anything less than brotherhood, I beg God to forgive me.

What is Martin Luther King Jr.'s attitude in these last paragraphs?

• Resolute

• Claustraphobic

• Sarcastic

• Accepting