Honor Dr. King by Protecting the Human Rights of Children in the Womb

By Deacon Keith Fournier
1/17/2012
Catholic Online (www.catholic.org)

Without any fear, Dr King made his impassioned defense of human rights from the Natural Law. We must do the same.

Dr. King was unjustly imprisoned at the time of the writing of his Letter from a Birmingham Jail for defending fundamental human rights. It was his Christian faith, as a follower of Jesus Christ whom St Paul called the "New Man", that Dr. King wrote this letter. It was because of his faith in Jesus Christ that he had the courage to live his heroic life and suffer his martyr's death. He made his impassioned defense of fundamental human rights from the basis of a Natural law argument. We must do the same.

Perhaps the greatest living heir to Dr. King's true legacy is his niece, Dr. Alveda King

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WASHINGTON, D.C. (Catholic Online) - On April 16, 1963, one of our greatest Americans, a Christian man who understood the fundamental truth that all men and women are endowed by God the Creator with inalienable rights, Dr. Martin Luther King, wrote what is one of my favorite of his writings.

Entitled after the fact a "Letter from a Birmingham Jail" it was addressed to "My Fellow Clergymen." It reads as a manifesto for every Christian, and especially Clergy, who understand the obligation we have to stand for authentic Social Justice. As a Clergyman, a Deacon of the Catholic Church, I prayerfully read it every year during this important American holiday.

Even the salutation speaks volumes. He wrote to "My Fellow Clergymen". He engaged in this work because he was called by God. Reverend Dr. King was unjustly imprisoned at the time of the writing of this letter for defending the fundamental human rights of every single human person. I say HUMAN rights because these rights have their source in our identity as human persons created in the Image of God. The Government did not grant them and cannot take them away.

Without any fear of being seen as too "religious" he defended his position with a vibrant Christian witness. Because we are all human persons, we have human rights. The source of those rights is God the Creator, in whose Image we have been fashioned. Civil Rights, as important as they may be, are the domain of the State. And, as is obvious from Dr. King's imprisonment, are not always justly enforced or protected. It is Human Rights which were the subject of his heroism. They are ours because we have received them from God.The first among them is the right to life itself.

He wrote this jailhouse letter when he was the President of a CHRISTIAN group: "I have the honor of serving as president of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, an organization operating in every southern state, with headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia. We have some eighty five affiliated organizations across the South, and one of them is the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights."

It was his Christian faith, as a follower of Jesus Christ whom St Paul called the "New Man", that Dr. King wrote this letter. It was because of his faith in Jesus Christ that he had the courage to live his heroic life and suffer his martyr's death. He made his impassioned defense of fundamental human rights from the basis of a Natural law argument. We must now do the same as it concerns another class of human persons who are being denied the Right to life, children in the womb.

He explained to some within the Christian community of his day who had objected to his methods: "I am in Birmingham because injustice is here. Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid."

He articulated one of the best expressions of Christian solidarity which I have heard in my lifetime: "I am cognizant of the interrelatedness of all communities and states. I cannot sit idly by in Atlanta and not be concerned about what happens in Birmingham. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."

Standing on the shoulders of the Old Testament Prophets and under the Shadow of the Cross where the final Prophetic voice, the Word made Flesh, hung in selfless love for all men and women, Dr. King addressed another thorny subject, the fact of unjust civil or "positive" laws: "How does one determine whether a law is just or unjust? A just law is a man made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law. Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust."

Dr. King confronted those who in his day accused him of being "extreme" because he called some positive laws unjust and not law at all. For those who argued that opponents of unjust civil laws must not be too public in that opposition he had these words: "One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the ...

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1 - 3 of 3 Comments

Bulbajer
1 year ago
Happy birthday, Dr. King. I wish I could have met you; sometimes you seem so unreal. How could you possibly say something like judging people by the content of their character when so much hate was directed at you and the people you defended? How could one person have done all that? Then I remember that it wasn't just you. Millions of people were and are like you. You live on in them. The firing of that Remington 760 on that evening in Memphis in 1968 didn't end the Civil Rights Movement. Nor did that movement end when the hospital pronounced you dead an hour later. It is alive today and will be alive for as long as we remember and emulate you. Thank you, Dr. King. Thank you.
JeanCatherine
1 year ago
I admire the late Dr. Martin Luther King and I also admire today his niece Dr. Alveda King. He was killed for his belief that all people should be created equally.

So I ask today how is it that we discriminate and kill a child in the womb? Where were their rights in 1973? We opened a can of worms that still rages on today. So peacefully how are we going to rectify the situation in our lifetime and the next genertaions to come.

A month or so ago a young man jumped off of a bridge in my city because his girlfriend rejected him.

Our river is full of currents because it is bordered by a great lake which causes it to be fierce. The EMT's and Fire department tried to save him. They through the rope a couple of times and he rejected it but on the last try he went for it but it missed him and he parished.

The sadness of the story is that in his final moments he chose life even though no one knew if he would make it.

We are not obligated to believe in apparitions or visions but our Lady has chosen to present herself to us many times down through the ages. I read once where she had sent children to us for our benefit in these times.

We need this benefit today more than ever. Especially as one sees the crimes purpotrated in the news. Everyday you read negative things happening, murder, mayhem and that which was spoken of in the bible that what was once wrong would now be right. You see this today very gradually creeping up more and more. The law of God is being undermined everywhere and no one seems to see this accept a very few.

The parallel I see between these two stories is this: Our mother sent children to help us in these times so where was the someone who could have seen and stopped this child of God from jumping to his death.

Im not saying that this is always the case. When one's time is to come to meet God so be it. He has the last say on when its time to "go home". Yet I cant help feeling something his missing in this world since 1973 when the landmark case, Roe vs. Wade was implemented into our times.

Over 50,000,000 people have been aborted but we must ask ourselves this, How has this truly affected society on all levels and what are we going to do about in our small human way?

I am doing my part what say you? Are you writing your Congress and letting them know that we did something very wrong in this case? Do you support your local clinics who provide valuable life services for pregnant women? Do you pray your Rosary with others for life? Do you go with a friend who knows how to properly sidewalk counsel and pray with them in their valuable work.

I blog and I also am a housekeeper for a nursing home. This is how I contribute because those in a Nursing Home are also vulnerable to the possiblity of Euthanasia someday. I hope this doesnt even come into play ever.

May you all live in peace and understanding of our capacity for life. May you and I hope to stand with the Lord when He comes for us in our Last Judgment.

God Bless the world that she may save a life one more day. May thousands be saved and this horrible law abolished.

See me at Jean'sBistro2010's. Feel free to learn about Norma McKorvey and The Priests for Life Movement and other Pro-Life people.
abey
1 year ago
The first movement against slavery was initiated by The GOD of Israel, The Lord of Hosts, The GOD of Righteousness,against Egypt, in the freeing of Israel from Bondage.This itself speaks volumes of the intention of GOD towards man whom He created. This great event which was quoted by Abraham Lincoln in relation to the proclamation of freedom from slavery of the blacks, which treads were picked up by Martin Luther in the continuation, in the form of civil rights movement.Today, this is the Christian Heritage through Christ, both in Spirit & Body.. But recently we had the present administration covering up the Christian roots of the civil rights movement, which itself shows the Hypocrisy & disregard to the very foundation of liberty, which goes right upto GOD. But then again, they bring out the same word liberty, except in this case it is to gay relationships & abortions as Deacon Keith says, that which leads not to liberty but to enslavement of the Spirit itself.The false one 'cause it is against the liberty, ordained of GOD by the Word. To this the Bible in revelations justly mentions the repercussions.

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