This is the birthday month of Martin Luther King, Jr. Over the years, it is as if his thinking and meaning have been drained from memory. King has been turned into a saintly, benevolent creature with a deep voice, someone that even the New Right -- FOX News talkers -- approve. Someone with one idea: lets all nice (note reference to song by Phil Ochs). MLK is the good one, and is used as a club to beat down current Civil Rights activists. However, King was Dr. Martin Luther King by the authority of Boston University School of Theology, taught by philosopher-theologians from the deeply Methodist tradition of Boston Personalism. Often we miss the deep thinking, the careful distinctions, and the toughness of his mind as we hear that voice. When King talks about The Beloved Community, he uses a phrase from Josiah Royce with content from Brightman, Muelder, DeWolf, Bertocci, and Paul Schilling: persons-in-community. We have not surpassed King and the Personalists; we have merely forgotten them...not unusual for any academic discipline, including theology. Rufus Burrow explains the foundations of Kings thought; makes Kings thought live; helps to clear away the sentimental mists and clouds that obscure King today. It is worthwhile hearing Burrow-about-King again. https://youtube/watch?v=GaFCcAG9paw
Posted on: Mon, 05 Jan 2015 14:10:37 +0000