Over the weekend, President Donald J. Trump tweeted a criticism of kneeling, protesting NFL stars – trying to conflate athletes protesting violence against black people with disrespect for the country and our military.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Martin Luther king Jr. were Christian pastors and theologians who expose the lie within the rhetoric of intrinsic Christian virtue.
In view of King’s timeless views about the meaning and imperatives of justice for our society and world, what would he see and say about the current condition of our society and world?
Cheap peace rejects the problem of structural violence that gives rise to social anger and resistance. Cheap peace refuses to hear the cries of the unheard. Most importantly, cheap peace is dishonest about power within social structures.
Long after America’s prophet was silenced by the very avarice that he deplored, his words still burn with un-canning accuracy. In the last two years, ordinary citizens throughout world—Egypt, Palestine, Tunisia, Zuccotti Park, Greece, Paris, and London—have carried signs with his word, his spirit in their heart as their risk and limb to be free from tyranny and poverty.