The Letter from Birmingham Jail is an open letter written by Martin Luther King, an American civil rights leader. It is a planned non-violent protest conducted by the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights and King's Southern Christian Leadership Conference against racial segregation by Birmingham's city government and downtown retailers. The most famous statement in this letter is "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
1. King indicated he came here because injustice was there.He wanted to spread the justice just like the Apostle Paul spread the love. In his opinion, everywhere in the world should have the justice.
“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.”
2. King indicated the four basic steps of the nonviolent campaign. The fourth step, direct action always after the a series plans. Thus, we could see how cogitative King is.
“In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self purification; and direct action.”
3. King talked about the just and unjust law in this city. In his opinion, an unjust law is no law at all, and it is just a tool to torture the black people. He hoped that the black people could have the same rights in the society.
“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….Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust.”
4. King also discussed about the extremist. He was not disappointed about being a extremist, but what he cared was what a extremist they would like to be. He did not want people to be the extremist serving animosity but love.
Was not Jesus an extremist for love: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you." Was not Amos an extremist for justice: "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like an ever flowing stream." Was not Paul an extremist for the Christian gospel: "I bear in my body the marks of the Lord Jesus." Was not Martin Luther an extremist: "Here I stand; I cannot do otherwise, so help me God."
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