Reflections on Doctor Martin Luther King

Doctor Martin Luther King Jr. stands alongside the

Grand Duchess Elizabeth of Russia, Archbishop Oscar

Romero of El Salvador and Pastor Dietrich Bonhoffer

of Germany as the Martyrs of the 20th century over the

West Door of Westminster Abbey in London. 

I was using a borrowed office in a church where I was giving a lecture this past week—Thursday—and I noticed on the desk a program for an interfaith concert that had been held at that church the previous weekend to celebrate Martin Luther King Day.  Before I go any further I want to say that I am a great admirer of Dr. King.  His legacy is an important part of building the America we have today where great progress had been made in overcoming the racial barriers that defined our culture within my memory.  Like many Americans this past year I read The Help (and saw the movie).  It reminded me that within my memory there existed this America where doors were closed to people because of race.  (Which isn’t to say that all doors are yet open to all people.)  The Help motivated me to read To Kill a Mockingbird.   I had never read it.  I supposed I had not read it because when it came out (1960) I was in High School and it probably would have been considered “too controversial” though we read Catcher in the Rye,  Nineteen Eighty-Four, and Lord of the Flies—all of which were controversial and none of which were as worthwhile as To Kill a Mockingbird.  But I guess that even in the north and in a Jesuit school, some topics were “too hot to handle.” Certainly race was never discussed. To Kill a Mockingbird made me look not at America but at myself and ask myself to what extent I am a man of character and conviction.  I haven’t resolved that answer yet.  A few years ago I was in Colonial Williamsburg with several friends, one of whom is a very distinguished Monsignor of African American lineage.  We were having dinner at the venerable and celebrated Williamsburg Inn and had both excused ourselves from the cocktail hour to use the facilities before going to the dining room.  As the good Monsignor was washing his hand, an elderly gentleman with whom he was speaking said “There was a day, you know, when you could not have come in here.”  It wasn’t said with any animosity and conveyed no rudeness, hard as that is to explain when one reads or hears the comment without having heard it said in its original context and tone.  It was simply an observation by the elderly gentleman as if he had said “my family has dined here since my great-grand pappy’s day.”  Occasions such as these remind us that America changed direction because of, in part, Dr. King.  

     And yet this man whom the churches honor—as America honors—on the third Monday of January; this man whose statue graces the façade of Westminster Abbey in London, this man who is commemorated in the calendars of both the Episcopal Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, this man whom Catholic Cardinals and Jewish Rabbis pay homage to every January was a man of multiple extramarital affairs.  A great man but no saint.  Of course we know his sin because another man—a man for whom there is no holiday, a man who lies in a grave overgrown with weeds in the shadow of the national Capitol, a man whose name had become a national punchline before fading into an ever darkening obscurity, a man whose alleged hypocrisy tried to hide that he was a deeply closeted gay transvestite—thought he could stop King’s social revolution by exposing his adulteries to the American public.  He dragged King through the mud but the mud hasn’t stuck—to Doctor King.  

     There is a lesson here.  Actually there are several lessons.  One is that original sin runs deep in each of us.  Anne Marie Bigod de Cornuel, onetime mistress of Louis XIV, allegedly said: “there are none who are heroes to their valets nor to the Fathers of the Church among their contemporaries.”   Yes, valets know the soiled linen of their employers and the Fathers of the Church knew the soiled souls not only of their contemporaries, but indeed of humankind.  

      Another lesson, dependent somewhat on the first, is that even as saints are not necessarily great men (or women) so too great men (or women) are not necessarily saints.  One of my favorite books is Graham Greene’s The Power and the Glory.  It is a reminder that virtue and greatness are not the same thing.  (That isn’t an endorsement for Newt, by the way.  Of course, I see neither attribute there.  Nor is it an endorsement for Rick Santorum to whom I will grant a measure of character but in whom I don’t see any potential for greatness.  It is sad the neither Catholic candidate can offer us both character and statesman like gravitas. One would hope that our Catholic stock had some sap of confessors and martyrs left running in it and not only the more pallid juice of virgins.)   There are great men and there are men who do great things.  Or actually, there are great persons and persons who do great things as men have a monopoly on neither character nor deeds. 

      We Americans tend to be sloppy and imprecise in making out distinctions.  Men of great deeds have sat in the White House—Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Jackson, Lyndon Johnson, Bill Clinton, Franklin Roosevelt.  And there were great men who sat in the White House—Harry Truman, Jimmy Carter to name two more recent ones.  There are men whom if one could get beneath the myths to the historical realities may have been men of great deeds and great character, namely George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, but it is hard to objectively assess the former for his character and the latter for his deeds as their presidencies (and for Washington, indeed his whole career) are shrouded in the myths that define our nation.  We have seen the same to be true in the Church.  Men of great deeds such as Gregory VII, Innocent III, Julius II, Paul III have led the Church through times of crisis and led the Church well.  Men of great soul have sat in Peter’s chair: Celestine V, Pius VII, Pius X, Paul VI.  I suspect Benedict XVI might fall in this category when his papacy is finally able to be evaluated. 

      And so back to Doctor King.  A man of great deeds but with a certain weakness of character.  He was not totally without character: he had bravery, he had passion for justice, and he had perseverance.  He was intelligent and articulate.  He wasn’t a saint but he was still God’s instrument as much as some of our greatest popes were.  He was, like Graham Greene’s Whiskey Priest and like so many of us, a treasure in an earthen vessel (2^nd Corinthians 4:7).    And better, I suppose, to be such a treasure even if one’s character is but a clay pot to hold it than to be a golden bowl but to be empty and useless.  Granted he was no saint, but a builder of the Kingdom of God nonetheless.  There is a lot to think about here.       

History in the Making--Catholic voice in America today

History is not only the past--it is an awareness we bring to the present.  Even as the recent series i have been writing on Is Vatican II in Danger is History-as-it-happens, there are other things going on as well in which we can see History, and here History of Catholic America--unfolding.  I have recently received the following letter.  I have edited it slightly to take out the more partisan passages (as much as I could without hurting the substance of the letter) but it gives some interesting reflection on the tradition of the Catholic Church in regards to the Rights of Labor as it comes into conflict with contemporary events. 

Dear Friends,

The union-busting legislation of the new Republican Wisconsin Governor, Scott Walker, has dominated the headlines for several weeks now. By his own words, the Jesuit-educated Walker has acknowledged a hidden agenda, to diminish the collective bargaining rights of teachers, nurses, snowplow drivers and other state workers, with the ultimate intent of breaking the union. This former county commissioner, in a now notorious prank interview, compared himself to Ronald Reagan and said, "This is our moment, this is our time to change the course of history."

Walker's "moment in history" - paralleling actions taken by Republican governors in other states - marks the beginning of an ambitious movement to systematically dismantle a century of social progress.  As Catholics, we must respond to all those who trample these American values, borne out of the Catholic Social Tradition. Your help is needed today, and into the future, to embark on a crusade of sorts ...for the common good.    

The right of labor to organize - and collectively bargain - is a foundational principal of Catholic Social Justice, first enshrined in Pope Leo XIII's 1891 encyclical, Rerum Novarum. It has been further developed and amplified for over a century by popes, bishops and theologians. Most recently, Pope Benedict XVI addressed labor rights in his 2009 encyclical, Caritas in Veritate.  

Emboldened with an over-reaching confidence from the midterm elections, and led by the one-size-fits-all budget slashing Tea Party philosophy, other states with Republican governors and legislative majorities are in the process of passing similar union busting legislation. Ohio and Idaho are two of the states in a second wave of this ambush. Some Republican led state houses, including those in Indiana, Tennessee, and Florida, appear to be scrutinizing the outcome in Wisconsin before acting. It is also reported that Missouri, Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire, Maine and Pennsylvania are also considering legislation to limit worker's rights.

With the support of progressives, labor unions have taken a stand for justice in response to Walker's bad faith efforts (he did not campaign on breaking the union).  The views of the American public have become clear.  At least three public opinion polls (USA / Gallup,  Greenberg Quinlan Rossner, NY Times / CBS) have shown that both the citizens of  Wisconsin and people across the country support Labor's right to collectively bargain, by a margin of at least 27%, averaging 60% in support versus 33% in opposition.

At the same time, the Wisconsin Catholic bishops and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) have also weighed in. The Wisconsin Catholic Conference has issued a statement that supports labor's right to organize, and the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has spoken out in solidarity with the Wisconsin bishops.  In the USCCB Statement, Bishop Stephen Blaire of the Diocese of Stockton CA says, "these are not just political conflicts or economic choices; they are moral choices with enormous consequences. The debates over worker ... collective bargaining are not simply matters of ideology or power, but involve principles of justice, participation and how workers can have a voice in the workplace and economy." 

The turmoil in Wisconsin and other States coincides with the budget battles in Washington DC. House Republicans are in a "fire, ready, aim" mode, seeking draconian federal budget cuts that do nothing to address the nation's long-term budget problem, yet cut programs for the most vulnerable in our society today. Speaker of the House and fellow Catholic, John Boehner, speaks of "moral responsibilities" while proposing budget cuts that would eliminate $7.6 billion in support to women and children (the WIC program), $2.5 billion in home heating oil subsidies for the poor, and $4.1 billion on job training programs, to name just a few. These symbolic cuts - which could be paid for by closing corporate loopholes - are not only an assault on the common good, and presumably the morality that Boehner wants to preserve, but are also bad economic policy. The investment bank of Goldman Sachs and conservative economist Mark Zandi of Moody's, who advised John McCain in his bid for the presidency, have projected these cuts would actually hurt the economy and job creation, let alone the people whom it is supposed to serve.

The Massachusetts Catholic Conference has issued a statement in support of working families and the poor that reflects their concerns for the budget cutting frenzy going on across our nation.  The Massachusetts bishops make a pledge to "do all we can ...to help our neighbor's in need." They plead for elected officials, such as John Boehner and all citizens to preserve "for the sake of human dignity, a special place for the vulnerable ...for whom the destination of every dollar is now so consequential."

The union-breaking legislation and the federal budget cuts House Republicans are demanding place an unacceptable and unnecessary burden on working families and the poor. Helping put this in its proper perspective, Newt Gingrich - likely presidential candidate and recent convert to Catholicism who proposed Republicans use the slogan "Jobs not Food Stamps" in the 2010 midterm congressional campaign - has coined the term "replacement conservatism" to describe this multi-front Republican assault on the common good, or as he sees it, on liberalism.

Walker's "moment" in history, Boehner's judgment on "moral responsibility," and Gingrich's "replacement conservatism" represent the strategic zeal brought to a political war being waged by ideologically conservative free marketers. Their goal - under the guise of liberty - is to roll back the social justice progress that defines our nation's growth over the past century. If successful, they would reshape our country and economy to put corporate interests and those of the wealthy first, rather than to serve the needs of people. They do so unapologetically at a point in time when we are facing record poverty and a concentration of wealth that has never been greater. 

If ever there was a time for patriotic social justice Catholics to fight for what we believe in, this is that time. So, we must mobilize our collective efforts like never before and embark on a crusade for the common good. 

What you can do:

1.     If you have a governor or legislature threatening to limit the rights of labor to bargain collectively, call or e-mail them to let them know you support the collective bargaining rights of public employees. Please keep us apprised of your efforts and of what is going on in your state.

2.     Contact your bishop and tell them that you support the Wisconsin Catholic Conference's and the USCCB's statements in support of the public employee's labor unions. Their influence is important in the public square. Ask them to consider doing the same if your state is facing a labor busting bill and to also consider issuing a statement similar to the one issued by the Massachusetts bishops in support of the poor. Please advise us if you learn that your bishops have issued the statement that we are urging them to make.

Thank you for your continued support. Let us all keep one another in our prayers this Lenten Season, particularly our elected officials and those most in need, as we work in pursuit of a more just society.

With warm regards,

Patrick Whelan MD PhD

Suzanne Morse

Lisa Schare 

Steve Krueger

 The image today is Pope Leo XIII whose encyclical letter Rerum Novarum--issued 110 years ago still has much to say for our Catholic values today