WWMT?

What would Martin think? I pondered that yesterday on MLK Day. It started when I read online that some doofus said that King would support the war in Afghanistan if he were alive today. My first reaction was nothing short of incredulity. Has this guy ever heard anything about King? Does he even know anything about Gandhi from whom King got his basic understanding of non-violence? Such an awareness would never allow for any moment of belief that Martin would support war as a means of solving problems.

Then my wife and I were watching the news and we began to think what King would think about some of the issues we see and discuss today. Gay rights and gay marriage, for example.

That, of course, is an impossible question to answer. King died 43 years ago. A great deal has changed in the world in 43 years. If you were not around in 1968 it would be hard to understand how much the world has changed. It even seems like ancient history to me- and I was there. Only if one lives through the changes can one change and grow. In 1968, for example, gay rights wasn't even in existence. The Stonewall "Riot" that started the gay movement was over a year in the future when King was killed.

And that's just one issue.

I would like to think that Dr. King would have grown and moved along with the society. I would like to think that he would have seen the importance of applying the non-violent principles and freedoms to the many areas of our lives as a nation. I find it hard to believe he would have become a neo-conservative or non-pacifist.

But we will never know. What we do know is that Dr. King challenged us all to serve and care and reach out to others. He called us to be the America we were founded to be.

And that doesn't change.