The2ndAmendment
Gold Member
Letter from a Birmingham Jail [King, Jr.]
This is line with the Ninth Amendment, which makes it clear that all rights are innate to the individual; which is the foundation of the Enlightenment and John Locke's Popular Sovereignty.
Clearly, MLK does not believe that rights "come from the State."
It appears that MLK doesn't wait for the SCOTUS to tell him what is just and unjust. So how does he define what is just and unjust (notice that he quoted St. Augustine, a religious figure) ?
Religious definition:
Secular translation:
What else does MLK have to say about Authoritarian scum?
So, Trendies/Libbies, Your fantasies about MLK notwithstanding, do you even KNOW who MLK was, what he TRULY stood for?
We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God given rights.
This is line with the Ninth Amendment, which makes it clear that all rights are innate to the individual; which is the foundation of the Enlightenment and John Locke's Popular Sovereignty.
Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself, and that is what has happened to the American Negro. Something within has reminded him of his birthright of freedom, and something without has reminded him that it can be gained.
Clearly, MLK does not believe that rights "come from the State."
You express a great deal of anxiety over our willingness to break laws. This is certainly a legitimate concern. Since we so diligently urge people to obey the Supreme Court's decision of 1954 outlawing segregation in the public schools, at first glance it may seem rather paradoxical for us consciously to break laws. One may well ask: "How can you advocate breaking some laws and obeying others?" The answer lies in the fact that there are two types of laws: just and unjust. I would be the first to advocate obeying just laws. One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that "an unjust law is no law at all."
It appears that MLK doesn't wait for the SCOTUS to tell him what is just and unjust. So how does he define what is just and unjust (notice that he quoted St. Augustine, a religious figure) ?
Religious definition:
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. To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law.
Secular translation:
Let us consider a more concrete example of just and unjust laws. An unjust law is a code that a numerical or power majority group compels a minority group to obey but does not make binding on itself. This is difference made legal. By the same token, a just law is a code that a majority compels a minority to follow and that it is willing to follow itself. This is sameness made legal.
What else does MLK have to say about Authoritarian scum?
We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was "legal" and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was "illegal." It was "illegal" to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler's Germany. Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at the time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers. If today I lived in a Communist country where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I would openly advocate disobeying that country's antireligious laws.
So, Trendies/Libbies, Your fantasies about MLK notwithstanding, do you even KNOW who MLK was, what he TRULY stood for?