Guns, hate: We know what MLK would think

In the United States we celebrated the birthday of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King

Jr. on Jan. 15. Many of his famous words were quoted passionately at ceremonies throughout the country. His words that I have chosen to emphasize are those spoken at Riverside Church in New York on April 4, 1967, in an address labeled “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence.” I urge everybody who endorses the philosophy of non-violence of Dr. King to read and absorb his message.

“I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of weapons in the world today, my own government,” he said. Dr. King also said, “A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.”

In what direction has the government gone since that statement was made? The United States supplies weapons to numerous countries around the world, many for profit, many paid for by taxpayers. How do we put a stop to the fueling of conflicts that cause death and destruction? To echo the words of Dr. King spoken in 1967, “Every man of humane convictions must decide on the protest that best suits his convictions, but we all must protest.”

Henry David Thoreau made a protest in 1846 by refusing to pay the poll tax. He refused to pay the tax because of its association with the institution of slavery. Is non-payment of taxes a path of civil disobedience to consider when these taxes support the weapons industry at a dreadful cost to life and property? Pope Francis said on Jan. 14 that modern warfare is “a crime against humanity.” I think that Rev. Dr. King would agree with him.

Dolores Libow, West Haven