Letters

Dear Editor

King’s example: Keeping freedom alive

As we celebrate the accomplishments and legacy of the Rev. Martin
Luther King Jr., let’s remember in whose footsteps he stood. He preached
nonviolence in the church, in the streets, and beyond. He committed his
life to changing an Old World Order into a New World Order. Moreover,
because of his efforts, he redefined the meaning of Truth, Love,
Freedom, Justice, Liberation and the methods we used to achieve them.

Dr. King saw the war in Vietnam as a cruel, unjust and costly
war—fueled by the arrogance of leaders who used our tax dollars to kill innocent
peasants in Southeast Asia. He stood in defiance of his government
because he stood on principles and chose the morale high ground as Jesus
stood before King Herod and Pilate.

Dr. King refused to bend his knees and buckle from criticism. In
addition, history records him as being one of America’s finest patriots
because he showed us a true picture of ourselves as a nation. His
nonviolent methods align him with the Messiah Jesus (Matt 2:2): “the government
was upon his shoulders,” and as they conspired to silence Jesus, J.
Edgar Hoover of the FBI sought to silence Dr. King, for no other reason
than that he followed the principles of Jesus.

Therefore, today Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus and others cannot
hide behind their denominations and keep silent concerning war with Iraq.
We must follow the martyrs who dressed themselves in the robe of one
blood, one love and one humanity.

So just attending a ceremony in memory of Dr. King—but failing to stand
up for what he gave his life for on a daily bases—is to make mockery of
both Dr. King and Jesus. America must unite by blood, love, kinship,
and citizenship in order to keep the fight for freedom alive in America
and beyond.

George B. Rhynes, Valdosta, Georgia

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Dear Editor

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., was a great humanitarian, and winner of
the Noble Peace Prize. He gave the world a universal message of love.
His message went beyond the Halls of Congress, Christianity, Judaism,
Islam, the Commander-in-Chief of the United States, and is applicable to
the war on terror of today:

“We’re not going to win this battle of hate and terror by hating other
folks. Hate doesn’t help the hater, and it doesn’t help the person who
hates. There is something about hate that hurts the hater. Somebody
must have the power to transform through love. You just hate somebody
and you are as uncomfortable and as frustrated as the person you are
hating.

There is something about hate that keeps you from walking straight,
something about hate that keeps you from standing up straight.

And when you hate you can’t see straight. When you hate, you lose your
power of objectivity. When you hate somebody, you can’t see them.
When you hate strong enough, the ugly becomes beautiful and the beautiful
becomes ugly. A good speech becomes a bad speech, and a bad speech
becomes a good speech. When you hate strong enough, hair pins begin to
sell for $1,000 and diamond rings for five cents, because that’s a wrong
price tag on things. Something about hate, that does something to the
hater and so our way must be a way of love.”

Hate is a weapon of mass destruction---so don’t participate in it, and
it will destroy itself. [GBR]


George B. Rhynes, Valdosta Georgia

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Dear Editor,

There should be no arguments as to where the Ten Commandments should be
displayed. However, there is a strange dilemma sweeping the landscape
across America. Today it seems that Gold, Oil, and Diamonds (GOD) have
become America’s deity.

Too many Americans in my opinion look to these resources to get them
out of their modern day Egypt. We kill our foreign neighbors because
they want to be free and respected, as we ourselves want to be
respected.

Our foreign neighbors whant to control their own natural resources,
diamond, gold, uranium, pearls etc., as America used her
natural resources in the past.

We not only cover our neighbors wife, but we are covering our sons and
daughters because of an unjustified war with Iraq. In addition, words
engraved on stone should be left along, but their principles should be
stamped in the human heart.

If America is to survive, she must look into the mirror at herself.
She terrorized Blacks, in the land of the free, and the home of the
brave. They could not own land, a business, assemble in groups of more
than five, forced to obey dictators, called three fifths of a human
being, worked without being paid by-law, and never received an
apology.

For over 250 years, they were not allowed to be educated equally. In
1857, the
Supreme Court said that no black person had rights that a white man had
to respect. Therefore, Black African Americans were terrorized for
centuries in America. Where were the Ten Commandments, and the
Christian Institutions? Peace, and God bless everybody!