In Honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day

[+ SimplyAdam]

Gentlemen -

 

I was reading the late Alan Watts today and - politics, religion, and overall position-taking aside (which I hope qualifies this post for this thread, as the theme of interconnectedness surpasses delineations) - the following passage really struck me:

 

"No one can be moral – that is, no one can harmonize contained conflicts – without coming to a working arrangement between the angel in himself and the devil in himself, between his rose above and his manure below. The two forces or tendencies are mutually interdependent, and the game is a working game just so long as the angel is winning, but does not win, and the devil is losing, but is never lost. (The game doesn’t work in reverse, just as the ocean doesn’t work with wave-crests down and troughs up.)

 

It is most important that this be understood by those concerned with civil rights, international peace, and the restraint of nuclear weapons. These are most undoubtedly causes to be backed with full vigor, but never in a spirit which fails to honor the opposition, or which regards it as entirely evil or insane. It is not without reason that the formal rules of boxing, judo, fencing and even dueling require that the combatants salute each other before the engagement. In any foreseeable future there are going to be thousands and thousands of people who detest and abominate Negroes, communists, Russians, Chinese, Jews, Catholics, beatniks, homosexuals, and 'dope fiends.' These hatreds are not going to be healed, but only inflamed, by insulting those who feel them, and the abusive labels with which we plaster them – squares, fascists, rightists, know-nothings – may well become the proud badges and symbols around which they will rally and consolidate themselves.

 

…If we want justice for minorities and cooled wars with our natural enemies, whether human or nonhuman, we must first come to terms with the minority and the enemy in ourselves and in our own hearts, for the rascal is there as much as anywhere in the 'external' world – especially when you realize the world outside your skin is as much yourself as the world inside."

 

It's been surreal moving back to the States after years of travel - often having been so culturally outside of what I'd known prior. As much as I was seeking variation and "difference," it became abundantly clear how alike we all are. Similarly, coming back, it's been incredible to experience the extraordinary in the everyday. When I stop thinking of myself as a contained ego in a "bag of skin" (as Alan would put it), I feel light and surrendered and a "part of." It's wonderful to marinate in that sensation this MLK, Jr. Day. To stop fighting for - or against - for a moment, and just accept what is within.

 

I like to think we're all on here, ultimately, because we want to feel a "part of," and accept ourselves - the angel as well as the devil within - without feeling so isolated in an increasingly disconnected world.

 

A big hug from the Big Apple...

[armadillo]

And 9 (still) sitting members of Congress voted down MLK Jr. Day. Imagine what party they are from?

 

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/01/9-sitting-members-of-congress-who-voted-against-martin-luther-king-jr-day/

[+ quoththeraven]

From Ken Rudin's twitter (link here):

 

Here's something to ponder: The Gallup Poll in 1966, on how Americans viewed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. -- 32% positive, 63% negative.

[armadillo]

http://i.huffpost.com/gen/2502756/original.jpg

 

poign·ant

[instudiocity]

And 9 (still) sitting members of Congress voted down MLK Jr. Day. Imagine what party they are from?

 

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2015/01/9-sitting-members-of-congress-who-voted-against-martin-luther-king-jr-day/

Interesting factoid.

 

Also, interesting are these facts:Republicans voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in greater percentages than the Democrats. If the Republicans hadn't voted for these bills, they would not have passed.

[+ Charlie]

Interesting factoid.

 

Also, interesting are these facts:Republicans voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in greater percentages than the Democrats. If the Republicans hadn't voted for these bills, they would not have passed.

The Republican and Democratic parties were very different animals fifty years ago, in some ways mirror images of the parties today. Almost all members of Congress from the South were Democrats who supported segregation, whereas many Republicans were moderates from the north who would be considered radical liberals if they tried to win a Republican primary nowadays. It was Goldwater and Nixon's "southern strategy" which turned the Republican party around in the south.