Isaiah 40:4 ó "I have a dream that every valley shall be ...

FWIW:

Both Carey and King quoted extensively from the Bible. And according to his niece, Alveda King, MLK Jr. was a Republican.
Pictures can be damning things, but do not necessarily convey the truth.

Rev, I really don't know that Dr. King had perfected his political views so that one could peg him by our definitions.

I also found it difficult to believe that Roselyn Carter was a child murderer but here's the proof!

Quote: dancer wrote in post #61

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Isaiah 40:4 ó "I have a dream that every valley shall be ...

FWIW:

Both Carey and King quoted extensively from the Bible. And according to his niece, Alveda King, MLK Jr. was a Republican.
Pictures can be damning things, but do not necessarily convey the truth.

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Quote: ThirstyMan wrote in post #54

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You may have noticed my posting absence for the past several weeks. Some have contacted me on PM to make sure I was alright, to inquire if something was wrong. I'm fine. To put it bluntly, I got plain disgusted with the posting on this specific thread and I decided to withdraw until I could identify what was bothering me and formulate a reply.

My general observation is that people will believe what they're inclined to believe. I don't entertain any delusions that I will re-make deeply formed opinions with a posting here, but the *complete* slander of MLK on this thread is based on selective research and perhaps worse.

1. First I researched the Highland Folk School. So it's a "Communist Training School"? according to that flyer posted by freeperjohn. The flyer shows MLK sitting with known communists. A 1940 FBI investigation of the HFS came up empty. The accusatory letters sent to the FBI by concerned citizens are part of the on line record. They're humorous and remind me of Gladys Kravitz reporting her gossip. The picture in the flyer is real but the context is not. The school was teaching nonviolent activism, social resistance and union activism. Those teachings may scare conservatives but these are not communist doctrines. Would a communist be attracted to such? Evidently they were. Does that make MLK a communist? There's more....

2. I then googled MLK and Communism. Evidently an email has been circulating since 2003 with much of the MLK "dirt" presented by freeperjohn here.
Snopes popped up first. Have a look at it. http://www.snopes.com/history/american/mlking.asp Snopes deals with the FBI investigation and their planting of stories in newspapers to intimidate MLK. Statements are here about the former communists who affiliated with MLK and their repudiation of communism.

Some of the crap on MLK is true, but some isn't. Snopes presents context and balances the accusations with the findings. The idea that King scooped his "I Have a Dream" speech from Archibald Carey is dealt with and found "overblown". At the end is a piece by Ralph Abernathy who shares quite honestly about the accusations that King had a woman problem. It's true, King had a woman problem, but no violence.

3. Wiki deals with MLK's life: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.
It is a fair treatment of the man, sharing his strengths and exposing his weaknesses in a balanced manner.

4. What inclined me to withdraw from posting here was how hating MLK seemed to be an approved sport here. The conviction that MLK was a national disgrace and nothing more, still concerns me deeply.

5. There isn't a name for it yet, not that I know of, but there really should be. What happened to MLK on this thread, happened to Thomas Jefferson with his slave owning and Sally Hemings. It's the trashing of the Constitution because did you know, it was only signed by white men? Our style today seems comfortable to trash who/what we disagree with and subsequently dismiss all merit; lock, stock, and barrel.

I'll call it trash-tory

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Quote: ThirstyMan wrote in post #60

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Quote: FP123 wrote in post #58

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Snopes and wikipedia are not viewed as source of "truth" on almost anything of any substance. Sorry to disappoint anyone hoping that they are. Snopes is an unapologetic leftist sham operation that builds it "credibility" by debunking foolish urban legends and other pop culture style tripe. And of course, everyone knows that anyone can post anything they want in wikipedia. Again, it gains "credibility" by having some solid content on less (or non-) controversial topics, but as far as topics of substance, the best that anyone can say is caveat emptor!

There are scores and scores of articles in the conservative media about the credibility problems with both snopes and wikipedia, it is a good idea to check them out before attempting to build a case using them as source material. JMO.

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Credibility?

What I'd like to know is who wrote the flyer in post #1? Can you read the fine print?

I suspect it was printed by the John Birch Society. They opposed the 1960s civil rights movement and claimed the movement had communists in important positions.

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Quote: ThirstyMan wrote in post #60

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Quote: FP123 wrote in post #58

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Snopes and wikipedia are not viewed as source of "truth" on almost anything of any substance. Sorry to disappoint anyone hoping that they are. Snopes is an unapologetic leftist sham operation that builds it "credibility" by debunking foolish urban legends and other pop culture style tripe. And of course, everyone knows that anyone can post anything they want in wikipedia. Again, it gains "credibility" by having some solid content on less (or non-) controversial topics, but as far as topics of substance, the best that anyone can say is caveat emptor!

There are scores and scores of articles in the conservative media about the credibility problems with both snopes and wikipedia, it is a good idea to check them out before attempting to build a case using them as source material. JMO.

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Credibility?

What I'd like to know is who wrote the flyer in post #1? Can you read the fine print?

I suspect it was printed by the John Birch Society. They opposed the 1960s civil rights movement and claimed the movement had communists in important positions.

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Zitat

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I don't like the government regulating the behaviors of private citizens and privately owned entities so I have never been a fan of the legislation that his movement pressured.

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The civil rights legislation was an unconstitutional sham, the federal government has no place in regulating the behaviors of private citizens and privately owned entities in this manner. Deal with it, or not.

(It may come as a shock to you but to some people, the John Birch Society has a great deal more credibility than leftist propaganda arms like snopes and wikipedia. History has borne that out. And sometimes we find that heroes turn out to have clay feet, sorry.)

You want to know why the conservatives are losing big time? The above post is a great example.

Quote: steph wrote in post #67

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You want to know why the conservatives are losing big time? The above post is a great example.

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Quote: Justme wrote in post #70

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The parties fighting over King is like the last steak at a fish fry. Bragging rights over who he might have been are way over played.

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Quote: ThirstyMan wrote in post #54

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You may have noticed my posting absence for the past several weeks. Some have contacted me on PM to make sure I was alright, to inquire if something was wrong. I'm fine.

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The thing that I find perplexing are the instances where King is misquoted.

When Obama had new carpet installed the words woven into the rug and attributed to King were not accurate. The White House said they would fix the error. This carpet was installed in the People's House and the mistake was a reflection on all of us.

Our National Memorial has King's words inscribed into it. It is a disgrace that he was misquoted, there.

People shrug this off and say, "Mistakes happen."

I think it shows how far we have fallen as a people. If we cannot truthfully portray the facts about a man so important in our nation's history, shame on us all.

Quote: Rev wrote in post #73

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Quote: ThirstyMan wrote in post #54

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You may have noticed my posting absence for the past several weeks. Some have contacted me on PM to make sure I was alright, to inquire if something was wrong. I'm fine.

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I think I can speak for everyone here on this point...

We're glad you're back!

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