8/13/2019 MLK DAY 2013 - Gelding a Prophet

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 January 21, 2013

The MLK National Day of Service— Or, The Gelding of a Prophet...

An address by the Rev. Mr. Jeffrey S. Nelson Teaching Elder, emeritus for the

Unitarian Universalist Congregation of First Church Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts, est. 1630

Honestly…Whose idea was it to turn Martin Luther King Day into a NationalDay of Service? And why do we go along with it? What does it mean? And is itREALLY a good thing?

To begin exploring these questions, let’s look at the ―pros‖… Martin LutherKing Day is a Federal holiday and designated by Congress as a ―National Day ofService‖…  What is the official explanation for that designation and why mighthe be appropriately associated with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.? Theobvious answer, which seems to roll off everyone’s tongue, is something down

the line of a reference to ―the great service that MLK did for our country‖ and―what better way to honor him than to follow in his footsteps and serve aswell?‖

Yes, MLK was a ―servant‖ in the best sense…arguably a ―Suffering Servant‖, onewho was martyred on account of our failings as a society…  One could easilyappropriate the lines from the Hebrew prophets (verses that are traditionallyassociated with Jesus of Nazereth…) and argue that ―by his—i.e. Martin’s—stripes, we are healed…‖  And if couched and qualified in just the right way, onecan minimize cries of ―Blasphemy!!‖ when one does this… Just goes to showhow far the beatification and canonizing process of King has gone.

Indeed, I am aware of all of the good reasons why Martin Luther King Daycould and should be a National Day of Service. If celebrated rightly and withservice to others that is engaged in good faith and with a will, such that ittransforms our lives for the rest of the year, then that’s all to the good of ourGreater Good, our Commonweal-and-wealth…  But human nature being themixture of good and bad that it is, I don't trust that all is sweetness-and-lightwith this national transformation of the King holiday. Knowing how folks cantwist good things to their own nefarious ends, let us turn from this positivepromotion and generous interpretation of the appropriateness MLK Day as a

Day of Service and consider with critical skepticism and suspicion the negative―con‖ side of this question.

First I must ask if we are so deaf and blind to irony that we cannot see or hear thefact that designating MLK Day simply as a ―National Day of Service‖ is just afew steps away from calling it a ―National Day of Slavery‖?! Stop and thinkabout it for a moment…  What is one who serves? A ―servant‖…  In humansociety, what are the two types of servants and servitude? Voluntary and

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Involuntary…  And where does our Constitution deal with ―involuntaryservitude‖ but in the 13th Amendment where it is abolished in conjunction withslavery, except for duly convicted criminals. So it is the ―voluntary‖ nature ofthe servitude alone that is thing separating the National Day of Service from aNational Day of Slavery.

Then ask yourselves where Volunteers are in the hierarchy of society andorganization? Do ―volunteers‖ head up and run businesses andgovernment? Only if they are rich enough to have the luxury of doing so…  No,volunteers are at the base of organizational charts…and if it is up to managers,they will creep up and up until the paid worker is displaced…  I know this as Iworked as a unionized member of an organization that kept trying to expand therole of volunteers even beyond the actual usage (a fact embarassingly brought totheir attention in contract negotiations one year…) Until long-time paidprofessional positions were eliminated and whole units/departments run by a

manager with a staff of volunteers.Finally, ask any young person if they can now find a job that leads to a careerwithout ―volunteering‖…  It’s getting to the point where ―volunteering‖ ismandatory for graduation from college and even high school! If that isn’t aneffective elimination of the voluntary aspect of servitude, I’ll…I’ll…I don’t knowwhat...Eat my hat?

* * *

Did you know that the highest National award for Volunteerism here in theUSofA is the ―MLK Drum Majors for Service‖ ?  You can find out about it on the

Federal MLK Day website…  The name of the award is inspired by a famoussermon by the Rev. Dr. MLK…  Here’s the pertinent passage (taken directly fromthe mlkday.gov website no less…)

―Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice; say that I was a drum major for peace; I was a drum major forrighteousness… We all have the drum major instinct.‖ 

— Excerpt from The Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "Drum Major Instinct"

sermon, given on February 4, 1968. 

In the sermon, King does, indeed, speak of service…and he does speak of hisdesire to serve humanity…  But that is done only in the context of brighter,higher – and more important goals!

I ask you, did Dr. King identify himself as a ―Drum Major for Service‖?  No, no,no…  It was NOT service that he was calling for, but rather Justice, Peace and

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Righteousness!!! Honestly…  Can’t you see it?  The insidious co-opting ofMLK… The ―pasteurizing‖… The "emasculation"... The ―white-washing‖… Thenicey-nice prettifying of a dangerous radical Prophet of Justice...into a Drum-major of Service! I urge you to look into this co-option of MLK for the elites ofthe hierarchy’s purposes…  See who supported this co-option and look with

suspicion on the reasons why they might be focusing on ―service‖ rather than Justice…Peace…and Righteousness… 

LINKS: http://mlkday.gov/awards/index.php http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/kingpapers/article/the_drum_major_instinct/ http://www.biblestudytools.com/nlt/isaiah/passage.aspx?q=isaiah+1:11-14