What does religious faith look like, what should it look like? Religion is not merely a private matter, but it has public expressions and actions. For some, their religious faith motivates and shapes their political activism. Martin Luther King, Jr. has suggested that Justice is what Love looks like in public, and that Justice without Love may “run out of gas.” Today we’ll consider Martin Luther King Jr.’s understanding of what a complete life requires – this involves three (divine) commands: to love oneself, to love one’s neighbors, and to love God. We’ll discuss King’s understanding of these loves and how they related to non-violent protests against injustices. We’ll also consider how this ethic of Divine Commands to Love is a rival to other normative Ethical Theories that we discussed earlier in the semester. By the end of class, you will:
1. Be able to explain how religious mysticism can contribute to public struggles for a more just society.
2. Be able to compare Jesus’s ethic of Love with other ethical theories.
3. Begin to assess the plausibility of this ethic of Love as presented by Howard Thurman.
READ THIS:
Philosophical Text: Martin Luther King, Jr. The Strength to Love [Moodle]
Consider the following questions, write your responses in your journal, and talk about them with a friend:
1. What are some public expressions of religious faith? How have these helped or impeded human beings from their flourishing?
2. How might Thurman’s interpretation of Jesus be different from what you know about what other Christians have said about Jesus’s ethic of Love? Why do you think Thurman’s interpretation of Jesus shook people so that they became more alive to the demands of love?
3. Describe how contemplative prayer (or meditation) might be a motivation for social or political action? How might wonder fit in?