Martin Luther King, Jr. - Preacher and Leader.

        Also, Martin Luther believed in being peaceful.  In King’s view, it was better to keep the peace than to stir up more trouble.  Instead of fighting hate with more hate, King believed in retaliating with love.  The method most often used by King was based on the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi.  The Gandhian concept of satyagraha, which means love-force, was exactly what Martin King was looking for.  He then combined the Gandhian method of nonviolence with the Christian concept of “love your enemies” to create the best weapon against his oppressors.  In Loving Your Enemies King pointed out his three ways to love your enemies.  First, one must make a habit of forgiveness.  Forgiveness is the act of reconciliation and becoming friends again.  Second, one must realize that the evil act committed by someone does not define everything about that individual.  Each person has both good and bad qualities.  Third, we must try to become our enemy’s friend.  King believed in agape, the Greek word for unconditional love.  He said these words shortly after his Montgomery home was bombed, which sums up his view on nonviolence, “We must meet violence with nonviolence… Jesus still cries out…’Love your enemies; bless them that curse you; pray for them that despitefully use you.’  This is what we must live by today.”(59)  King displayed his true love for his enemies.  His house had just been bombed by his own hometown neighbors, yet he still had the strength to say that he loved them.  It was situations like this which drove King to participate in civil rights movements; not because of the bombing of his house, but because of his love for Jesus Christ, Martin Luther King, Jr. became a leader in the fight for civil rights.

Martin Luther King, Jr. was a modern day Moses.  He led his people to freedom through faith and God’s help.  As Martin Luther King, Jr. became a preacher of faith and love, he began a path that caused him to lead a nonviolent approach to the civil rights movement.