As we approach the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday increasingly more Americans are becoming alert to, and recognizing, that there is a very real and ongoing psychological operation directed at brainwashing them into accepting the normalization and legitimacy of divisive and demoralizing ideologies.
A belief system comprising the "Woke" consciousness and its companion movement.
"Woke" is the progeny of Black Lives Matter (BLM), an organization founded by Patrisse Cullors and Alicia Garza.
Both women openly admit to being Marxist organizers.
For those equating wokeness with progress, here's a gnawing question: What good ever came out of Marxism?
While some newcomers to the philosophy might idealistically presuppose their cause is about a socialist utopia, the outcomes of socialism in practice in diverse nations have almost all ended in poverty and misery.
In contrast, Dr. King was all about constructive action directed at racial and social healing — through truth, love, and non-violent debate and protest.
King recognized that the self-evident truth in the Declaration of Independence "that all men are created equal . . . with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness," wasn’t realized in 1776, nor when the U.S. Constitution was ratified some 14 years later. Nor was Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address proposition "that all men are created equal" fulfilled through the Civil War’s Emancipation Proclamation of 1863.
King would be jailed some 29 times trying to fulfill such ideals.
In King’s most famous "I Have a Dream" speech, delivered from Washington, D.C.'s Lincoln Memorial (Aug. 28, 1963), it was as if the Almighty was calling America to rise up and fulfill its spiritual destiny.
To the self-evident truth of all people having equal value, King added an equally timeless truth, that people "should not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
Were it possible to transport King into the present, he would be shocked by the stark regression in America in the nearly three generations since he led the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s.
He would reject the eclipse of group, gender and ethnic identity evaluation paradigm over the individual merit and character-based approach for assessment, acceptance and advancement — whether in school admission or hiring and promotion in workplaces
King would condemn Wokeism and Critical Race Theory (CRT) because they perpetuate negative racial stereotypes, albeit in a reversal, that denigrate the white race.
He would also find them fundamentally flawed because they exacerbate division rather than bring people together through constructive dialogue and concurrently seeing all people as individuals made in God’s image.
Dr. King also possessed a deep mind of discernment focusing on timeless truths, many of which speak to us today, such as Paul’s letter to the Romans, "Do not conform to the pattern of the world, but be transformed in the renewing of your mind."
King drew on Thomas Jefferson’s declaration, "I have sworn upon the alter of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man."
King once warned in a sermon (as early as 1954), also recorded in his book, "Strength to Love," that, "If Americans permit thought-control, business-control and freedom-control to continue, we shall surely move within the shadows of fascism."
Nearly 70 years later, we have moved way beyond shadows and now live in a matrix of fascism and communism effectively operating at various levels within the U.S. under the camouflage and misnomer of being Woke.
There have been few American leaders as strong and clearheaded about the dangers of groupthink as King.
He reminds us of Ralph Waldo Emerson’s words, "Whoso would be a man must be a non-conformist."
Drawing on Apostle Paul’s teachings, King implored, "Any Christian who blindly accepts the opinions of the majority and in fear and timidity follows a path of expediency and social approval is a mental and spiritual slave."
King also commended those who went against the crowd, pointing out that, "The trailblazers in human, academic, scientific, and religious freedom have always been nonconformists . . . [so] in any cause that concerns the progress of mankind, put your faith in the nonconformist!"
King’s lesser-known speeches and sermons also provide prescient insight on the times in which we live. On numerous occasions, he quoted scripture about the need to be "wise as serpents, and harmless as doves," arguing that people need to have a tough mind and a tender heart.
He expressed concern that the "prevalent tendency toward softmindedness is found in man’s unbelievable gullibility."
King further observed, "Few people have the toughness of mind to judge critically and to discern the truth from the false, the fact from the fiction . . ."
King was critical of the media, noting "One of the great needs of mankind is to be lifted above the morass of false propaganda."
He concluded this theme, with the warning that "a nation or a civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on the installment plan."
Such counsel is even more pressing and pertinent today than 60 years ago.
Clearly there is much to learn from and reflect on in the life of Martin Luther King.
What's most significant and formidable about the man was the unique, vital, and powerful role he played in the unfinished progress of America.
He rose to the challenge of completing the course of redemption in American history.
Nearly 200 years after the vision expressed in the Declaration of Independence, and nearly 100 years after the Civil War and Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation, Martin Luther King fulfilled his redemptive mission
He sacrificed his life to finish the work he described as making people, "Free at last," on April 4, 1968 in Memphis Tennessee.
Scott S. Powell, a member of the Committee on the Present Danger: China and senior fellow at Discovery Institute, is the author of "Rediscovering America," a new release in the history genre. You may reach him at scottp@discovery.org. Read Scott S. Powell's Reports — More Here.
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