My study of Gandhi convinced me that true pacifism is not nonresistance to evil, but nonviolent resistance to evil. Between the two positions, there is a world of difference. Gandhi resisted evil with as much vigor and power as the violent resister, but True pacifism is not unrealistic submission to evil power. It is rather a courageous confrontation of evil by the power of love. . . .
Martin Luther King, Jr.My parents would always tell me that I should not hate the white man, but that it was my duty as a Christian to love him.
Martin Luther King, Jr.Another reason why we must love our enemies is that hate scars the soul and distorts the personality.
Martin Luther King, Jr.The conservatives who say, "Let us not move so fast," and the extremists who say, "Let us go out and whip the world ," would tell you that they are as far apart as the poles. But there is a striking parallel: They accomplish nothing; for they do not reach the people who have a crying need to be free.
Martin Luther King, Jr.So when Jesus says "Love your enemies," he is setting forth a profound and ultimately inescapable admonition.
Martin Luther King, Jr.We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was โlegalโ and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was โillegal.โ It was โillegalโ to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitlerโs Germany. Even so, I am sure that, had I lived in Germany at the time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers. If todayI lived in a Communist country where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I would openly advocate disobeying that country's antireligious laws.
Martin Luther King, Jr.