How we cite our quotes: (Paragraph)
Quote #1
Just as the prophets of the eighth century B.C. left their villages and carried their "thus saith the Lord" far beyond the boundaries of their home towns, and just as the Apostle Paul left his village of Tarsus and carried the gospel of Jesus Christ to the far corners of the Greco Roman world, so am I compelled to carry the gospel of freedom beyond my own home town. Like Paul, I must constantly respond to the Macedonian call for aid. (3)
Right away, Dr. King knocks away one of the main criticisms the eight clergymen made, which was that he and the SCLC were "outsiders" who didn't have a place in the Birmingham conflict. He's using his critics' own beliefs to make his argument against theirs.
Quote #2
Hence segregation is not only politically, economically and sociologically unsound, it is morally wrong and sinful. Paul Tillich has said that sin is separation. Is not segregation an existential expression of man's tragic separation, his awful estrangement, his terrible sinfulness? Thus it is that I can urge men to obey the 1954 decision of the Supreme Court, for it is morally right; and I can urge them to disobey segregation ordinances, for they are morally wrong. (13)
Next up is the argument that protestors should be following the laws. Nope, Dr. King says, because segregation and its supporting laws and ordinances are immoral and sinful. What else you got, eight clergymen?
Quote #3
Of course, there is nothing new about this kind of civil disobedience. It was evidenced sublimely in the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar, on the ground that a higher moral law was at stake. It was practiced superbly by the early Christians, who were willing to face hungry lions and the excruciating pain of chopping blocks rather than submit to certain unjust laws of the Roman Empire. (17)
Refusing to obey unjust laws is an ancient tradition in Judaism and Christianity. Being persecuted also happens to be an ancient tradition, so Dr. King rightly felt he had thousands of years of moral precedent standing behind him. He cited examples he knew his critics couldn't dismiss.
Quote #4
So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice? In that dramatic scene on Calvary's hill three men were crucified. We must never forget that all three were crucified for the same crime--the crime of extremism. Two were extremists for immorality, and thus fell below their environment. The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment. Perhaps the South, the nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists. (24)
Dr. King loved turning his critics' arguments against them, especially when he could use Christian teachings and history. Calling attention to Jesus' extremism in favor of love and compassion basically renders the idea that Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement were radical and extreme completely useless. "Yes, we're extremists. Now, what was your point?"
Quote #5
But the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social club with no meaning for the twentieth century. Every day I meet young people whose disappointment with the church has turned into outright disgust. (33)
Dr. King had a lot of choice words for the Church as a whole. But they were words intended to call the Church back to its roots, to strengthen it, and to help it survive and remain relevant in an increasingly secular age.