Dr. King on the Recent Murder of a Kansas Abortionist

What would Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. have to say about the recent murder of an abortionist in Wichita, Kansas? I think the following two quotes give us a pretty good idea.

“Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again, we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.” -August 28, 1963 in his famous “I Have a Dream” speech

And,

“Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and human dignity.” -in a radio broadcast while in India to visit Ghandi

Abortion is morally indefensible, but so is the murder of abortionists. The recent murder of a Kansas abortionist was both wrong and damaging to the pro-life cause, and should be condemned as such. We cannot fight for the right of the unborn to live one moment, and then take the life of an abortionist the next. The same God who will avenge the blood of every unborn child who is murdered will also avenge the blood of every abortionist who is murdered.

How then shall we fight? Let us fight abortion first by being God-honoring men who know how to take a wife, not in the passion of lust like those who do not know God. Let us be men who reject the lies of the world- that marriage, parenthood, and family are burdensome and curses- and let us hold fast to the truth that these things are among the greatest blessings this world has to offer. Then, let us teach other men to reject these lies and cherish these truths. And finally, let us fight against abortion in both the best and the right way. Let us fight this filthy and false evil with holy and true righteousness. Let our fight, and its fighters, be marked by love and compassion- for both the unborn baby and his or her mother. Let our weapons be words and money and time spent toward the nonviolent abolition of abortion.

Or, as Dr. King might say, “we must conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline,” and, “we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force,” in this case abortion, “with soul force,” by using nonviolent resistance, which is “the most potent weapon available” to us.