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Martin Luther King Jr.

 

King was so moved by Thoreau's concept of "non-cooperation with evil" that he read many of Thoreau's essays multiple times (Warren 114). Another person with whom King learns from is Walter Rauschenbusch. King agreed with Rauschenbusch in that ones religion should go beyond the people themselves, but continue to a positive influence on ones society. Rauschenbusch's influence on King lead King to conclude that a religion that does not continue past the individual, is a not a religion at all (Warren 116). King exclaimed: .
             It has been my conviction ever since reading Rauschenbusch that any religion which professes to be concerned about the souls of men and is not concerned with the social and economic conditions that scare the soul is a spiritually moribund religion only waiting for the day to be buried (Warren 117).
             King knew now that his own pulpit would be a stage for equilibrium between the recognizable present and the anticipated future (Warren 117). .
             Another figure King constructed his mental framework around was Mohandas K. Gandhi. After King heard Mordecai Johnson, president of Howard University, give a lecture on Gandhi; King was so inspired and fascinated by his accomplishments that he bought six books regarding the life of Gandhi. Gandhi paved the way for King from three thousand miles away through leading a passive resistance against British Rule (Warren 117). In one of King's later writings of his study of Gandhi, King wrote:.
             As I read his works I became deeply fascinated by his campaigns of nonviolent resistance. The whole Gandhian concept of Satyagraha was profoundly significant to me. As I delved deeper into the philosophy of Gandhi, my skepticism concerning the power of love gradually diminished, and I came to see for the first time that the Christian doctrine of love, operating through the Gandhian method of nonviolence, is one of the most potent weapons available to an oppressed people in their struggle for freedom (Warren 117).


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