Happy Birthday Dr. Martin Luther King

If anything, Dr. Martin Luther King proved the power of a single Christian minister to question sin and made America feel guilty for this sin and made America repent for it. His death acted as a form of martyrship for a minister of the Gospel, much like many other martyrs were put to death for offering an pleasant but honest atttack on sin.

God created all men as equals in his eyes. But American society certainly did not. Blacks faced poverty and discrimination as well as a humiliating lifestyle of second-class status. In the American South it was even worse with terrible racist segregation laws. But the sacrifice of Dr. King has even opened way to a modern society where someone with the skills and talents of a Barack Obama, Colin Powell, Dr. Condoleezaa Rice, Rev. Jesse Jackson, Oprah Winfrey, Tyra Banks, Edward Brooks, or any other Black American with great skills can be thought of as a great American, not just a great Black American. Without a free society based on the content of character, rather than skin color, our nation would have been robbed of these great personalities. Two of the best doctors I've personally had are Black Americans. I would hate to think about how much worse off I would have been without their lifesaving talents and skills. Black medical staff have saved hundreds of thousands of lives each year. Dr. Ben Carson, is the world's greatest doctor at seperating siamese twins. He studies 3D computer images for hours and has a great success rate at offering a more normal life to those impacted with this terible birth defect. Some of these surgeries involve nearly a whole day of work and stress. The inventor of plasma was a Black medical researcher. Great mathematicians and rocket scientists are Black Americans.

Certainly there is a long way to go. Martel Webster, a member of the Portland Trailblazers reminds Americans that great problems with hunger and poverty remain. Not every Black shares in this fame and wealth. Black unemployment still lags behind Whites at 9.3% nationally with less White unemployment at 4.3%. But there is a trend of steady progress in many areas to achieve a better equality of the races both socially and economically.

Without the sacrifice of Dr. Martin Luther King would this level of progress have been achieved? Absolutely not. The power of a charismatic Christian leader to use the nation as his own congregation, and to preach against the sins of racism and inquity shamed the nation into enough repentence to move American society this far. In Britain a little five foot tall minister of the Gospel, Rev. Wilbur Wilberforce, with a stooped spine and sickly appearance was able to bring down slavery in Britain, shaming that nation for it's sins. Dr. Martin Luther King did the same here. And America is better off for it. In Liberia, a nation founded by former American slaves, a woman became the first democratically elected leader in Africa. But Americans do not have to leave America for opportunity any longer. With hard work, many Blacks can still be judged by the content of their skills, abilities and character, not their skin color.

America is better off because of Dr. Martin Luther King. America is richer in talents and skills because of Dr. King. Happy birthday Dr. King. Well done, faithful servant of the Gospel.