Quote of the Week...from Martin Luther King, Jr.

Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
                                                                        ---Martin Luther King, Jr.

The day before yesterday was the fiftieth anniversary of a terrible tragedy: the assassination of American civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.  While he was alive Dr. King was continually in the midst of issues such as desegregating the South, opposing the Vietnam War, and standing up for workers' rights. While he was speaking on behalf of striking sanitation workers in Memphis, Tennessee early that Thursday evening, he was shot to death...I was an eleven-year kid sitting around in the living room with my family watching Bewitched on TV when the news broke in.  While King was deemed a controversial figure by many during his life, after death his legacy has only strengthened over the years...he wrote and said many, many wise things, and the above quote applies especially in todays' world...

Few things rub me the wrong way than people who only want their own limited worldview validated to them, avoid any challenges to it, and scorn the challengers...I see this repeatedly happening on television news channels as well as on the floor of the U.S. Senate.  On issue after issue I see advocates for both sides talking past each other and deliberately ignoring the opposing points of view...they seem to be promoting the notion that sincere ignorance of the big picture is a virtue that prevents confusion on the part of the adherent.  After all, it's harder to bring in monetary contributions, mobilize voting drives and organize protest demonstrations if you're open to the other guy's take on things...better to just "stick to your guns" and be immovable, right?   To me...and most probably Martin Luther King, Jr., had he still been around (at age 89) to witness the sorry state of today's political climate...that's pure conscientious stupidity.  And yes, it is dangerous because people are increasingly and intentionally closing themselves off to one another and building their own walls dividing our society into opposing camps, with each side increasingly viewing the other as enemies. I find this pretty interesting considering how the Internet has made instant, far-reaching communication available for nearly all of us...it's as if there is some kind of negative reaction to this going on that promotes ignorance and stupidity as tools to keep a sense of identity intact...maybe Dr. King couldn't have known this would have happened, who could back in the sixties...