Why we love MLK (ending hatred one thinker at a time)

FREEDOM

"Enlightenment is man's emergence from his self-incurred immaturity. Immaturity is the inability to use one's own understanding without the guidance of another. This immaturity is self-incurred if its cause is not lack of understanding, but lack of resolution and courage to use it without the guidance of another. The motto of enlightenment is therefore: Sapere aude! Have courage to use your own understanding!" (Kant)

I remember listening to a talk that President Monson gave at BYU last year. He told us that we needed to become THINKERS. He said there weren't enough thinkers in the world... and I've been thinking about it ever since.

"Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think." (Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.)

Who or what do we allow to do our thinking for us? Our political leaders? The news? Our friends?

"It is impossible for a man to be saved in ignorance." (D&C 131:6)

Was Martin Luther King, Jr. perfect? No. But what made him stand out? He was a thinker. He thought about the world around him. He thought about the injustice he saw. He thought about it until he realized nothing would change unless people would act.

"Be the change you want to see in the world." (Mahatma Gandhi)

There is a lot of good in the world. There is a lot of hope. There are a lot of good people in the world. We must continue to be good, but not only that. We must act. We have to defend those things, those values that are priceless to us. Our families. Our religion. Our freedom.

"The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict." (MLK)

I don't want to be neutral.