Martin Luther King Day

As today is Martin Luther King Day, here are a few words from the man in relation to race and humanity. I would like to believe that when King uses the word "man", he speaks for all human beings. I also am going to interpret the use of "God" here as the network of Nature, circle of life, the image of our ancestors, the strength of our DNA that has been passed down to us from the generations that have survived...we all must play our part to keep the Earth turning, to keep human civilization alive...this is what we all have in common, and why we have to work together in achieving that goal, to strengthen and improve human civilization.

Deeply rooted in our religious heritage is the conviction that every man is an heir of dignity and worth. Our Judeo-Christian tradition refers to this inherent dignity of man in the Biblical term "in the image of God". The image of God is universally shared in equal proportions by all men...Every human being has etched in his personality the indelible stamp of the Creator. Every man must be respected because God loves him. The worth of an individual does not lie in the measure of his intellect, his racial origin or social position. Human worth lies in relatedness to God. An individual has value because he has value to God. Whenever this is recognized, "whiteness" and "blackness" pass away as determinants in a relationship and "son" and "brother" are substituted.
(Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community, 1967)