Conservative talk show hosts, FOX News, and conservative bloggers have been yelling and screaming all day long about the funeral service for Coretta Scott King. There have been a few nasty comments even on my site.
Their beef: the funeral was "political" because the preachers and eulogists had the nerve to talk about the issues Martin and Coretta cared about.
These right-wing critics are calling the funeral "shameless," "tasteless," and "without class."
Those are all code words for saying they're mad that black folks got a chance to speak their mind right there in front of the President of the United States - a man who does his best to avoid ever being in crowds of blacks.
Listen to what Rev. King said about what he'd like spoken at his own funeral:
....Every now and then I think about my own death, and I think about my own funeral. And I don't think of it in a morbid sense. Every now and then I ask myself, "What is it that I would want said?" And I leave the word to you this morning....
I'd like somebody to mention that day, that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others. I'd like for somebody to say that day, that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to love somebody. I want you to say that day, that I tried to be right on the war question. I want you to be able to say that day, that I did try, in my life, to clothe those who were naked. I want you to say, on that day, that I did try, in my life, to visit those who were in prison. I want you to say that I tried to love and serve humanity.
Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice; say that I was a drum major for peace; I was a drum major for righteousness.
(thanks to AmericaBlog for reminding me of this quote)
Rev. King would have liked his wife's funeral (and since she had a role in preparing it I'm sure Mrs. King would have liked it as well). King understood that speaking truth to power wasn't political but instead was a religious act of confronting those who oppress or wage war with the word of God.
What the right-wing is really mad about are the causes the King's advanced. They hate what Rev. and Mrs. King did in America.
The Kings advanced civil rights and the Right Wing opposed them.
The Kings advanced campaigns of opposition to the wars in Vietnam and Iraq and the Right Wing opposed them.
The Kings advanced campaigns to bring women and gays and lesbians into the mainstream of society and the Right Wing opposed them.
The Kings advanced campaigns to address poverty in America and the Right Wing opposed them.
The Right Wing in America has always hated the Kings. Now the Right Wing is thinking that with both of those damn King people dead things should quiet down but their causes keep coming up from the grave. How can it be stopped!
You can't stop it.
Jesus didn't die when he died and neither did Martin. Jesus didn't die when he died and neither did Coretta. Martin and Coretta can still speak to us. There lives are eternal and so is their message. God will even call new prophets who will echo the Kings as they echoed the prophets.
The Right just hoped the message and cause would simply die with the Kings.
God won't let that happen. Martin Luther King, Jr. is still preaching today right alongside Amos. Hear their words:
Seek the Lord and live,
or he will break out against the house of Joseph like fire,
and it will devour Bethel, with no one to quench it.
Ah, you that turn justice to wormwood,
and bring righteousness to the ground!The one who made the Pleiades and Orion,
and turns deep darkness into the morning,
and darkens the day into night,
who calls for the waters of the sea,
and pours them out on the surface of the earth,
the Lord is his name,
who makes destruction flash out against the strong,
so that destruction comes upon the fortress.They hate the one who reproves in the gate,
and they abhor the one who speaks the truth.
Therefore, because you trample on the poor
and take from them levies of grain,
you have built houses of hewn stone,
but you shall not live in them;
you have planted pleasant vineyards,
but you shall not drink their wine.
For I know how many are your transgressions,
and how great are your sins--
you who afflict the righteous, who take a bribe,
and push aside the needy in the gate.
Therefore the prudent will keep silent in such a time;
for it is an evil time.Seek good and not evil,
that you may live;
and so the Lord, the God of hosts, will be with you,
just as you have said.
Hate evil and love good,
and establish justice in the gate;
it may be that the Lord, the God of hosts,
will be gracious to the remnant of Joseph.Therefore thus says the Lord, the God of hosts, the Lord:
In all the squares there shall be wailing;
and in all the streets they shall say, `Alas! alas!'
They shall call the farmers to mourning,
and those skilled in lamentation, to wailing;
in all the vineyards there shall be wailing,
for I will pass through the midst of you,
says the Lord.Alas for you who desire the day of the Lord!
Why do you want the day of the Lord?
It is darkness, not light;
as if someone fled from a lion,
and was met by a bear;
or went into the house and rested a hand against the wall,
and was bitten by a snake.
Is not the day of the Lord darkness, not light,
and gloom with no brightness in it?I hate, I despise your festivals,
and I take no delight in your solemn assemblies.
Even though you offer me your burnt-offerings and grain-offerings,
I will not accept them;
and the offerings of well-being of your fatted animals
I will not look upon.
Take away from me the noise of your songs;
I will not listen to the melody of your harps.
But let justice roll down like waters,
and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.Amos 5:6-24 (NRSV)
Related Post: The Rev. Joseph Lowery: An American Prophet Speaks Truth To Power
