Originally posted by: matstars
Originally posted by: montanafan
Was Martin Luther King, Jr. an attention whore? How about Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Jones, or Nelson Mandela? Should they have been locked up and the key thrown away? Well, for Mandela those that thought so almost got their way.
Not that I would put Cindy Sheehan on the same level as the real leaders of those protests, but the premise is the same. You're protesting something the government is doing and you need attention for your cause so that more people will take notice in the hope that they will put pressure on the government to bring about change. Civil disobedience and being arrested brought attention to all of those others and the strategy here is to do the same. People who lean toward your cause will see it as an example of the government trying to use its power to silence those who disagree with them and deny the will of the people; those who disagree with your cause will see it as grandstanding and a lack of respect for the law and the government that needs to quelled by those in authority to maintain law and order.
Of course it's all about getting attention. And it works. We're all talking about the subject again after a long break from it. I don't see it as a big deal. It won't change many people's minds one way or the other, but it is an age old strategy for bringing your cause to the attention of others and raising the debate about it. It's the American way...and the South African... and the Indian... and the...
I just read the firt few lines of what you wrote and i gotta say thats hysterical
cindy sheehan put up there with the likes of MLK, and Mahatma Gandhi
:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh:
Originally posted by: JEDIYoda
sheese...GOD will strike you dead for mentioning the name ofSheehan along the likes of The Most reverend Martin luther King!!
"Those of us who love peace must organize as effectively as the war hawks. As they spread the propaganda of war, we must spread the propaganda of peace....We must demonstrate, teach and preach, until the very foundations of our nation are shaken. We must work unceasingly to lift this nation that we love to a higher destiny, to a new plateau of compassion, to a more noble expression of humanness. " - Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Curtailment of free speech is rationalized on grounds that a more compelling American tradition forbids critism of the government when the nation is at war. More than a century ago when we were in a declared state of war with Mexico, a first term congressman by the name of Abraham Lincoln stood in the halls of Congress and fearlessly denounced that war. Congressman Abraham Lincoln of Illinois had not heard of this tradition or he was not inclined to respect it. Nor had Thoreau and Emerson and many other philosophers who shaped our democratic principles. Nothing can be more destructive of our fundamental democratic traditions than the vicious effort to silence dissenters." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
Seems pretty clear that Martin Luther King, Jr. would have had more in common with the likes of a Cindy Sheehan than those of you with such a limited knowledge of history could ever imagine. Ignorance is no excuse, you should have learned the basics about MLK, Jr.'s anti-war protests and views about the dangers of curbing dissent when you were in high school. :thumbsdown: Your lack of knowledge about the man, shown so clearly in your posts, would be laughable if it weren't so sad in reality.
"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." - Martin Luther King, Jr.