Pastor Craig's ConSpiritu Blog

Shortly after the election of Barack Obama as the first person of both African and European descent to the Presidency of the United States of America, a news item circulated across the country that exposed an ugly vein of incipient violence lurking in Eastern Idaho. Apparently schoolchildren on a public school bus in Rexburg, Idaho , began chanting "Assassinate Obama, Assassinate Obama." It's quite possible that the students didn't understand the full meaning of "assassinate," nor comprehended the full implications of what they were saying. However, those who started the chant had heard those words put together some place and decided it was acceptable to publicly broadcast them. Raw Story carried a story , as well as KIDK .  Even though Rexburg is politically very conservative, with 93 percent of the voters voting for McCain and Palin in the 2008 election, and with an overwhelming Mormon influence, that neither excuses nor explains such frankly anti-A

The King Center Website page on the Beloved Community Network says this about Dr. King's work: “The Beloved Community” is a term that was first coined in the early days of the 20th century by the philosopher-theologian Josiah Royce, who founded the Fellowship of Reconciliation. However, it was Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., also a member of the Fellowship of Reconciliation, who popularized the term and invested it with a deeper meaning which has captured the imagination of people of good will all over the world. For Dr. King, The Beloved Community was not a lofty utopian goal to be confused with the rapturous image of the Peaceable Kingdom, in which lions and lambs coexist in idyllic harmony. Rather, The Beloved Community was for him a realistic, achievable goal that could be attained by a critical mass of people committed to and trained in the philosophy and methods of nonviolence.  Dr. King’s Beloved Community is a global vision, in which all people can share in the wealth

Over the course of the next three Sundays, January 10, 17 and 24, I will be preaching on The Beloved Community. Creating the Beloved Community was an idea that was central to the thinking and work of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Accordingly, my blogs for the next three weeks will explore aspects of Dr. King's thought and practice that relate to this idea. In addition, I'm going to explore how Dr. King's religious faith found expression in political and social action, all of it filtered through the lens of the Beloved Community. A good overview of Dr. King's concept is found in an article by Kenneth  L. Smith and Ira G. Zepp, Jr. entitled "Martin Luther King's Vision of the Beloved Community."  The King Center in Atlanta, Georgia is also an excellent place to find out about Dr. King's ideas and work. The Martin Luther King, Jr., National Day of Service has extensive information concerning the 40 Day Pledge of Nonviolence .  These are all good