Faith, Scripture and Resistance

For this blog, I am going to examine Malcolm X’s ‘God’s Judgment of White America’ and Martin Luther King’s ‘Unfulfilled Dreams’ to understand how each of them conceptualized faith, scripture and struggle. Most of the thinkers we have engaged with prior to this week weren’t much interested in religious arguments and inspirations, yet these two stand in deep contrast with them, actively deploying religious rhetoric to make their case. It must be noted here that in no way do either of these texts encapsulate the whole of, or the final form of, the theological and political conceptions of these two thinkers. For example, towards the end of his life, Malcolm rebelled against the teachings of Elijah Muhammad and the Nation of Islam, both of who are the main references for Malcolm in the speech we are examining. Yet, it would still be fruitful to see what theological ideas enticed these two great prophets of black radical tradition and made to the forefront of their struggle for Black redemption.

Dr. King’s main concern is of salvation, the idea of how the people can redeem themselves in this unjust world. To this end, he narrates the biblical story of David, on how he decided to build a temple for the Lord God of Israel and even though he couldn’t complete it, God told him, “But I bless you, David, because it was within thine heart”. In King’s analysis, David was blessed because he had his heart in the right place, he had a good intention in his heart and this was all that mattered, not whether in the final analysis he actually did build that temple or not. We are all making different temples all the time, struggling to make them, but if we are doing it with the right heart, that is enough to know that we will be blessed. This idea is a key feature of King’s philosophy, mentioning at another place how “the means represent the end in process and the ideal in the making”. What else is he referring to if not the idea that end is only as important as having the right ideas about what the end should be and what means should be employed for that purpose. “Salvation is being sure that you’re on the right road”, he claims. Hence, salvation is a possibility for everyone who puts his heart in the right place, recognizes the ills being committed, and starts a steady and ethical march towards doing the right thing.

While King was primarily concerned with how the people should conduct themselves in response to injustice, Malcolm explored the question of how the injustice he witnesses everywhere around him would come to an end. For him, the end was in the obliteration of the white nation which was corrupt and evil in its core. To this end, he explores the Quranic and Biblical stories of Lot, Moses and Noah, of how their nations were corrupt to the core and God sent onto them his messenger. Those who accepted his message were saved, all others destroyed and slashed off the face of earth. For Malcolm, such was to be the fate of America. God had sent unto them Elijah Muhammad as the last warning before bringing on them the Day of Judgment, after which none of the white race would be saved. Is there any way the white people could be spared? Only by allowing the blacks of America to return to their own homeland and reparations of the historical injustice they have endured being paid to them. Hence, the coming of Elijah is the last chance for people to submit to God, become Muslims and redeem themselves. If not for that, God’s wrath, the apocalyptic moment of judgment is well upon them and there is nowhere to run.

As we can see from the example of both Dr. King and Malcolm X, the historical arguments they employ are premised on stories present in scriptures. Both are responding through them the question of injustice they face, and how the blacks can find a way through it. Moreover, they have a common emphasis on being commanded by a supreme higher being, one which is moral and just, and takes an active interest in how the people of the world are conducting themselves. Clearly, their respective backgrounds play a huge role in shaping the conclusions they would reach from this exercise; whereas seminary-trained Dr. King finds a place for everyone in this new future of redemption and salvation, Elijah-inspired Malcolm reaches the conclusion that only the blacks will be spared and the antagonist whites wiped off history. Yet, the very fact that these two monumental black leaders of the 20^th century found religion and scripture as a mean of fighting against injustice and oppression gives us cue towards the radical potential of possibilities both resistance and religion can harbor within themselves.