Exploring Catholic Social Teaching
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198 <strong>Exploring</strong> <strong>Catholic</strong> <strong>Social</strong> <strong>Teaching</strong><br />
Handout E<br />
Excerpt from “Letter from a Birmingham Jail”<br />
by Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.<br />
______/ 10 pts.<br />
Directions: Visit SophiaOnline.org/MLKLetter and skim over “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” by Rev.<br />
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. King wrote this letter in 1963 from his jail cell, where he had been<br />
incarcerated for his role in organizing nonviolent protests against segregationist policies in<br />
Birmingham, Alabama.<br />
Read carefully from the paragraph beginning “Since we so diligently urge<br />
people to obey the Supreme Court's decision of 1954 outlawing segregation<br />
in the public schools” to the paragraph ending “If today I lived in a Communist<br />
country where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I<br />
would openly advocate disobeying that country's antireligious laws.”<br />
As you read, pay close attention to the ways in which Dr. King echoes<br />
<strong>Catholic</strong> teachings on just and unjust law in his letter. Then, answer the<br />
following questions and prepare for a discussion.<br />
1 According to Martin Luther King, Jr., why are segregation laws<br />
unjust? What is the origin of segregation, and why is it something<br />
that ought to be resisted?<br />
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Martin Luther King Photo Credit:<br />
Warren K. Leffler (March 2 1965).<br />
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2 Dr. King was not <strong>Catholic</strong>, but he identifies two <strong>Catholic</strong> saints in his description of just law. Identify them<br />
and describe how their teaching reflects King’s message.<br />
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3 What does King say that is directly reflected in your chapter reading on legal justice?<br />
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© Sophia Institute for Teachers
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