Letter from Birmingham Jail – Martin Luther King, Jr.

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May 19, 2022
Reading Journal
1 Letter from Birmingham Jail – Martin Luther King, Jr.
Martin Luther King’s letter gave me a sense of hope about using rational dialogue to profess our Christian beliefs and systemic combat problems in society. I initially noticed that his letter was addressed to his critics, not mocking, violent, or aggressive but with a cordial and logical outlook. This is different from what you expect from someone trying to address their critics or those who wronged them.
Nonetheless, as I have said earlier, I believe that this approach made it easier for his readers to accept his insights and opinions openly. He combined the use of both logos and pathos to create a more exciting discourse about the idea of systemic racism and why he is doing it for such a cause. For example, when King said that “there are just laws, and there are unjust laws,” he resurfaces the idea that not all laws are equivalent to justice. This made his readers rethink their reality and become critical thinkers.
2 The Problem of God – Answering a Skeptic’s Challenges to Christianity – Mark Clark
Mark Clark’s article has shown me that Christianity's modern-day problems are due to the misconceptions about its teachings and the ‘hypocrisy’ of some who command it. For example, it is a commonly-held belief that Christians should live like Christ; this includes not cursing, offering our tithes, and going to the church. However, we fail to realize that despite the importance of these external acts, these are also mere ‘exoskeletons of religious trappings’ without an innate desire to embody the principles of love, kindness, and goodness name a few.
Accordingly, I also realized how important it is to accept Christianity’s fault and be honest with ourselves. Similar to what Clark said, acknowledging that our religion (particularly Roman Catholicism) has done atrocious acts in the past is the first step to moving forward and encouraging others to follow suit. Nevertheless, these acts must also be a lesson to us and a reminder that the true essence of Christianity is embodying God’s will internally and externally.
3 The Christian Revolution – Jenkins
This article written by Jenkins made me realize that Christianity is highly influenced by culture despite its similar core beliefs. Notably, the manifestation of its practices and theological implic...