Religion and Theology

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

I chose this particular quote from Martin Luther King Jr. during his speech in front of the Lincoln Memorial in 1963 because I believe that it captures in essence what he believed would be the end result of his cause for the end of racial segregation and equal civil liberties for black Americans. King was born and raised in an era wherein blacks were considered second class citizens by the predominantly white American at the time as such they suffered racial segregation, a lack of equal civil liberties and a distinct inequality in job opportunities available when compared to whites at the time. Growing up in such a time you cannot help but think that King would not want his own children to experience the suffering that he and the rest of the African American population did. He believed that if the African American people strived hard enough, shouted loudly enough and made their voices heard that sufficient changes could be enacted that would be able to bring about true equality.

An equality as he said that would not be due to the color of ones skin, origins, ethnic background or family rather an equality that is due to being part of a greater whole that respects the basic dignity of the individual and grants equal opportunities to those who seek it. It can be assumed that all of Kings actions from the time he was head of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) leading non violent protests in the name of equal treatment for blacks to the moment he was assassinated on April 4 1968 was for his children. That he genuinely wished for them to live in a country free from the prejudice that he had encountered so much of in his life and that he believed that he could accomplish this goal within his lifetime.

Dorothy Day
The greatest challenge of the day is how to bring about a revolution of the heart, a revolution which has to start with each one of us

The reason I chose this particular quote was because not only does is give an insight into the thoughts of Dorothy Day but it also serves as example as to how her life became what it was. Most people wouldnt know it but early on in her life Dorothy Day was not a font of Catholic values and profound words on Catholicism and about God that she is known for today surprisingly she was a person who espoused a life of independence from her family, practiced a bohemian lifestyle of sorts, was married twice, had an abortion, wrote for Socialist publications and was originally an agnostic.  Taking all of these into account one would say that she was as far as being a Catholic as the Earth is from the Sun however despite these setbacks in the end she still became a Catholic which was due to the birth of her Tamar which for her was such a life changing event that led to embrace Catholicism as part of her life. The reason I chose the quote stated above was because Dorothy Day herself underwent a revolution of the heart, from a person devoid of the basic values of Catholicism to someone who espoused the faith and taught its values better than most people could ever do. When Day stated that particular phrase she must have done so remembering her own experiences as a person who initially wasnt part of the Catholic faith but awoke to it on her own. Through her experiences she realized that in order to bring about a true revolution of the heart or an awakening of faith as in her case the change must start with the person themselves that the willingness for a true change of character must be there and the reason she called it a challenge was due to the fact that not everyone is willing to change for the better, sometimes people would much rather be stagnant and remain as they are since to change the way you are is to come to terms with all the mistakes you have made in  life.

Daniel Berrigan
There is no peace because the making of peace is at least as costly as the making of war - at least as exigent, at least as disruptive, at least as liable to bring disgrace and prison and death in its wake.
The reason I chose this particular statement by Daniel Berrigan is due to that the fact that it exemplifies the character and attitude that he had in his life. To sum up Berrigan in two words would be to call him a religious radicalist. In that he professed his faith for God and tried to do what he believed was the right thing to do however his methods were far from peaceful and at times would be considered violent hence the fact he has been arrested several times and has a felony record. Through the quote stated above we can come to understand that Berrigan believed that the path to true peace did not lie with preaching and expecting others to do what you say, to be an example to others and expect them to follow suit or to write lengthy articles of what peace would be like and expect people to read them and be enlightened. Rather, judging from the statement above and the actions he took in his life, Berrigan believed that only through direct action could true peace be established. In the statement when he mentions that peace comes at the same cost of making war and that it was just as disruptive and liable to bring disgrace and prison what he was trying to imply was his own experiences of civil disobedience which caused him to be imprisoned and called a felon. The statement in a sense captures the essence of what Berrigan believed in to be the right thing to do if the path to peace is to be achieved that it must come through sacrifice and action rather just statements and example.