2/24/2011 10:12:10 AM
I suppose that in a nation where many of those who claim to follow Jesus clamor for war, venegeance and violence, I should not be surprised that someone would make such misguided and misguiding remarks about a man who devoted his life to nonviolence. Pretending that actions that result in the maiming, dismemebering and death of other humans somehow honors Christ or Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr is preposterous at best. More accurately, it might be considered blasphemous.
- Doc Arnett, Kansas

1/20/2011 1:26:27 PM
Well, I bet it was quite a chore (it certainly took awhile) moderating the comments. I would guess you considered only about 10% publishable?? Greg, I too found the responses heartening, and thank you for noting it. An attempt to use a DoD website for serious discussion: If you say MLK to a black they think civil rights. If you say MLK to white supporters of the Movement they think peace, even though they are to the person supporters of civil rights. If you say MLK to still racist whites they think civil rights. But I think we should remember that he was at the beginning of a campaign for economic justice for all peoples when he was killed (I personally think that was why he was killed.) Finally It is up to us what his legacy is going to be.
- geo, oregon

1/19/2011 2:32:32 PM
I abhor the despicable comments made by Jeh C. Johnson , trying to exploit MLK day and manipulate American minds by saying that Dr. Martin Luther King would support the Afghanistan War. It's so bogus! Dr. King was a peace activist and abhorred not only the Vietnam War, but abhorred ALL wars! Dr. King vehemently spoke out against the concept of war. That's a fact. Jeh C. Johnson, your comments are so utterly reprehensible and ignorant... and sicken me to my stomach. The US quest for hegemony and imperialism cannot be justified, yet you try to force feed your evil agenda through lies and bigotry... The only thing you'll gain is lining the pockets of the super rich and the super ruthless. Yet integrity, truth and love won't be undermined by your deceit.
- Hilary, Connecticut

1/18/2011 10:28:49 PM
The shame I felt on reading Jeh Johnson's silly assertions has been refreshingly offset by the sanity, kindness, wisdom, and eloquence of every single comment so far (1/18/2011 2:50:58 AM). I am not proud of America in many ways right now, but I am proud of these Americans who love peace, and who know that you don't get peace by waging war.
- Greg, Kansas

1/18/2011 6:27:37 PM
What calumny! Dr. King opposed war. He followed the teachings of Ghandi regarding non-violence. King, attacked many times, never raised his hand against a fellow human being. He staged peaceful marches of protest. He talked, prayed, and lived peace. He never instigated violence, let alone supported war. Johnson should have the decency to retract his opinion that King would support the foreign wars in which we are now engaged. His "belief" that King would support the wars is not evidence; it is opinion and everything we know about Dr. King makes his opinion wrong.
- l. mckin, ca

1/18/2011 3:03:53 AM
This is terrible.
- A Citizen, USA

1/18/2011 2:50:58 AM
King spoke on the redemptive power of love, and of loving your enemy. He also said that he condemned all organizers of war. I do not think he would approve of our wars. I point any who would make such a claim to his speech "Loving Your Enemies", where King rejects many of the fundamental precepts of the "War on Terror." http://mlk-kpp01.stanford.edu/index.php/kingpapers/article/loving_your_enemies/
- Stanton, TN

1/17/2011 6:22:25 PM
I find your remarks beyond reprehensible. You are worse than a grave robber--you who have thrown in your lot with a government department that causes more death, maiming,and destroyed minds than any other force in the world today. You distort Dr. King's words. You stand for a country that has lost its values. The US is creating more enemies than it can possibly kill. The Good Samaritan does not stop along the roadside to administer aid at gunpoint or send drones to those who want peace, freedom or a better country. This is lesson #1. See Vietnam for Lesson #2. As a US Navy Veteran of the Korean War era, I am ashamed of my country. I and other Veterans for Peace feel deeply betrayed. You have truly made America less safe by your phony war on terror.
- Willliam J.Gilson, New York State

1/17/2011 5:47:30 PM
No, he wouldn't. "As I have walked among the desperate, rejected, and angry young men, I have told them that Molotov cocktails and rifles would not solve their problems. I have tried to offer them my deepest compassion while maintaining my conviction that social change comes most meaningfully through non-violent action; for they ask and write me, "So what about Vietnam?" They ask if our nation wasn't using massive doses of violence to solve its problems to bring about the changes it wanted. Their questions hit home, and I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without first having spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today: my own government. For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of the hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence I cannot be silent." - MLK Jr. http://tinyurl.com/yxmj9y
- Rachel Lewis, Sunshine Coast, Canada

1/17/2011 4:09:36 PM
I am a white guy who fought for peace and freedom and supported Dr. King's leadership of that movement and still do. I realize this guy is a lawyer, but I am still prevented from saying more by your reasonable sounding rules.
- geo, Oregon

1/17/2011 1:38:23 PM
Mr. Rhodes, Perhaps you do not understand what a quest for peace really means, or perhaps you feel the need to tell your bosses what they want to hear, but your comment that Dr. King would approve of our wars is as ludicrous an analysis of what he stood for as I have ever heard. Throughout history, all war makers have believed their wars were just. Today is no different. I suggest you study Dr. King's methods and teachings before putting him in the same group as the war mongers with whom you work. Stunned and aghast, Mark
- Mark, California

1/17/2011 3:44:25 AM
Mr. Johnson, there are no words to express my horror at your suggestion that Martin Luther King would approve of your boss' actions in waging war in Afghanistan... or Iraq. Rev. King was committed to the betterment of the common man, the poor, and the disadvantaged in THIS country, and he did not support any "Manifest Destiny" for the US to invade and occupy any country such as has happened...particularly one that did not do anything to us first. More, I am highly offended that you as a Black man would take the position you have and speak publically to it. How strong must your delusion system be to allow you to speak thusly and to continue to look yourself in the mirror. How utterly disappointing. Well, I guess I'm ashamed enough for the both of us b/c you obviously are not ashamed of what you've said.
- toni aguilar, el paso, tx

1/17/2011 3:07:24 AM
I wish to further go on record as pointing out that, while Martin Luther King, Jr. believed people should be willing to act unselfishly and accept risk to end injustice, such action was never to include violence. Nonviolence was central to and inseperable from his message, if not its very essence. In his campaign for civil rights, King showed that a non-violent approach works. To seek justice through violence, or peace through war, is the twisted logic of terrorists, not the path taught by Martin Luther King, Jr.
- John Uebersax, Paso Robles, California

1/17/2011 2:12:40 AM
The remarks of Jeh Johnson are unconscionable. It would be hard to imagine a more thorough distortion of the spirit and message of Martin Luther King, Jr. Mr. Johnson actually asked us to believe that soldiers are good Samaritans, whose principal motivation is compassion! In the parable, the Good Samaritan offered only mercy and kindness. He did not hunt down the attackers, seek revenge, or set up a police force to deter future aggression. People join the Armed Forces for a variety of reasons. Some seek discipline; others employment; some training and education. Some are motivated by hatred, some by a genuinely felt need to protect their homeland. But seldom or never does one hear of wanting to "administer to those who want peace" as a motive for enlistment. For that there is the Peace Corps, etc. Dr. King wanted to end war, and believed that, because it is God's will, it is possible. The Department of Defense should have more respect for citizens.
- John Uebersax, Paso Robles, California

1/16/2011 10:18:00 PM
To compare soldiers to the Good Samaritan I believe is a stretch beyond what is supported in the Biblical text, and further, to state that the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, who was committed to the force of nonviolence throughout his entire public life, would understand that the military should not and cannot lay down its arms is just simply wrong. I believe instead that he would urge that we spend the same amount of time, money and effort training individuals in nonviolent direct action that we spend in training military troops.
- Jim Bridges, Arlington, WA

1/16/2011 1:57:53 PM
You don't really expect anyone to believe this, do you?
- Gayle Haider, California

1/16/2011 10:00:09 AM
Yeah and Gandhi would have been so totally into Rambo movies. You should probably turn comments off on this one.
- Ted the Jackal, SC

1/16/2011 9:59:08 AM
This is a lot of military propaganda. We had no enemies in Iraq until we invaded and destroyed the infastsructure in that country on the base of lies, This has nothing to the heroism, misplaced, of our young people sent there to kill and die. In Afganistan, we entered that country to look for Ben Laden, not to fight the Talibsn which was a problem of the Afgans not of us. We never found Ben Laden and then started to take over direction of that country, with the consequent death of our own young people and lots of theirs. and the making of more enemies. the military/industrial complex of our country made a lot of money in those wars, and the American people lost a lot of our own infratructure, our taxes going to support the military/industrial complex instead of our schools, hospitals, etc. It´s a shame what has become of "The land of the free and the home of the brave" as a result!
- Juanita, calfiornia

1/15/2011 12:16:21 PM
War is Peace.
- Peter, Canada

1/15/2011 11:23:44 AM
This is a shameless travesty of Dr. Martin Luther King's message.
- D. Philip, 01950

1/14/2011 10:39:14 PM
I think comparing military servicepeople to the Good Samaritan is a pretty tortured analogy. The Red Cross is a better analogy. The Peace Corps. There certainly are servicepeople who are motivated like the Good Samaritan, and some accomplish many of the same ends. But a lot of them also, under orders, do a lot of awful damage and cause the kind of injury that the GS was trying to remedy. Under orders, they unfortunately are engaged in an illegal, unethical, and counterproductive action. I resent people twisting the words of activists no longer around to defend their honor (MLK and Jesus, apparently), claiming their support for actions they would condemn in the soundest possible terms.
- Greg, Kansas

1/14/2011 7:16:27 PM
King was against all forms of violence as was Christ. To say otherwise is disrespectful and disgusting. If Jeh C. Johnson wants to take the opposite view he should have the courage to claim it as his own, not be a coward and put false words in the mouth of a dead man.
- John Trappenberg, Canton Ohio

1/14/2011 6:21:46 PM
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. ~Martin Luther King, Jr
- Amii Lockhart, Reno NV

1/14/2011 4:25:17 PM
Warriors, a/k/a warmongers have always been and probably always will be among us. Their methods of gaining support for their wars have certainly changed over the centuries. They are not as honorable as they once were. I think we've entered an age where the best way to settle our differences should be at a roundtable discussion. Grown men and women in postitions of tremendous power and influence over the lives of others should lead by example. If you don't want a violent people, end your violent actions against others. Sit down at the table like intelligent adults and settle your differences there.
- jholderbaum, Minneapolis

1/14/2011 2:37:17 PM
Really?
- Jeff Skjelver, Rugby, ND

1/14/2011 1:12:14 PM
This article is an appalling misappropriation of the legacy of Dr. King and Mr. Johnson should be ashamed for twisting its meaning. Let's review the effect of this Samaritan aid we have given Iraq: Civilian deaths are at least 100,000 and perhaps as high as a million, their infrastructure is decimated so that don't have reliable electricity, millions of others have fled as refugees, the Christian population has been decimated, etc., etc. Let's not forget what Dr. King actually said: "A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is a nation approaching spiritual death." We not only spend more than any nation in the world but more than all the other nations combined! God help us if we are turning our backs on Dr. King's legacy and adopting the domesticated King of Mr. Johnson's fantasy. And shame on the Pentagon for not being able to know the difference.
- Rev. Geoff Browning, Stanford, CA

1/14/2011 1:08:05 PM
Seriously??! Who would ever, in their wildest imagination, think Dr. King would have supported any war? What part of "non-violence" wasn't clear? How do you read into a parable the exact opposite of its true message?
- Jennifer Knecht, Sayre PA

1/14/2011 12:34:17 PM
Johnson saying these things is an admission he knows very little of Martin Luther King's understanding of the relationship between the world and the Kingdom of God.
- Jordan Hubbard, Belton TX

1/14/2011 12:08:02 PM
To suggest that Dr. King would have supported two unnecessary and undeclared wars is despicable. Would he have supported the criminal use of unmanned aerial drones to kill women and children and other civilians from thousands of miles away? Would he have supported "unmercifully" torturing hundreds of people, including torturing dozens of innocent people to death (as Gen Barry McAffrey recently alleged) in the name of the defense of the American people? Would he support the indefinite detention of human beings who have not been charged with a crime, for no discernible reason? Would he support "preemptive detainment", putting American citizens and other human beings in jail before any crime has been committed? Would he support our current march toward a totalitarian security state in the name of the War On Terrror? You people are delusional. You know all of that tax money that I give you for doing all of these things in my name?...I want it back...
- Joe, Atlanta, GA

1/14/2011 11:09:18 AM
I find Jeh Johnson's remarks on MLK to be incredibly offensive. His belief that MLK would have understood our involvement in the middle east and the wars in Iran and Afghanistan illustrated a self serving attitude on his part. MLK was STRONGLY opposed to war and the death of innocents. MLK opposed the war in Vietnam and suffered greatly for his opposition. There is nothing from MLK's life that would suggest he might possibly support our current activities in the middle east. I would appreciate it if the DOD would refrain from tarnishing the legacy of a great man such as MLK.
- Benjamin Goodwin, Cary NC

1/14/2011 12:24:32 AM
I find Mr. Johnson's comment to be ridiculous. There is no evidence to suggest that wars protect Americans against terrorist attacks, in fact there is a lot of evidence to suggest that wars provoke terrorist attacks. Also Dr. King was a believer in the equality of all mankind. It is inconceivable that he would support the terrorization of foreign populations through invasion for the purpose of protecting Americans from terror.
- Theodore, Clifton

1/13/2011 8:25:44 PM
If King were alive today he'd evoke the NRA handbook and read the parable of the pistol. Each bullet would be filled with compassion and he'd call upon every soldier to spread unbounding love across the Iraqi countryside in a hail of M16 rounds. This historic account of Dr. King's legacy was so accurate I'm going to tattoo it across my face.
- Revisionist Historian, La La Land

1/13/2011 8:09:01 PM
An interesting notion. Of course the only way you could possibly say something like what has been published above is to have absolutely no clue about the life of Dr King. Dr King was a Socialist, he was a pacifist, he would not have advocated the bombing of people. At all. I would also ask, knowing that the question will result in my post not been accepted, if you could kindly point out any time in the history of the USA when the military has 'prevented' any attack? Either from nation states or from 'terrorists'. The article above is an epic fail.
- dave, Earth

1/13/2011 7:21:19 PM
?What a offensive and cynical re-imagining of the King legacy. "This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice, and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "Beyond Vietnam – A Time to Break Silence" speech delivered April 4, 1967
- Joshua Parker, Somerville, MA

1/13/2011 7:15:51 PM
"This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice, and love. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death." - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., "Beyond Vietnam – A Time to Break Silence" speech delivered April 4, 1967
- Martha Creedon, Waltham, MA

1/13/2011 5:34:56 PM
Does he ACTUALLY BELIEVE that?
- T miles, reality