"Somebody said to me not too long ago, 'Dr. King, don't you think you're hurting your leadership by taking a stand against the war in Vietnam? Aren't people who once respected you gonna lose respect for you? And aren't you hurting the budget of your organization?'
"And I had to look at that person and say, 'I'm sorry, sir, but you don't know me. I am not a consensus leader. And I do not determine what is right and wrong by looking at the budget of the Southern Leadership Conference or by taking a Gallup poll of the majority opinion.'
"Ultimately a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but he's a molder of consensus. And on some positions, cowardice asks the question, 'Is it safe?' Expedience asks the question, 'Is it politic?' Vanity asks the question, 'Is it popular?'
"But conscience asks the question, 'Is it right?'
I had to steal the quote from Martin Luther King from Paul the BB. Please read Paul's commentary.
"Is it right?" How quaint. Truly an inconvenient and out of fashion question in political and ecclesiastical circles today.
Glad to see this popularized and thanks for the linky love. I hear congresscritters talk about doing what is right but I don't see much of it happening, or we'd have universal health care already.
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ReplyDeleteI suspect most Congresscritters are asking what's right to get re-elected.
ReplyDeleteSadly, most in congress are looking more toward themselves and less to their constituents concerning doing the "right thing."
ReplyDeleteSadly, yes to all of the above.
ReplyDeleteWith that kind of argument Tony Blair supported President Bush and started the Iraq war.
ReplyDeleteErika, I don't mean to place the major blame on Tony Blair, but the Iraq war may not have happened, had Tony not joined in. No other major European country wanted to part of the debacle. I remember hearing over and over again, "Don't forget Poland!" Well, having Poland on our side would not have been quite the same as as having England.
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