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Category: Holidays / Topics: Change • Civility • Faith • History • Holidays • Hopes & Dreams • Social Movements

Martin Luther King Jr.'s Ten Commandments for Cultural Change

by James N. Watkins

Posted: January 18, 2016

Celebrating the hope for cultural change that Martin Luther King, Jr. preached in word and deed…

In April 1963, civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. spelled out a radical strategy to change culture in his book, Why We Can’t Wait. Each participant in the Birmingham protests was required to abide by Dr. King’s “Ten Commandments.”

  1. Meditate daily on the teachings and life of Jesus
  2. Remember always that the nonviolent movement in Birmingham seeks justice and reconciliation—not victory.
  3. Walk and talk in the manner of love, for God is love.
  4. Pray daily to be used by God in order that all men might be free.
  5. Sacrifice personal wishes in order that all men might be free.
  6. Observe with both friend and foe the ordinary rules of courtesy.
  7. Seek to perform regular service for others and for the world.
  8. Refrain from the violence of fist, tongue, or heart.
  9. Strive to be in good spiritual and bodily health.
  10. Follow the directions of the movement and of the captain on a demonstration.

Today we celebrate the hope for cultural change that Martin Luther King, Jr. preached in word and deed. Click for my book chapter expanding on “Meditate daily on the teachings and life of Jesus.”


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Jim Watkins is a humorist, author, and speaker who says of himself that he "loves God, his family, writing, speaking and Chinese food—in that order"

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Posted: January 18, 2016   Accessed 847 times

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