SKC Workshop Spring 2024

Donnell A. Williamson, Jr.

(Brown University, USA)

"The Pressing Ethical Question: Martin Luther King, Jr and Søren Kierkegaard on Neighborly Love"

The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? (1967) traces the legislative and social achievements of the Civil Rights movement while seriously contemplating the future of a fragmented society stricken by the three evils of society: racism, materialism, and war. Published a few months before his assassination, the book’s last chapter, “The World House,” offers an ethical corrective to sharpen society’s moral disposition and overcome the struggles of living together. On the other hand, Søren Kierkegaard’s Works of Love raises a salient religious question: How should believers orient themselves to Jesus’s commandment to love one’s neighbor?

My paper considers King’s conception of disinterested love and Kierkegaard’s conception of neighborly love as a starting point to explore cultural and political tensions between the neighbor and the beloved. In some instances, certain cultural Christian traditions and beliefs can obscure the fundamental principles and essence of Christianity, making it difficult to establish meaningful connections with individuals who do not share the same beliefs. These traditions, often influenced by cultural norms, historical practices, or personal interpretations, may prioritize rituals, doctrines, or rational schools of thought over the core teachings of love, compassion, and acceptance espoused by Jesus Christ. Whereas King suggests in Where Do We Go From Here that “the larger house in which we live demands that we transform this worldwide neighborhood into a worldwide brotherhood” attempts to re-orient the moral bankruptcy of the Western world, Kierkegaard’s suggestion that “the God-relationship determines what [love is] between human beings” articulates a Christian framework for the religio-ethical movement King seeks to lead. A joint Kierkegaardian and Kingian response advances a religio-ethical conception of neighborly love that transcends cultural barriers so that individuals can strive to connect with others on a deeper level, focusing on shared values and the universal principles of faith, compassion, and recognizing the inherent worth of all individuals without “defiling” the ‘God-relationship’.