Armodoxy for Today: The sin of not doing

April is the month of Genocide remembrance. The Armenian Genocide (1915-1922), Holocaust and the Rwandan Genocide are all remembered during the month. On this last day of April, I wish to share with you a writing from the late, and great, Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. From a cell in Birmingham Jail where he was being held for civil disobedience, he writes to the religious leadership about civil disobedience:

Of course, there is nothing new about this kind of civil disobedience. It was seen sublimely in the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego [Daniel 3] to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar because a higher moral law was involved. It was practiced superbly by the early Christians, who were willing to face hungry lions and the excruciating pain of chopping blocks before submitting to certain unjust laws of the Roman Empire. To a degree, academic freedom is a reality today because Socrates practiced civil disobedience.

 We can never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was “legal” and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was “illegal.” It was “illegal” to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler’s Germany. But I am sure that if I had lived in Germany during that time, I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers even though it was illegal. If I lived in a Communist country today where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I believe I would openly advocate disobeying these anti-religious laws.

 I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers. First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Councillor or the Ku Klux Klanner but the white moderate who is more devoted to order than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says, “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can’t agree with your methods of direct action”… Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection.

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During the Sacrament of Penence in the Armenian Church we confess: I have also sinned against all the Commandments of God, both against the affirmative ones and the restrictive ones, because I have not stayed away from what is forbidden, but neither have I done what was expected.

 As important as it is to not do evil, it is just as important to do the good – the right.

This finishes our April lessons in Armodoxy.

The prayer of St. Francis of Assisi is always important to remember:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace.
Where there is hatred, let me bring love.
Where there is offence, let me bring pardon.
Where there is discord, let me bring union.
Where there is error, let me bring truth.
Where there is doubt, let me bring faith.
Where there is despair, let me bring hope.
Where there is darkness, let me bring your light.
Where there is sadness, let me bring joy. Amen