- há 4 dias
After WWII, Billy Graham tried to inspire a religious revival in a battle with “Godless Communism.” Non-believers and religious minorities appealed to the Supreme Court to test the constitutionality of religious expression in public schools. And Martin Luther King, Jr. called upon the nation to honor both biblical teachings and the founders’ democratic ideals of equal justice.
Categoria
📚
AprendizadoTranscrição
00:00Veja como você faz esse programa possível.
00:03A especial apresentação do American Experience e Frontline.
00:17Em décadas seguindo World War II,
00:20America would grapple com a questão
00:22as antiga como a nation itself.
00:25A relação entre religião e política.
00:34Eu acho que sempre tive uma flutação
00:37entre religião e política
00:39em American life,
00:40desde o início,
00:41desde o início da República.
00:44Mas o que você vê
00:45depois de World War II
00:47é realmente um marcado entre os dois,
00:50onde religião e política
00:52são mais próximos e mais próximos.
00:58Durante a economia e política
01:00de 1930s e 40s,
01:03a American religião
01:04tinha mudado.
01:09A church attendance
01:10tinha slowedado
01:11durante a década da Great Depression.
01:16O fim de World War II prometeu um retorno à normalidade.
01:22Mas a jubilação foi short-lived.
01:30A guerra com a soviética união ushered em um novo age de ansiedade.
01:37As it confrontou a comunidade,
01:39America would undergo a religious revival.
01:43Faith would be linked with patriotism,
01:46launching an epic struggle
01:47over the nation's political and religious identity.
01:52What's at stake is the religious narrative of America.
01:56How central is religion to the American story?
01:59And what is the story that integrates religion and American politics?
02:05That's very much up for grabs.
02:20In the fall of 1949,
02:22Billy Graham, a little-known preacher
02:25who would become a primary engine
02:27of America's Cold War religious revival,
02:30took his crusade to Los Angeles.
02:34When he went to Los Angeles,
02:36he had just come from a couple of meetings
02:39that, by his own judgment, were unsuccessful.
02:43He'd been in Baltimore,
02:45he'd been in Altoona, Pennsylvania.
02:48And these revival meetings,
02:50at best, represented mixed success.
02:54And in his own mind,
02:56he questioned his own vocation as an evangelist.
03:01In Los Angeles,
03:03Graham staged his revival in a tent
03:05in the heart of downtown,
03:08unsure how many people would come to hear his message.
03:11...of Almighty God.
03:12Now today, in America,
03:14we find that people are more concerned with things
03:17than they are with the things of God.
03:20They are more concerned with pleasure,
03:22more concerned with money,
03:24more concerned with the things of life
03:26than they are the things of Almighty God.
03:34He's looking at L.A. and he's saying,
03:35you know, this is like Sin City, right?
03:38This is the place of, you know, prostitution
03:40and the place of drunkenness
03:42and the place of fantasy
03:44in terms of Hollywood, right?
03:47And we need to turn this around.
03:52Just as the Los Angeles crusade began,
03:55came news that stunned the nation.
03:59Much sooner than Americans had thought possible,
04:03the Soviet Union tested successfully an atomic bomb.
04:07And now the world was on the brink
04:09of a nuclear holocaust
04:12and Americans were filled with fear.
04:16The school kids had drills
04:19getting under their desk
04:21in the event of an atomic attack.
04:24People built atomic shelters.
04:26I mean, this was something that was real
04:28and it heightened this sense
04:30that we need to turn back to God.
04:34I believe this sincerely
04:36from the depths of my heart.
04:38In the Soviet threat,
04:39Graham found a powerful new religious message.
04:42The time that I've been to Europe,
04:43I've been more conscious than ever before
04:45that unless the Western world
04:47has an old-fashioned revival,
04:50we are done for.
04:51We cannot last.
04:53We cannot stand the tremendous strain and stress
04:57of future days in our battle with communism
05:00unless we have a spiritual revival.
05:04He framed the Cold War as a moral conflict.
05:08It is evil versus good.
05:10It is godless communism
05:13versus a God-fearing America.
05:17I believe today that the battle
05:19is between communism and Christianity.
05:22And I believe the only way
05:24that we're going to win that battle
05:25is for America to turn back to God
05:29and back to Christ
05:30and back to the Bible at this hour.
05:32We need a revival.
05:34Graham's message caught the attention
05:36of media baron William Randolph Hearst,
05:38a staunch anti-communist.
05:42Hearst likes Graham's anti-communist rhetoric
05:45and he instructs his newspapers
05:47to puff Graham,
05:49two of the most famous words
05:50in all of American religious history.
05:52And this really rockets Graham
05:56onto the national stage.
05:59Within a matter of days,
06:01stories were carried in Life magazine,
06:04Look magazine, Time,
06:06and the story went around the world.
06:10If you look at the rise of Billy Graham
06:12in the 1950s,
06:13it's the rise that one usually thinks of
06:16in relation to pop music stars.
06:19His ascendancy was akin to that of the Beatles.
06:24Now, at 37,
06:26Billy Graham is the most famous evangelist
06:28in the world.
06:29And his power of persuasion
06:31has softened the skeptics,
06:33who used to call him
06:34the hot gospeler from the Bible Belt,
06:36the Barrymore of the Bible.
06:38In between his long tours,
06:40Billy Graham goes home
06:41for a few days of seclusion
06:43with his wife, Ruth,
06:44and their four children.
06:46Over here, Bunny.
06:48Ed, this is Bunny over here to my left.
06:51Would you say hello to Mr. Murrow?
06:53Hello, Mr. Murrow.
06:54Hello, Bunny.
06:55He becomes a spokesperson
06:57for the national culture
06:59in a way that blends Christianity
07:02and patriotism
07:05in an appealing way
07:06for a lot of people.
07:08As Graham became
07:09a national celebrity,
07:11he tried to expand
07:12the appeal
07:13of his religious revival
07:14by building relationships
07:16with those in political power.
07:18In the 1952 campaign,
07:21it somehow emerged
07:22that Dwight Eisenhower himself
07:24had never been baptized.
07:26and he was confronted with this
07:28in the course of the campaign
07:29and his response was
07:31something to the effect
07:32that, well,
07:33I've been pretty busy lately.
07:34As soon as things settle down,
07:35I'll get around to it.
07:38Graham advised him,
07:40you know,
07:40you really should settle
07:42on a denomination
07:44and the two of them
07:45had a conversation
07:46back and forth.
07:49Mamie Eisenhower
07:50had been a Presbyterian
07:52and Graham eventually said,
07:53you know, Presbyterian,
07:55great denomination.
07:57Why don't you think
07:57about becoming
07:58a Presbyterian?
08:00And within two weeks
08:02of being sworn in
08:03as president,
08:05Dwight Eisenhower
08:07was baptized,
08:09confirmed,
08:09and became a communicant
08:11of the Presbyterian church.
08:13Graham thought
08:15that if he could convert
08:16certain well-known individuals,
08:18that that would have
08:20a greater effect
08:21in terms of bringing others
08:22into the kingdom.
08:24that would make the gospel
08:25more palatable
08:27to others.
08:29As president,
08:31Eisenhower invoked faith
08:32as a weapon against communism,
08:34just as Billy Graham
08:35had done.
08:37It seems to me
08:38if we're going to win
08:39this fight,
08:40we have got to go back
08:41to the very fundamentals
08:43of all things.
08:46and one of them is
08:47that we are
08:48a religious people.
08:50Even those among us
08:51who are so,
08:54in my opinion,
08:55so silly
08:56as to doubt
08:56the existence
08:57of an almighty,
08:58we are still members
09:00of a religious civilization.
09:04You see it in the language
09:05of Dwight D. Eisenhower
09:07and in the language
09:08of Billy Graham,
09:09the sense that religion
09:11is a sign of democracy.
09:14And they marry the two.
09:15Very clearly,
09:17Eisenhower comes out
09:18and says that democracy
09:19is in fact
09:20a public expression,
09:22basically,
09:23of a deeply felt religion.
09:25and he made a number
09:27of appeals to people
09:28to attend church.
09:30He made clear
09:31it doesn't matter
09:31which one.
09:32That's not important.
09:33It's just go to a worship service
09:38of whatever faith you are.
09:40This was not without effect.
09:43By 1960,
09:45as he leaves office,
09:47church membership
09:47in the United States
09:48stood at 65%.
09:50It had never been
09:51that high before.
09:52It was at the
09:54New York Avenue
09:55Presbyterian Church
09:57that Eisenhower
09:58heard a sermon
09:59on adding the words
10:01under God
10:01to the Pledge of Allegiance
10:03and from that day forward
10:05became an advocate
10:06of including
10:07the new words.
10:12After Eisenhower
10:14got behind it,
10:15after it got some publicity,
10:17the public
10:18was so overwhelmingly
10:19in favor.
10:22of the nation
10:22under God
10:24to indivisible
10:25with liberty
10:27and justice
10:28for all.
10:31President Eisenhower
10:33arrives at the post office
10:34department in Washington
10:35for the debut
10:36of the stamp,
10:36first to proclaim
10:37In God We Trust.
10:39It was in that environment,
10:41with this Cold War,
10:43the Congress decided
10:45that In God We Trust
10:47should be the new motto.
10:49Reclaiming this notion
10:51that we're a chosen people
10:52and that we were conceived
10:54under God
10:55and that we flourish
10:57under God
10:58and we turn our backs
11:00on God
11:01at our own peril.
11:05Nothing demonstrated
11:07America's merging
11:08of faith
11:08and patriotism
11:09and the strength
11:10of its religious revival
11:12more than Billy Graham's
11:141957 crusade
11:15in New York City.
11:18There's a quiet little voice
11:19in your heart
11:20that says,
11:21you better give your life
11:22to Christ.
11:23Now is the time.
11:24That is the voice
11:24of the church.
11:24Graham booked
11:25Madison Square Garden
11:26for a six-week campaign.
11:28Night after night,
11:30the seats were packed
11:31and the crusade
11:32was extended.
11:33It would last
11:34more than three months.
11:36I ask you to give
11:36your life to Christ
11:37now, tonight,
11:38while there's time.
11:40The Bible says
11:41now is the accepted time
11:42and all the way
11:43through the Bible
11:43it's an urgent business.
11:45This business
11:46of coming to Christ.
11:47I'm going to ask you
11:48to come and receive him
11:49right now.
11:52What are you going to do?
12:00Billy Graham was primarily
12:02interested in saving individuals.
12:05The way you save the nation
12:06is to save individuals
12:07one at a time.
12:09And if all Americans
12:11would become born-again
12:12Christians,
12:13from the Billy Graham
12:13perspective,
12:14then you would have
12:15a righteous society.
12:17That's a well-organized
12:18campaign, all right.
12:19Real saturation.
12:20Graham produced a film,
12:22dramatizing his message
12:23that even sophisticated
12:25New Yorkers
12:26needed to come to Christ.
12:28Somewhere they're using
12:28two or three thousand voices
12:30in just the chorus.
12:31Graham was especially
12:32interested in the people
12:34who were at the upper
12:36echelons of society,
12:37particularly in terms
12:38of their cultural influence.
12:41Well, I think we ought
12:43to have an opinion
12:43from our charming hostess.
12:45Mrs. Foster,
12:47what do you think
12:48of this crusade business?
12:52Well, honey?
12:58Well, all of your comments
13:00sound so familiar.
13:03But last night,
13:04I went to the garden.
13:07I knew I'd been groping
13:08for something,
13:09but I didn't know
13:10what it was until
13:11Mr. Graham began to speak.
13:16As he talked,
13:17I had a strange feeling
13:20of need.
13:24Night after night,
13:26I've asked people
13:26to bring their Bibles.
13:28I hope that many of you
13:29have brought your Bibles tonight.
13:30In New York,
13:31Graham preached in Times Square.
13:33The second verse
13:34of the 26th chapter
13:35of Congress.
13:35Have you been seen
13:36evil unto you
13:37to serve the Lord?
13:39On Wall Street.
13:40Do you give this day
13:41whom ye will serve?
13:43And in the crusade's
13:44biggest event,
13:45before a record-breaking crowd
13:47of over 100,000
13:48at Yankee Stadium.
13:52That night,
13:53the Cold War embrace
13:54between American religion
13:55and American politics
13:57was on full display
13:59as Graham shared his pulpit
14:01with Vice President
14:02Richard Nixon.
14:10One of the most basic reasons
14:13for America's progress
14:15in the past
14:15and for our strength today
14:19is that from the time
14:21of our foundation,
14:24we have had
14:25a deep
14:27and abiding faith
14:29in God.
14:31Nixon in 1957,
14:33of course,
14:33is already thinking
14:34about the 1960
14:35presidential campaign.
14:37So for Nixon,
14:38this was a very,
14:39very powerful moment
14:40being aligned
14:42with none other
14:43than Billy Graham.
14:45You have preachers
14:47who draw on politics
14:50and politicians
14:51who are using religion
14:52for their own
14:53public policy reasons.
14:55And so the sort of wall
14:57of separation
14:58of church and state
14:59that has been
15:01around as an option
15:03is going to be
15:04gradually, gradually
15:05whittled away
15:06in this period.
15:07I would say
15:08to our international problems
15:10that the principles
15:11of Christ
15:13form the only ideology
15:15hard enough
15:16to stop communism.
15:17when communism
15:19conquers the nation,
15:20it makes every man
15:22a slave.
15:22When Christianity
15:23conquers the nation,
15:25it makes every man
15:26a king.
15:27And it is my prayer
15:29that tonight...
15:30But as this Cold War
15:31convergence of faith
15:32and patriotism
15:33pervaded the country,
15:34that will spread
15:35across the nation
15:36and throughout the world...
15:38Some Americans
15:39saw it as a threat
15:40to their freedom.
15:44One of those
15:45dissenting voices
15:46came from a non-religious
15:47family deep
15:48in the American heartland
15:50in Champaign, Illinois.
15:54Champaign was a pretty
15:55conservative community
15:56at the time.
15:57And as a matter of fact,
15:58at that time,
15:59atheism was equated
16:01with communism.
16:01So he just didn't be
16:03an atheist in those days
16:04or let people know.
16:07Beginning in the 1940s,
16:09Champaign public school
16:10students were encouraged
16:11to attend classes
16:12in religious instruction
16:14led by a member
16:15of their faith
16:16on school grounds.
16:18If they chose not to,
16:20they were left
16:21to study alone
16:22in an empty room,
16:23like fifth grader
16:25Terry McCollum.
16:26We would go to the...
16:28what was called
16:29the music room
16:30with the teacher
16:32the regular public
16:33school teacher
16:34while the class
16:35was going on.
16:37And there was a time
16:37when the teacher
16:38set me out in the hall
16:40at a desk,
16:40which was usually
16:41for detention purposes.
16:43Of course,
16:43I was there alone
16:44and I didn't take
16:45to that too hot.
16:46And when my mother
16:47heard about it,
16:48she got rather
16:49incensed about it.
16:51My mother was not
16:52somebody looking
16:53for a fight.
16:55But she didn't
16:55mess with her either.
16:59Vashti McCollum,
17:00a self-described humanist,
17:02thought the religious
17:03classes program
17:04violated her son's rights.
17:07She went to see
17:09the superintendent
17:09of schools
17:11and told them
17:12she objected
17:12to the program
17:13and that she felt
17:14it was illegal
17:15and that it was
17:16impacting badly
17:17on her son
17:18and that it should
17:18be discontinued.
17:20Well, the school board,
17:21of course,
17:21was very much
17:22in favor of the program,
17:23so there was nothing
17:24that the superintendent
17:26could do about it.
17:28Vashti McCollum
17:30sued the school board.
17:33In the local Illinois
17:34court,
17:35she argued
17:36it was unconstitutional
17:37for public schools
17:38to impose religion
17:39on anyone.
17:43She lost the case,
17:45then appealed
17:46to the state supreme court
17:48where she lost again
17:50and local hostility
17:51toward her family grew.
17:54Well, we had a cat
17:55that was lynched.
17:58We had things thrown
18:01at the house.
18:02My mother answered
18:03the door one time
18:03and was deluged
18:05in a shower of garbage.
18:08We got some really
18:10juicy hate mail.
18:11We had a letter
18:12that was addressed
18:13simply to that atheist woman.
18:15No address.
18:16And the postal service
18:19delivered it.
18:20The case eventually reached
18:22the U.S. Supreme Court
18:24where the justices overturned
18:26the Illinois courts
18:27and ruled for the McCollums.
18:30The 8-to-1 decision
18:31invoked Thomas Jefferson's
18:33interpretation
18:34that the First Amendment
18:35erected a wall of separation
18:38between church and state.
18:41The court said
18:42that it was unconstitutional
18:44to use the machinery
18:46of the public school,
18:48to use the property
18:50of the public school,
18:51to enforce
18:53religious educational ideals
18:55of the parents
18:57or of the children's denomination,
19:00is that it certainly
19:01was appropriate
19:03for a child
19:04to get a religious education,
19:05but not for the government
19:07to be providing it
19:09on public school property.
19:11There was a lot of hostility
19:13to that ruling.
19:14A lot of hostility.
19:15One publication said
19:17that little Terry McCollum
19:18now has the right
19:19to go to hell.
19:23So I don't think
19:24at that time
19:25it liberalized anything
19:26except for the law.
19:30The Supreme Court
19:31is saying,
19:31you know,
19:32this may not fit
19:33with the American narrative,
19:34with the American mythology
19:35about this as a nation
19:37ordained by God,
19:38but in terms of
19:39First Amendment protections
19:41for minorities,
19:43that atheists
19:45have the same protections
19:46that other minorities have.
19:49It would take
19:50a series of Supreme Court rulings
19:52over several years
19:53to more fully define
19:55the role of religion
19:56in the public schools.
19:58I shall read Psalm 111.
20:02Praise the Lord.
20:03I will give thanks
20:04to the Lord
20:05with my own heart.
20:06Schools have always been
20:07a place where we inculcated
20:08this religious sensibility
20:10and where we made
20:11the connection
20:12between Christianity
20:13and morality
20:15and citizenship.
20:16Especially after World War II,
20:18in the Cold War,
20:19with the specter
20:20of the communists,
20:21the atheistic communists,
20:22became really important
20:23to do religion
20:25in the public schools
20:25and not teach about religion,
20:27not world religions courses
20:28or, you know,
20:30objective Bible courses,
20:31but to pray.
20:33Our Father,
20:34who art in heaven,
20:36hallowed be thy name.
20:37For our Lord,
20:38whose kingdom
20:38the power
20:40and the glory
20:40forever now.
20:41The decisive battle
20:42over school prayer
20:43began in a New York suburb
20:45after the state
20:46recommended
20:47an official
20:48non-denominational prayer
20:50for school children
20:51to recite.
20:53The New York State
20:54Board of Regents
20:55convened a group
20:56of ministers,
20:57priests,
20:58and rabbis
20:58to prepare prayer
21:00at the height
21:01of the Cold War.
21:02And this prayer
21:03was going to
21:06inoculate
21:06children against
21:08communism,
21:09atheism.
21:11Almighty God,
21:13we acknowledge
21:15our dependence
21:16upon thee,
21:17and we beg
21:19thy blessings
21:20upon us,
21:22our parents,
21:23our teachers,
21:25and our country.
21:27Amen.
21:28Nobody questioned it.
21:30Twenty-two words.
21:31Who could object
21:32to that?
21:33But opposition
21:35to the prayer
21:36did surface
21:36among several
21:37Jewish families
21:38who had recently
21:39moved to Long Island.
21:41The real crux
21:42of the matter
21:43came down
21:44to one particular
21:45elementary school
21:46that most Jews
21:48went to.
21:49My immediate reaction
21:51was that the state
21:52and the school board
21:55had no right
21:57to impose religion
21:59or prayers
21:59on the school children.
22:03Lawrence Roth
22:04learned that
22:05his children,
22:07Dan and Joe,
22:12were forced
22:13to say prayers,
22:14that there was
22:15a statue of Jesus
22:17in one of the classrooms.
22:18He said,
22:19I didn't bring
22:20our family out here
22:21to endure this.
22:24Roth recruited
22:25dozens of parents
22:26who also objected
22:27to the prayer.
22:28And ultimately,
22:30five families
22:31sued the school district.
22:33The issue
22:34for all of them
22:35was fundamentally
22:37that to be an American
22:39means that you
22:39don't have to be
22:40subjected to
22:41religious ideas
22:43and practices
22:43sponsored by the state
22:45that you find
22:46objectionable.
22:49In court,
22:50attorneys for the parents
22:51and for the school district
22:52argued the true meaning
22:53of the First Amendment,
22:55arguments they restaged
22:57for CBS news cameras.
22:58We come here
22:59in the spirit
23:01of Madison
23:01and Jefferson,
23:03in the conviction,
23:05the deep conviction,
23:06that the religious liberty
23:08not only of our clients
23:09but of all Americans
23:11lies in the principle
23:14of law
23:14set forth
23:15in the First Amendment
23:16to the Constitution
23:18which says
23:19that Congress
23:19shall make no law
23:20respecting an establishment
23:22of religion
23:23or preventing
23:24free exercise there are.
23:26The intention
23:27at that time
23:28was to prevent
23:30the establishment
23:32of a state church
23:33or a national church.
23:36It was not
23:37in any way
23:38to interfere
23:39with the religious freedoms
23:41of all of our people.
23:44In the local court,
23:45the school district
23:47won its case
23:47and then won again
23:49in the New York
23:50State Appeals Courts.
23:53But when the case
23:55reached the U.S. Supreme Court
23:56in 1962,
23:58the justices ruled
23:59six to one
24:00for the parents,
24:02banning prayer
24:03in public schools
24:04nationwide.
24:06The Supreme Court
24:08said the government
24:09simply cannot be
24:11in the business
24:12of providing religion.
24:14This was ground-level
24:17constitutional decision-making
24:20affecting the way
24:21public schools
24:22across the country
24:24design education
24:26for their students.
24:27So this was
24:27a massive change.
24:30I think that this decision
24:32is mostly horrible.
24:33It is tragic.
24:35I think that June 25, 1962
24:38will go down
24:39as the blackest day
24:40in the history
24:41of the United States.
24:42The school prayer decision
24:44was, in its day,
24:45the most unpopular decision
24:47the Supreme Court
24:48had ever made.
24:50You know,
24:51it's a terrible thing
24:52to say that
24:53you can't have prayer
24:56in the schools
24:57of this country.
24:58It's one of the number one
25:01objectives
25:01of atheistic communism.
25:05the destruction
25:06of the religious
25:07and spiritual life
25:09of this country.
25:09I think there's
25:10a tremendous resentment
25:11and I think that
25:12if a vote were taken
25:13in the United States
25:14it would go 80%.
25:16It would be overwhelming
25:18to have prayer
25:19and Bible reading
25:19in the schools.
25:22After the ruling,
25:23the Long Island families
25:25were harassed
25:26and ostracized.
25:30The Roths got thousands
25:31of hate phone calls
25:32in one week.
25:34There were fistfights.
25:36There was even
25:37at one point
25:38a cross burning
25:40with gasoline rags
25:42near the Roths car
25:44that nearly blew up
25:45the car,
25:46maybe the home.
25:48It was just
25:48a stunning display
25:50of hatred.
25:53It's one thing
25:54to say you believe
25:55in a principle.
25:56It's another thing
25:57to put your lives
25:57and your family
25:58on the line.
26:00And not many people
26:01do that.
26:10As the legal battles
26:12over separation
26:13of church and state
26:14were being waged,
26:15the most important
26:16social reform movement
26:18of the 20th century
26:19was putting religious faith
26:21at the center
26:22of its political aspirations.
26:25The civil rights movement
26:27had as its goal
26:28to get rid of segregation.
26:32This was a political goal,
26:33but it was advanced
26:34very much
26:35through religious means.
26:39And the whole thing
26:40had the feel
26:41of religion about it.
26:42It had the feel
26:43of a revival
26:44or a religious crusade.
26:50It was moving forward
26:52on the direction
26:52of people
26:53who understood
26:54the biblical prophetic tradition
26:56of calling out
26:58injustice and unrighteousness
27:00in the name of God.
27:01At the heart of the movement
27:03was the black church,
27:04which had sustained
27:06African Americans
27:07since slavery.
27:08The black church
27:10has always worked
27:11for spiritual enhancement
27:12and growth
27:13on the weekends
27:15and political upbuilding
27:18and improvement
27:19during the week.
27:22Black ministers
27:24saw that they needed
27:26to interpret
27:28the message of Christianity
27:29to have some special meaning
27:32for those who are poor
27:33and oppressed minorities.
27:38In 1955,
27:40in Montgomery, Alabama,
27:43Martin Luther King Jr.,
27:45descended from generations
27:46of preachers,
27:47took his first job
27:48as pastor
27:49of the city's
27:50oldest black church.
27:52He chose to go
27:53to Montgomery
27:54because he wanted
27:55a little quiet church
27:56where he could finish
27:58his doctoral dissertation.
28:01And lo and behold,
28:03as soon as he sends
28:05in his doctoral dissertation,
28:07Rosa Parks sits down
28:08on the bus.
28:11Rosa Parks sets him
28:13on a different course,
28:14that once she takes
28:16her action of refusing
28:17to give up her seat
28:18on the Montgomery bus,
28:20a movement starts
28:22and he's selected
28:23to lead it.
28:24As the new leader
28:26of the bus boycott,
28:27King gave his first
28:28civil rights speech
28:29in a packed Montgomery church.
28:32Just 26 years old,
28:34he laid out
28:35the central ideas
28:36that would define
28:37the movement,
28:38merging biblical principles
28:39with the ideals
28:41of democracy.
28:42We are not wrong
28:43in what we are doing.
28:45If we are wrong,
28:47the Supreme Court
28:48of this nation
28:49is wrong.
28:54If we are wrong,
28:56the Constitution
28:58of the United States
28:59is wrong.
29:03If we are wrong,
29:06God Almighty is wrong.
29:10Martin Luther King
29:11saw America's
29:13founding documents
29:14as giving voice,
29:16giving expression
29:17to fundamental
29:18biblical principles
29:20of justice and peace
29:21and equality.
29:23We're all equal
29:24before God,
29:26says the Bible.
29:27All men are created equal,
29:28says the Declaration
29:30of Independence.
29:31And so Martin Luther King
29:33is saying,
29:33let's take that seriously.
29:37The bus boycott
29:39challenged the power
29:40structure in Montgomery.
29:44At their home
29:45on South Jackson Street,
29:47King and his family
29:48endured death threats
29:49that shook his resolve.
29:53In the middle of the night,
29:55he receives
29:55a threatening telephone call.
29:57The call says,
29:59we're going to hurt
30:00your family,
30:01so you better
30:02just get out of town.
30:03And he's sitting alone
30:05in the kitchen,
30:05and his wife
30:07and child
30:08are in the bedroom.
30:11And he was wondering,
30:15you know,
30:15why did I do this?
30:17Why did I accept this role?
30:20Lord, I must confess
30:22that I'm weak now.
30:24I'm faltering.
30:24I'm losing my courage.
30:28King later recounted
30:30how he sat alone
30:31in his kitchen
30:32and prayed.
30:32It seemed
30:34at that moment
30:35that I
30:36could hear
30:37an inner voice
30:38saying to me,
30:41Martin Luther,
30:45stand up
30:46for righteousness.
30:49Stand up
30:50for justice.
30:53And lo,
30:54I heard
30:55the voice
30:55of Jesus
30:56saying,
30:58steal
30:58to fight on.
31:00He promised
31:01never
31:01to leave me,
31:03never to leave me alone.
31:05No,
31:06never alone.
31:09And it's at that point
31:10he had this sense
31:12that God was with him
31:13in the struggle.
31:15And once he goes
31:16through that crisis,
31:17I think he's really
31:18at peace
31:19with whatever
31:19is going to happen.
31:22Just three days later,
31:24King's house
31:24was bombed.
31:27They just barely
31:29missed his baby
31:30daughter.
31:33Coretta had just
31:34taken her back
31:34to the kitchen
31:35to get her
31:36some milk.
31:37She was three weeks
31:39old or something
31:39like that.
31:40After the bombing,
31:41a crowd of supporters
31:43gathered outside,
31:44eager for revenge.
31:46All of the men
31:47had been to the war
31:49and they came
31:50to Martin's house
31:51with their guns.
31:55and he had
31:56read Gandhi
31:57by that time
31:58and he said,
32:00we've got to find
32:02another way
32:02to change America
32:03without violence.
32:06And he sent them
32:07home with their guns.
32:10We still have
32:11the attitude of love,
32:13we still have
32:14the method
32:16of passive resistance
32:17and we are still
32:18insisting
32:19emphatically
32:20that violence
32:22is self-defeating,
32:23that he who lives
32:25by the sword
32:25will perish
32:26by the sword.
32:28A year later,
32:30the Supreme Court
32:31ruled that Montgomery's
32:33segregated buses
32:34were illegal,
32:35a victory for King's
32:37strategy
32:38of nonviolent
32:39resistance.
32:41You began
32:42to see
32:43a way
32:43to change
32:45America
32:45without destroying
32:47America
32:47that allowed
32:49us
32:50to exercise
32:51our religion,
32:53our faith,
32:54and
32:56our fight
32:57for freedom.
33:01As the civil rights
33:03movement
33:03linked faith
33:04with political change,
33:06the candidacy
33:07of John Kennedy
33:08in the 1960
33:09presidential campaign
33:11reignited the struggle
33:12over the separation
33:14of church
33:15and state.
33:16As recently
33:17as 1960,
33:18we still had
33:19this fear
33:20of Catholics
33:20in America.
33:21You had this
33:22specter of
33:22Vatican takeover
33:23of American society
33:24that people
33:25have been worried
33:26about in American
33:26history for hundreds
33:27of years,
33:27before even
33:28Kennedy emerged.
33:31Up until Kennedy,
33:33all the presidents
33:33were Protestant,
33:34this had been
33:35a Protestant country.
33:36We wouldn't have
33:37said it that way,
33:37but it was.
33:39This was a historic
33:42Protestant fear
33:43that a Catholic
33:44president could not
33:45possibly be
33:47uncompromised
33:47in relation
33:48to the Vatican.
33:49You would be
33:50divided between
33:50two loyalties
33:51to your church
33:52and to your state
33:53if you were
33:54to be elected
33:54president?
33:55Let me just say
33:56that I would not.
33:57I have sworn
33:58to uphold
33:59the Constitution
33:59in the 14 years
34:01I've been in Congress,
34:02in the years
34:03I was in the service.
34:04The Constitution
34:05provides in the
34:06First Amendment
34:06that Congress
34:07shall make no laws
34:08abridging the freedom
34:09of religion.
34:10I must say
34:11I believe in it.
34:12I think it's the only way
34:13that this country
34:14can go ahead.
34:15The prospect
34:16of a Catholic
34:17in the White House
34:18alarmed Protestant
34:19supporters of Kennedy's
34:21opponent,
34:21Richard Nixon,
34:22who was closely
34:23allied with Billy Graham.
34:25Richard Nixon,
34:26who Graham thinks
34:28is an exemplar
34:29of Protestant values,
34:31Christian values.
34:33Graham is very concerned
34:34about the prospect
34:35of a Roman Catholic
34:37in the White House
34:37and he resolves
34:40to do something about it
34:42but he's cagey enough
34:44to remain on the sidelines.
34:48As the fall campaign
34:49began,
34:51Billy Graham
34:51wrote to Kennedy
34:52assuring the candidate
34:53that rumors Graham
34:55might raise
34:55the religious issue
34:56were not true.
34:59It was a very cordial,
35:01congenial letter
35:02as you might imagine.
35:04Eight days later,
35:06Billy Graham convenes
35:08a meeting of
35:09American Protestant
35:09ministers in
35:10Montreux, Switzerland
35:11for the purpose
35:13of discussing
35:13how they could ensure
35:15that John Kennedy
35:16would not be elected
35:17in November.
35:21Behind the scenes,
35:22Graham wrote Nixon
35:23about the meeting
35:24and the group's plans
35:26but he would keep
35:27his own role private
35:28and not speak publicly
35:30on the Catholic issue.
35:33Just after Labor Day,
35:35there was another gathering
35:36of Protestant clergy
35:37in Washington, D.C.
35:40at the Mayflower Hotel.
35:42Billy Graham was not there.
35:44It was a closed-door meeting.
35:46The purpose of the gathering
35:47was to sound the alarm
35:51that we think
35:53it is dangerous
35:55to elect a Roman Catholic
35:57as President
35:58of the United States.
36:00Senator John F. Kennedy.
36:03In Houston, Texas,
36:05before 300 Protestant ministers,
36:08Kennedy confronted
36:09the issue head-on,
36:11clarifying his views
36:12on church and state.
36:14So it is apparently
36:15necessary for me
36:17to state once again
36:18not what kind of church
36:20I believe in,
36:21for that should be important
36:22only to me,
36:24but what kind of America
36:25I believe in.
36:27I believe in an America
36:29where the separation
36:30of church and state
36:32is absolute,
36:33where no Catholic prelate
36:34would tell the president,
36:36should he be Catholic,
36:38how to act.
36:39And no Protestant minister
36:41would tell his parishioners
36:43for whom to vote.
36:45After Kennedy's election,
36:47of course,
36:48Graham wants to maintain
36:49his access to power
36:51and in particular
36:52to the presidency.
36:54So there's a meeting
36:56that is arranged
36:56between the two of them
36:57before Kennedy even
36:58takes office.
36:59So Graham already
37:00is trying to make inroads
37:03into the Kennedy administration
37:05even though he had
37:07worked very hard
37:08to derail Kennedy's
37:09election in 1960.
37:12While Billy Graham
37:13pursued an insider's
37:15relationship
37:15with political power,
37:18Martin Luther King
37:19took a very different
37:20stance.
37:22King would remain
37:23the outsider,
37:24keeping his distance
37:25from the White House
37:26even as he pressured
37:27the new president
37:28to act on civil rights.
37:32Kennedy at this time
37:33does not have
37:34a strong commitment
37:35to civil rights reform.
37:36Kennedy is concerned
37:38about the Cold War
37:39and other kinds of issues.
37:40That's where his priority is.
37:42So he wants to keep
37:44the civil rights issue
37:45on the back burner.
37:47In 1963,
37:49in Birmingham, Alabama,
37:51King would launch
37:52waves of protests
37:53in the hope that images
37:54of aggressive police action
37:56might arouse the conscience
37:57of the nation
37:58and its president.
38:03Billy Graham called
38:04for restraint,
38:05saying King should
38:07put the brakes on.
38:10When King himself
38:12was arrested
38:12for marching
38:13without a permit,
38:14white religious leaders
38:15in Birmingham
38:16denounced him.
38:18Fellow men of God
38:20are calling for him
38:21to back away.
38:23He's creating
38:24more problems.
38:25He's disturbing
38:26the peace.
38:27He is bringing woes
38:29to the South.
38:30They saw that
38:31as ungodly.
38:32And Martin Luther King
38:33was appalled.
38:36So he started writing
38:37this letter
38:39from the Birmingham jail.
38:40He wrote it around
38:41the margins
38:42of the New York Times.
38:44And when he ran
38:45out of space,
38:46he wrote on toilet tissue.
38:48The letter itself
38:50is a response
38:51to the challenge
38:52of white ministers
38:53in Birmingham
38:54who had said,
38:56you know,
38:56why are you coming?
38:57Why are you causing
38:57trouble in our city?
38:59So he has to respond
39:00to that.
39:00Because they're challenging
39:01him as a Christian minister
39:03and saying that
39:04what you're doing
39:05doesn't seem very Christian
39:06to me.
39:08In his letter,
39:09later published
39:10in the Atlantic Monthly,
39:12King said he was preaching
39:13the gospel of freedom
39:14and challenged
39:16the complacency
39:17of his fellow ministers.
39:19He goes on
39:20to question
39:21the good faith
39:22of the religious leaders
39:23in the churches
39:24who were so critical
39:25of his movement.
39:27He says,
39:28I drive by their churches
39:30with their perfectly
39:31manicured front lawns
39:34and I ask myself,
39:37who is their God?
39:40How can someone
39:42who professes
39:43to worship a God
39:45and a Savior
39:46who saw all people
39:48as being equal,
39:49who created all people equal,
39:51a Christ who died
39:52for all people,
39:54how could these servants
39:55of that God
39:56and of that Christ
39:57do anything other than
39:59join in the fight
40:01for civil rights?
40:09The Birmingham campaign
40:10grew more violent
40:11and King's followers
40:13would find their own faith
40:14severely tested.
40:17Memories of those moments
40:18remain vivid today.
40:22When we got about
40:23two blocks from the jail,
40:24the police had blocked
40:26the street with their dogs
40:28and the fire trucks.
40:30When we got there,
40:31they said,
40:32you can't go to the jail.
40:33And so everybody got down
40:35on their knees
40:35and started praying.
40:37And when people
40:39are in that kind
40:40of situation,
40:41it's not a verbal prayer.
40:43It's more a moan.
40:45And when emotional,
40:47scared, religious people
40:49start moaning,
40:53something happens.
40:54And something happened
40:55not only to us,
40:57but to the police.
41:01And somebody jumped up,
41:03a lady said,
41:04God is with this movement.
41:06we're going on to the jail.
41:09And we started walking
41:10directly at the police
41:13and the dogs.
41:15And all of a sudden,
41:16the dogs weren't barking.
41:17And we started singing,
41:19I want Jesus to walk with me.
41:21And when you get through
41:23and you look back,
41:25you saw all of these fire trucks
41:27blocking the street
41:28and some good old sister
41:29hollered,
41:30great God Almighty,
41:31and parted the Red Sea
41:32one more time.
41:38But the images
41:39of Birmingham police
41:41attacking young demonstrators
41:42with dogs and fire hoses
41:44had shocked the nation
41:46and built a momentum
41:47for change
41:48that would finally lead
41:49President Kennedy
41:50to propose a landmark
41:52civil rights bill.
41:55It is better to settle
41:56these matters
41:57in the courts
41:57than on the streets.
41:59And new laws are needed
42:01at every level.
42:02But law alone
42:03cannot make men see right.
42:06We are confronted primarily
42:08with a moral issue.
42:10It is as old as the scriptures
42:11and is as clear
42:13as the American Constitution.
42:15The heart of the question is...
42:17Kennedy says
42:18it's an issue
42:19as old as the scriptures
42:21and as old as this nation,
42:23you know,
42:24in terms of the principles
42:25underlying it.
42:26Now, that's precisely
42:27what King has been saying,
42:28is that this is an issue
42:31that has to do
42:32with basic American values
42:34that have not been realized.
42:42throughout American history,
42:44the main story
42:45that we've gravitated toward
42:46has been the Exodus story.
42:50A people on the march
42:51with God by their side.
42:53And we've told it to ourselves
42:54as Puritans coming over
42:56to New England,
42:57as Mormons heading west
42:59across the mountains.
43:00And it was that story
43:01that really sustained
43:02the civil rights movement.
43:06Slavery was on Egypt.
43:10Segregation was on Egypt.
43:12Discrimination was on Egypt.
43:14And so,
43:16during the height
43:17of the civil rights movement,
43:18it was not unusual
43:19for people to be singing,
43:22go down Moses,
43:23wear down an Egypt land,
43:25and tell old Pharaoh
43:26to let my people go.
43:28And people identify with that.
43:31And I think part of what gave
43:32the civil rights movement power
43:34was the idea that
43:37the story of the Bible
43:39didn't end
43:39when the Bible
43:40ends.
43:42It's still going on now.
43:44The same activity
43:45of this God
43:45who wants freedom
43:46for his creation
43:48is inspiring
43:49Martin Luther King
43:50just as it inspired Moses.
43:54When the architects
43:55of our republic
43:58wrote the magnificent words
44:00of the Constitution
44:01and the Declaration
44:02of Independence,
44:05they were signing
44:06a promissory note
44:08to which every American
44:11was to fall out.
44:13In his speech
44:14at the 1963 March
44:16on Washington,
44:17King assumed the mantle
44:19of an Old Testament prophet,
44:21indicting his country
44:22for failing to live up
44:24to its founding principles.
44:26Instead of honoring
44:28this sacred obligation,
44:31America has given
44:33the Negro people
44:34a bad check,
44:35a check which has come back
44:37marked insufficient funds.
44:46Suddenly he turns
44:48and moves away
44:50from his manuscript,
44:52almost rolls his eyes
44:54toward the heavens
44:56and says,
44:57but I still have a dream.
45:00I still have a dream.
45:03It is a dream
45:04deeply rooted
45:05in the American dream.
45:08I have a dream.
45:09From then,
45:10the speech takes on
45:11an entirely different character.
45:14The judgmental prophet,
45:17the Jeremiah,
45:18gives way to the visionary
45:20who sees a better day.
45:23When we allow freedom to ring,
45:27when we let it ring
45:28from every village
45:29and every hamlet,
45:31from every state
45:32and every city,
45:34we will be able
45:35to speed up that day
45:37when all of God's children,
45:39black men and white men,
45:41Jews and Gentiles,
45:43Protestants and Catholics,
45:44will be able
45:45to join hands
45:47and sing in the words
45:48of the old Negro spiritual,
45:50free at last,
45:51free at last.
45:53Thank God Almighty
45:54we are free at last.
46:00I have a dream
46:01of sort of like
46:02Lincoln's
46:03of the people,
46:04by the people,
46:05for the people.
46:06It was our declaration
46:07of independence,
46:09our declaration
46:10of freedom,
46:12and our Gettysburg Address.
46:16The march on Washington
46:17and the passage
46:18of Kennedy's
46:19civil rights bill,
46:20pushed through Congress
46:21by President Lyndon Johnson,
46:23were triumphs
46:24for the civil rights movement.
46:27But the next year,
46:29when they pressed Johnson
46:30for new guarantees
46:31for the right to vote,
46:32they met resistance.
46:34Lyndon Johnson
46:35explained to us
46:37why we couldn't have
46:38a voting rights act.
46:39And he was very apologetic
46:42about his powerlessness
46:43as president.
46:46The movement
46:47would once again
46:48decide to challenge
46:50the conscience
46:51of a president.
46:52It would be detrimental
46:52to your safety
46:53to continue this march.
46:55Go home
46:55or go to your church.
46:57This march
46:58will not continue.
47:04The power
47:05of the civil rights movement
47:06and of King
47:07and of the strategy
47:08of non-violent
47:08civil disobedience
47:09was that it assumed
47:10that the opponents
47:13knew in their hearts
47:14that they were wrong.
47:16And it's the sort of
47:17the God in you
47:18that knows it's wrong.
47:29The next thing you know,
47:31Lyndon Johnson
47:31was introducing
47:32a voting rights bill
47:33with the words,
47:35and we shall overcome.
47:39And so you saw
47:40that this was
47:41a government
47:41of the people
47:42and the people
47:43had the power
47:44not the president.
47:46You had the feeling
47:47that you were being used
47:49by forces
47:51that you had
47:51no control over.
47:53And all you had to do
47:54was let go
47:56and let God.
47:59What I find remarkable
48:01about Martin Luther King
48:02is that he was willing
48:04to cooperate
48:06with politicians,
48:08most significantly
48:09with Lyndon Johnson,
48:10and yet King
48:12was able to maintain
48:13his distance,
48:14his prophetic distance,
48:16from power
48:18and from the lures
48:20of power.
48:21I want to make it
48:22very clear
48:23that I'm going to continue...
48:25King put his relationship
48:26with Johnson at risk,
48:28directly confronting
48:29the president
48:30on Vietnam.
48:38It's one thing
48:39to be a popular prophet
48:41or an inside prophet
48:43where you have
48:43instant access
48:45to the halls of power.
48:46You can have lunch
48:47or tea
48:47with Lyndon Baines Johnson
48:49whenever it's convenient.
48:51But in his opposition
48:53to the war in Vietnam,
48:54he became an outside prophet,
48:56like Jeremiah,
48:57throwing pebbles
48:57from the outside.
48:58And don't let anybody
49:00make you think
49:03that God
49:04chose America
49:06as his divine,
49:08messianic force
49:09to be
49:10a sort of policeman
49:13of the whole world.
49:16God has a way
49:17of standing before
49:19the nations
49:20with judgment,
49:20and it seems
49:22that I can hear
49:23God saying to America,
49:25you are too arrogant.
49:27if you don't change
49:29your ways,
49:31I will rise up
49:33and break the backbone
49:35of your power.
49:38He knowingly
49:40and willingly
49:41burnt his bridges
49:43to the source of power
49:44in the United States,
49:47and he did so
49:48because, as he said,
49:49I am a minister
49:50of the gospel,
49:51and I must
49:52tell that truth.
49:55And I take that
49:57as an illustration
49:59of King's ability
50:02to use the political system,
50:04but not to allow himself
50:06or to allow the faith
50:08to become co-opted
50:11by politicians,
50:13to become corrupted
50:15by access
50:17to the councils
50:18of power.
50:21By the end
50:22of his life,
50:23Martin Luther King
50:25had fully embraced
50:26his role
50:26as political outsider
50:28and uncompromising
50:29American prophet.
50:32Well, I don't know
50:33what will happen now.
50:35We've got some
50:36difficult days ahead,
50:39but it really
50:40doesn't matter
50:40with me now
50:41because I've been
50:43to the mountaintop.
50:47He had never
50:48spoken with such
50:50power
50:50and never
50:52articulated
50:52this vision
50:53with such a depth
50:55of feeling
50:56as he did
50:58on the night
50:58before he died.
51:00I just want
51:01to do God's will.
51:04And he's allowed
51:05me to go up
51:06to the mountain.
51:08And I've looked over
51:10and I've seen
51:13the promised land.
51:16I may not get
51:17there with you,
51:18but I want you
51:19to know tonight
51:21that we as a people
51:23will get to
51:24the promised land.
51:36His death
51:37was not the end.
51:37and his words
51:40and his spirit
51:41have moved
51:42all across the earth.
51:46It points to
51:48the fact that
51:49this is
51:50a religious
51:50universe.
51:55Most people,
51:57particularly most
51:59educated Americans,
52:02get uncomfortable
52:03when their emotions
52:07and their spirituality
52:09get the best
52:10of their intellect.
52:11But there are times
52:12when intellect
52:13can't handle it.
52:18The truly religious
52:19moments in our
52:20civil rights movement
52:21didn't make
52:22any intellectual sense.
52:25Nobody in their
52:25right mind
52:26would do some
52:27of the things
52:27that we did.
52:28But we did it
52:29because we were
52:30caught up in a spirit.
52:42by the late 60s,
52:44religion has changed
52:45in America.
52:47What we see
52:48is a movement
52:50from emphasis
52:50of personal salvation
52:52to a social gospel.
52:55And that comes
52:56primarily from
52:57the civil rights movement.
52:58they have refused
53:01to accept the gospel
53:04as simply
53:05a message
53:06of personal redemption.
53:09This is a period
53:10where religion
53:10is pushing us,
53:12changing us
53:12as individuals,
53:13but also pushing us
53:14and changing us
53:15as a society.
53:17The public space,
53:19the political
53:20and social space,
53:21is sort of
53:22ripe for
53:23religious harvesting.
53:25The success
53:26of the civil rights movement
53:27is going to move
53:28people to say
53:28let's use religion
53:30in the political space
53:31in the direction
53:32that we want to go.
53:33Sort of a big green light
53:34in a way
53:35to the conjoining
53:37together of religion
53:39and politics
53:39in American life.
53:59is going to be
54:27into a huge
54:27Amém.
54:57Amém.
Comentários