In the fifty-five years since Dr. King’s assassination, the number of civilians killed by guns in the United States has exceeded the number of Americans killed in uniform during all the wars in our nation’s history combined. And on October 25, 2023, Maine experienced the worst mass shooting in our state’s history.
For our 2024 commemoration of MLK Day, Maine Council of Churches and The BTS Center will co-host an online public reading of excerpts from The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr. that reveal how King’s stance on gun ownership evolved after the 1956 fire-bombing, from that of a gun owner desperate to protect himself and his family, to a leader who understood that fear was both a tool of the oppressor and a deeply internalized trait of white supremacy, to a preacher who challenged people of faith to read the Second Amendment in light of the Second Commandment (“Do not make idols and bow down to and serve them”) and recognize the false divinity of guns in our national consciousness.
This event will include a public reading featuring multiple voices interpreted in American Sign Language, music by songwriter and recording artist Joshua Long, and space for reflection. |
