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Show The dream lives on By ERIC SMITH THE DREAM LIVES ON Twenty-five years ago, Martin Luther King, Jr. gave one of the most powerful speeches ever, entitled "I Have a Dream." He addressed the entire nation from a pulpit in the shadow of the Lincoln Memorial. Abraham Lincoln had begun the arduous process of freeing the black man, and one hundred years later, after little progress, Martin Luther King, Jr., started a great revival. By using love and passive resistance and refraining from violence, King helped the white man realize his wrongdoings wrong-doings and finally established equal rights, regardless of color, under the law. Now, in 1988, America and the entire world are experiencing many different problems, yet similar in that many of these problems arise from prejudice and bigotry passed from one generation to the next. The only way to rid our world of such problems as apartheid, religious intolerance, racial injustice and other issues central to worldwide conflict is to bring these problems into the open using nonviolent means and to abolish their practice fairly. Indeed, the black man has come a long way since his lowly position hardly twenty years ago, but racial injustice still exists throughout the world. Whether this injustice is physical harassment harass-ment and segregation in South Africa, or whether it is the mere calling of a name, it still abounds. White men, black men, Orientals, Spaniards and Indians alike, all need to abandon their inherited beliefs and fears of their fellow brothers and institute a world filled with caring and love. Prejudice because of color is not the only prejudice, however. One of the other major prejudices has to do with religion. Religious discrimination in America has mostly been done away with because of legislation prohibiting it, but throughout the world, religious intolerance, persecution, and even religious wars still live on. Throughout the history of the world, religion has been one of the major, if not the most important, aspects of a human being's life. Almost any religious sect, seeking to break away the common beliefs of others, will be tormented. Why is it that such biased feelings have and do exist? People are happy with what they believe in, often times having mentally toiled to achieve this happy state, and when someone differs from one's own beliefs, they disrupt this calm flow and the once kind person may turn into a raging giant of emotion, striking out at all who would seek to change his ways. To resolve this inner conflict, one who feels that his own life is being influenced or disrupted by the actions of others, need to examine the motives and intentions of the others, always keeping in mind that everyone every-one has a right to do, say, and think on his own, and ask himself the simple question: "What would I want people to do to me if I were in the same situation?" Once society begins using Dr. King's philosophy of reform, passively informing one in the wrong of his offense, and continually con-tinually specifying that resolving the problem would be for the betterment of all, then the world can rest in peace and people of all colors, races, creeds, nationalities, religions and sexes can live with each other in harmony. |