“That does not mean he never uttered any profound ideas or ideals. He did.”
Uttering profound ideas and ideals is definitely not an indication of character, especially when they are plagiarized, as King was known to do. Anyone can quote scripture, or the writings of our Founding Fathers and/or their sources.
“Uttering profound ideas and ideals is definitely not an indication of character”
I did not indicate it was. I offered no praise of MLK’s character.
I only pointed out that the same thing - questionable moral character - is not absent in many great figures of the past, yet if they had some great idea or ideal that they offered, in their time, we still appreciate what they said, whether we approve of their character or not.
There are things in Trump’s character I do not approve of. But for what I want a president to do, in that I VERY much approve of Trump. I would not dare weaken anything I favor about Trump by switching the emphasis from what matters to me about Trump - his actions as president - to his character. Like MLK, his character is to be resolved between him and G-d, not with me.
Just as an FYI, Thomas Jefferson plagiarized from John Locke when drafting the Declaration of Independence, so by your logic, he also has terrible character (especially when he’s probably the only one of the founding fathers who cheerleaded the Jacobins even after witnessing their tawdry acts).