[MacNaughton]

Thanks for the link. I will read it again later. Your statement that MLKJr. "doesn't neatly fit" is a good descriptor. Another term that may be closer to the truth is that he was a "fellow traveler" to communism. His self-espoused socialism and pledge to seek social justice definitely put him in contact with communists.

1957 - The Highlander Folk School, Monteagle, TN

8/20/1963 - MLKJr. Speech - March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom

Alex Haley’s 1965 Playboy Interview with Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

[CondoleezzaProtege]

I haven't read your links yet...but I appreciated reading the personal letter he wrote to Dr. Darrell Randall of the National Council of Churches regarding why he wanted to visit the Soviet Union. (King sought the funding for the trip, but never got to go due to all the suspicion surrounding him in the states.) Anyhow. Here were some of the reasons he listed for wanting to visit the USSR...He was especially curious to understand how Soviet atheism and oppression affected Christians and the ways in which Christian values were transmitted.

3. Among some of the more specific lines of inquiry I wish to pursue are those which would illuminate the reasons for the continued existence of religious conviction among millions of Soviet citizens, all of whom have been subjected to varying degrees of oppression and discouragement by powerful agencies of propaganda and anti-religious education. This tenacity to spiritual commitment is worthy of careful study for these precise methods to the control of man's relationship to God may be unique in human experience.

4. As a Baptist I am especially interested to be in contact with the large number of practicing Baptists within the Soviet Union.

5. As a Negro I have special concern with the influence that Soviet theory and practice have had upon the millions of colored peoples who populate the less industrially developed areas of the world. As a believer in non-violence as revealed in the teachings of Jesus Christ, I am anxious to examine the reactions of the people in a society which for so many years has sought to deny the basic spiritual and moral doctrine of Christianity.

6. As one who attempts to adhere to a non-violent philosophy I am anxious to experience the reaction of Soviet officials and people to those of us who hold to the view that peace and justice are possible to the degree that the world uncompromisingly embraces the Judeo-Christian ideals.