Pilgrimage to Nonviolence by Martin Luther King - Essay Example

Love Number] [24/11 This paper supports the idea that diverse attributes of love tend to solve many social problems, and argues that individuals should be educated on how to handle discrimination, through love and not violence. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote an article, Pilgrimage to Nonviolence, in which he writes prominently about his visit to India. Martin Luther states that meeting with prominent leaders from all over the world, was a memorable experience. After many attempts and delays, he finally had the chance to visit India and was welcomed by a grand reception. He was referred by his name in unexpected places, invited to many events and considered as brother. Most of public speaking opportunities that Martin Luther had were based on racial problems; Indians wanted to listen to the problems that Negro’s faced (McCracken, 474). Martin Luther King also observed that the Indian population crowded the streets and squares. He stated that the people were poorly dressed and hunger stricken. But surprisingly, there wasn’t much crime, due to the spiritual quality of the poor. Here, the concept of agape can be related, as it refers to the love of the spirit. In the whole article, Pilgrimage to Nonviolence, Martin Luther has stated the qualities of Mahatma Gandhi. He refers Mahatma Gandhi as a loving person, who was against violence. When Martin Luther, along with his wife and friend had a dinner with the Prime Minister of India, Jawahar Lal Nehru, Lady Mountbatten also joined them. The viceroy’s wife was in India when the country gained its independence. Her presence showed that Mahatma Gandhi loved his people and wanted the start of a new, non-violent community (McCracken, 473). From Pilgrimage to Nonviolence, the personality of Mahatma Gandhi seemed a prominent one. According o Martin Luther King, he was followed because of his sincerity and the ability to face criticism. He achieved the bridge between ego and id, which is superego and was an amazing individual. Martin Luther King’s affiliation with his friend, Dr. Reddick and wife, Coretta, can be categorized as Philia. Philia is a love that one feels for their family, friends and personal things. Coretta and Dr. Reddick accompanied Martin Luther throughout his journey and were interested in many aspects of India. In the article, their trip to Trivandrum was a memorable one, because of a beautiful night that they all witnessed (King, Pilgrimage to Non-violence). Martin Luther king observed Gandhi’s rapport among his people. Gandhi had a charismatic personality and mobilized more people than anyone else. Agape is the concept used to define the relationship that Gandhi had with his people. With the spiritual quality of love; and without evil and hatred tactics, Gandhi weakened the backbone of the British Empire (King, Pilgrimage to Non-violence). Martin Luther has also compared the situation of people from different races and how differently they were treated in America and India. In America, people were slow in accepting Negros and even the government denied making an official stand on segregation. In India, however, educational institutions, government and religious bodies took a stand to eliminate segregation from India. These bodies spoke for the rights of untouchables, and declared discrimination as a crime. From his visit to India, Martin Luther King was determined to achieve freedom, with the help of love and non-violent means. He was inspired by practices and teachings of Mahatma Gandhi (McCracken, 473). Philadelphia is a Hollywood movie about a law firm employee, who is diagnosed with AIDS. Tom Hanks stars as Andrew Beckett and is a homophobic. When the law firm company fires Andrew, because he is a homophobic and has AIDS, he sues his company on the basis of discrimination. After nine refusals from lawyers for his case, Denzel Washington, starring as Joe Miller takes his case. Joe is against gays, but he takes the case because he detects prejudice and injustice in his case. When Andrew wins the case, he dies the very next day. Though, the movie is more about the individual who has AIDS, than what is AIDS, it does present some facts relating to AIDS and who can be affected from it (Reddick, 160). How AIDs affected people were treated in the society; is shown. For example, when Andrew was called in the conference room by his boss, the camera shows the distance between Andrew and his co-workers, which is an evident sign of prejudiced and an act of precaution from being contaminated. AIDS was referred to as illness which was considered to spread like pollution. The society was shown to be afraid of AIDS patients, because of fear that they would be infected by the same disease. Antonio Bandores plays the role of Andrews’s lover in the movie. They were in a long distance relationship and the concept of Eros applies here. Tom Hanks and Antonio Bandores relationship isn’t limited to only sexual attraction, but their relationship is based on love. When Tom Hanks is on his death bed, Bandores is there for him; he kisses Tom Hank’s fingers to say goodbye and show his love. Another relationship that is humorous, friendly and tear-shedding at the same time is between Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington. Even though Denzel is against gay relationships, after taking Hank’s case he accepts that gay shouldn’t be discriminated. He comes closer to gay men and reassesses his feelings and perspective of them. When initially Hank approaches Denzel to fight his case, Denzel had the same perspective about AIDS. With time and awareness of AIDS he recognizes his discriminating perspectives and Hank’s relationship with Denzel strengthens then. They are seen more close to each other, sitting side by side in libraries and Denzel even touches Hank’s face, when he needs an oxygen mask and is in health crisis. Hank and Denzel are shown as friends, and thus, that embraces the concept of Philia. In the article and the movie, two main concepts have been discussed. Martin Luther King was impressed by Mahatma Gandhi’s attitude towards violence and he was inspired to eliminate discrimination from America, through non violent acts. Similarly, in the movie Philadelphia, even though Denzel didn’t stand for the rights of gay, he detected discrimination as Hank’s was an AIDS patient. Denzel kept his personal feelings aside and stood up for Hank’s right to employment (Reddick,155). References King, Martin. Pilgrimage to Non-violence. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute. Web. 23 Nov. 2012. . King, Martin. Pilgrimage to Non-violence. 2004. Web. 23 Nov. 2012. . McCracken, Robert J. "“My Pilgrimage to Non-violence"." The Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project (1958): 473-81. Print. Reddick, Lawrence. "Crusader without Violence: A Biography of Martin Luther King." The Martin Luther King, Jr. Papers Project (1959): 150-250. Print. Read More