Martin Luther King, Jr.’s heartbreaking 1963 Letter from a Birmingham Jail is a classic rhetorical response to social injustice and to those who seek to perpetuate injustice either by ignorance, complacency, or tacit approval. MLK eloquently calls out the clergymen in Alabama who condemned him as an “extremist” for his very reasonable and honorable – not to mention incredibly brave – non-violent tactics, which exposed the gross injustices suffered by the black population across the segregated south.

In his Letter, MLK invokes the words and deeds of several historical figures to tear apart the counter-arguments of the local clergymen – as he languishes in jail for protesting unjust laws. MLK makes the profound point that obeying an unjust law is far worse than taking no action at all to change it; and he chides the clergymen for imploring him to “wait until the time is right,” when all parties know that for most southern whites the time will never be right.

Religious fanaticism has been used to justify some of the most horrendous atrocities imaginable, from the Inquisition to global Jihad to the Occupied Territories: all of it in the name of God. It doesn’t really matter which one.

Growing up in a non-religious family, I am constantly appalled at the way in which the teachings of every major religion have been perverted and twisted to suit the purposes of the ruling elite. The strategy of ‘divide and conquer’ has worked to perfection. Religious fervor has always been used to control minds – not to enlighten them. Religious zealots have ruined society for everyone. I’ve never set foot inside a church or temple for any reason other than for weddings or funerals and I have a far better sense of morality than the hypocrites who so loudly – and publically – proclaim their piety.

Let me put it this way: from the outside, all religions seem equally inane. Scientology is just as silly as Islam or Judaism or Christianity or Buddhism. The first thing I think of when I hear someone described in the media as being “deeply religious” is: HYPOCRITE.

History has proven this to be a correct assumption. The two go hand in hand.

If it weren’t for brave, intelligent people like Dr. King and his followers, large segments of this country would still be segregated – and that would be perfectly fine with millions of God-fearing, Jesus-loving white folks.

Unfortunately, in our current state of political subterfuge, growing factions of ultra-right wing ideologues such as Ted Cruz, Rick Santorum and Rick Parry are ready, willing, and able to drag civilization back into the dark ages and forget the lessons of the past. They would prefer that we revert to the “good old days,” of the robber-barons – long before any Civil Rights legislation came to pass. Some even seek to rationalize slavery or gloss over the hideous truth of that dark time.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail is one of the most compelling rebuttals to racism and injustice ever written. He berates the white clergymen for their tacit approval of segregationist policies, and he purposely uses tension as a bargaining chip; an agent of change. He seeks to bring tension into the community as a necessary tool to instigate positive social change. The absence of tension is equal to a “negative peace,” which leads to complacency and inaction.

Tension creates an uncomfortable strain in the local community with the ultimate goal of re-negotiation in order to address the injustices through nonviolent forceful direct actions. None of the concessions achieved by Dr. King would have been possible without the creation of tension in the minds of his opposition.