Be Bold
By: Seeker Of Truth
Tags: Book Of Mormon, MLK, Civil Rights, Protest, Religion

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was probably the greatest nonviolent political activist in modern history. His civil disobedience approach led to the independence of 1.3 billion people. Although Gandhi was not the originator of the principle of nonviolence, he was the first to apply it in the political field on a large scale. Gandhi led India to independence and inspired movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. One of the men inspired by Gandhi’s nonviolent beliefs and tactics was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Dr. King was a Christian minister who became an activist and leader in the American civil rights movement in the ’50s and ’60s until his assassination.

Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. show us that nonviolent activism requires a lot of courage, boldness, and willingness to momentarily upset public peace in order to better society. In 1963, Dr. King Jr. began a campaign against racial segregation and economic injustice. The campaign used nonviolent but intentionally confrontational tactics openly violating laws that they considered unjust. Dr. King Jr. was arrested and jailed 29 times in his lifetime; quite a troublemaker, right?

It’s interesting that we applaud great men like Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. who challenged others to change how they lived their lives, but we want to change Jesus Christ to fit our lives. Gandhi and Dr. King Jr. were bold changemakers, even troublemakers for disrupting public peace. Their peace was not passive; their love brought division. These leaders required a lot from their people. Preaching peace didn’t stop them from marching, and asking others to march towards closed gates or guarded bridges to be mercilessly beaten by their adversaries. Worthwhile change requires us to step out of our comfort zone; to stop doing the easy thing, to change our lives. Thinking that God and his son Jesus Christ will accept any type of behavior means that we don’t understand their love or plan for us. Would we expect Dr. King to stop or change his fight for racial equality to accommodate sensitive racists? Can we, in all honesty, think that Gandhi or Dr. King didn’t love enough because they would not accept certain views or behaviors? No. They loved all men, including those that oppressed them, but that didn’t stop them from standing for what they knew was right.

While Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. made the world a better place by nonviolently fighting for human dignity and political freedom, there is an even more significant struggle. A silent fight for the souls of men is happening as we speak; Jesus Christ wants us to grow to our full potential, discover the natural laws of our spirit, and live by them. Why?

God did not come up with a series of arbitrary rules that we need to live by. Because He knows all things, he understands our true nature and has given us the instruction manual of our spirits. We call the instructions the gospel or the plan of salvation. While there are many things not included in the plan that are temporarily pleasurable, true happiness and real power come from following the instructions of the manufacturer. When I was a kid in South America, my sister brought my siblings and me a Sega Genesis from the US. The Sega Genesis was the Play Station of the early ’90s. We were so excited! The moment we got the console, we ran up the stairs and hooked it up to the TV. As we pressed the power button, the Sega Genesis blew up… we didn’t read the instructions and in the excitement of the moment forgot that we needed an electric adapter because we used 220 volts electricity and the US uses only 110 volts. The Sega Genesis integrity lasted about one minute. The interesting thing is that it didn’t completely die. With the proper adaptor it actually worked, but it was seriously messed up. From that day on, the colors were distorted. and the image was terrible. Playing with it, was a daily reminder of the convenience of reading the instructions to have things work correctly, as they were intended to work from the beginning. We are like the Sega Genesis. We will continue to “work” even if we don’t follow the manufacturer’s instructions, but we will not reach our full potential. Every satisfaction we may experience outside of God’s plan pales in comparison to the joy and glory that comes from knowing who we truly are and living to our fullest potential. Giving men and women the opportunity to experience such joy is the ultimate battle for the human spirit and freedom. God’s cause is a mighty one and as the causes of other great leaders, it’s worth the struggle.

If we are to stand for God’s cause, we need to be bold. In the Book of Revelations, the Lord says: “So then because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold nor hot, I will spue thee out of my mouth.” (Revelations 3:16). Being lukewarm does us no good. It puts us in the sidelines. Think about Gandhi and Dr. King. They were pacifists, but at the same time, they were relentless in pursuing their objectives. Dr. King said: “I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Councilor or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to order than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action”. Do we have the conviction that we are part of a great cause? Do we believe that this is the time to press forward? The world is polarizing its views of right and wrong. While we need to be kind and respectful of all people, the time is coming in which we will need to make bold stands for what we believe. Jesus Christ wants our all because he knows that is the only way to truly develop our eternal potential.

The conflict is inevitable but how we feel about it makes all the difference. Jesus Christ loves all people, even those that don’t follow him and won’t be able to reap the blessings of living the Gospel. Ill feelings of anger against other people cannot exist. The moment we get angry to defend the truth, we lose the essence of truth. Gandhi stated that the most important battle to fight was overcoming his own demons, fears, and insecurities. I believe he was right. We are not against others, but for God. Remember the advice Alma, the ancient Book of Mormon prophet, gave his son: “Use boldness, but not overbearance; and also see that ye bridle all your passions, that ye may be filled with love” (Alma 38:12, Book of Mormon) Let’s be bold and at the same time loving. We need to learn to truly love the sinner and reject sin. The moment we get those two wrong, we lose the struggle.