2008 Woodie Awards
Local reverend remembers Martin Luther King, Jr. during service
Eric Prock
Issue date: 1/27/05 Section: News
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Rev. Benjamin T. Hailey, Sr., pastor of the Union Baptist Church in Allentown, spoke at the College in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
The Office of Multicultural Life at the College organized the annual remembrance service that occurred on Jan. 20.
Hailey's address, entitled "At What Price, Peace?", echoed Dr. King's vision of racial harmony achieved through the acceptance of God's will.
Hailey told the audience to do the following: Reach into your pocket and grab a couple of coins or a couple dollar bills and read the face of whatever monetary unit you retrieved. He pointed out that they say, "In God we trust."
He then instructed them to put their right hand over their hearts, and recite the Pledge of Allegiance... "One nation under God, with liberty and justice for all."
Hailey cited these as subtle reminders that this nation was founded through the will of God. Hailey asserted that this nation could never know peace until we remember our divine roots. He said, "All are one in Christ Jesus...this is the price of freedom and peace, man living in service to one another."
Hailey was of the opinion that our life mission is to esteem others above ourselves and to give ourselves to the betterment of humanity.
This, according to Hailey, is the vision of God's community; this is the vision of peace.
Hailey went on to contend that with the present state of affairs, our nation does not conform to this vision.
To explain his reasoning, he emphasized that the status quo can never be conducive to peace because the status quo is merely the absence of conflict.
This absence of conflict neither entails peace nor justice.
Hailey said we ignore or euphemize racial issues that are at the heart of inequality, and we call it peace merely because there is no conflict. But there is no conflict because we ignore or "sugar coat" the issues.
According to Hailey, this ignorance does not eliminate the problem; it only perpetuates the problem. Hailey asserted that the problem in contemporary America, unlike Dr. King's America, is not that blacks are incarcerated or segregated.
The Office of Multicultural Life at the College organized the annual remembrance service that occurred on Jan. 20.
Hailey's address, entitled "At What Price, Peace?", echoed Dr. King's vision of racial harmony achieved through the acceptance of God's will.
Hailey told the audience to do the following: Reach into your pocket and grab a couple of coins or a couple dollar bills and read the face of whatever monetary unit you retrieved. He pointed out that they say, "In God we trust."
He then instructed them to put their right hand over their hearts, and recite the Pledge of Allegiance... "One nation under God, with liberty and justice for all."
Hailey cited these as subtle reminders that this nation was founded through the will of God. Hailey asserted that this nation could never know peace until we remember our divine roots. He said, "All are one in Christ Jesus...this is the price of freedom and peace, man living in service to one another."
Hailey was of the opinion that our life mission is to esteem others above ourselves and to give ourselves to the betterment of humanity.
This, according to Hailey, is the vision of God's community; this is the vision of peace.
Hailey went on to contend that with the present state of affairs, our nation does not conform to this vision.
To explain his reasoning, he emphasized that the status quo can never be conducive to peace because the status quo is merely the absence of conflict.
This absence of conflict neither entails peace nor justice.
Hailey said we ignore or euphemize racial issues that are at the heart of inequality, and we call it peace merely because there is no conflict. But there is no conflict because we ignore or "sugar coat" the issues.
According to Hailey, this ignorance does not eliminate the problem; it only perpetuates the problem. Hailey asserted that the problem in contemporary America, unlike Dr. King's America, is not that blacks are incarcerated or segregated.