How Does King Use Logical Appeals In Letter From Birmingham Jail

King discusses the morals and types of laws, those “just and unjust”. By explaining laws and using reason to portray situations when laws can and should be broken, King guides the clergymen through his rationalization. To strengthen the sympathetic pathos in his letter, King discusses historical people and events and because something is legal, it doesn't make it moral, like segregation. He emphasizes that although everything Hitler did, such as murdering millions of Jews and cruel scientific experiments, was legal, it was not morally right. "It was illegal to aid and comfort a Jew in Hitler's Germany. But I am sure that if I had lived in Germany during that time I would have aided and comforted my Jewish brothers even though it was illegal." King is comparing American segregation to Hitler's anti-Semitic Germany. King quotes St. Augustine, “an unjust law is no law at all.” Because King comes off as being moral and fair, ethos is established. He is seen as an integral leader. Through this, King is able to argue why he links segregation to being an unjust law.

Martin Luther King Jr. wrote this letter from a jail in Birmingham, Alabama. Dr. King’s wrote this letter for eight white clergymen who unapproved of his nonviolent protests for racial equality and segregation. In “Letter from Birmingham Jail” Dr. King been arrested and is writing to the clergymen about why he felt the need to be protesting also reasons why the clergymen should care. In this letter, Martin Luther King Jr. uses persuasion to show that the clergymen and the church should be ashamed of themselves for discontinuing his nonviolent protest. Throughout “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, Martin Luther King Jr. remains calm, although he is in jail for leading nonviolent protest for equality and ending segregation. King believes that if

King quotes St. Augustine in paragraph fifteen, saying “an unjust law is no law at all.” Using this quote adds strength to his views, implying that St. Augustine would support him if he were still alive. He then states “all segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality” (para 16). After this begins King’s use of examples of how Christians broke unjust laws because of their beliefs in God. He reminds readers that civil disobedience “was evidenced sublimely in the refusal of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego to obey the laws of Nebuchadnezzar”(para 21). He then goes on to another instance saying civil disobedience “was practiced superbly by the early Christians, who were willing to

Furthermore, King connects with his audience when he criticizes the unjust segregation laws. When accused of having a desire to break laws, King immediately disproves that theory by agreeing with their concern, and then discusses the difference between just and unjust laws. He quotes St. Thomas Aquinas faultlessly when he states his thoughts on law: "Any law that uplifts human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust. All segregation statutes are unjust because segregation distorts the soul and damages the personality" (222). He continues to say that a person has a "moral responsibility" (221) to refuse to comply with unjust laws, as well as having an obligation to obey just laws. His statement forces his readers to put themselves in his shoes and think of their moral responsibility to stand up against unjust laws regardless of

An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law.? The Clergymen express great concern over King is willingness to break laws. King replies that this is an understandable concern since everyone follows the Supreme Court Decision of 1954 that states; public schools are not to be segregated. In other words King is saying the Supreme Court can hand down a just law and yet people do not obey it but yet they expect me to obey an unjust law. In Germany under Adolf Hitler every thing he did was ?legal? and the freedom fighters in Hungry did everything ?illegally?. Aiding a Jew under Hitler was considered ?illegal?. Because these things were legal did that make it right? No. Should people have obeyed these laws? No. These laws were made to suppress a group of people simple because of there religion. This is much like the segregation in the United States is it right because it is the law? No. Should these laws be followed? No.

King continues to say that some of the preachers of God have understood the need for justice, but some have suppressed the blacks themselves. He believes that the preachers have to break the traditional, unjustified rules of the society to allow for the freedom of the children of God. The true meaning of the Bible lies in justice and co-existence. He wants moral justice to overcome the traditional norms which were unjust in nature. He conveys this message well in his letter. He further writes: “One day the South will know that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters, they were in reality standing up for what is best in the American dream and for the most sacred values in our Judaeo-Christian heritage” (King 6).

Martin Luther king through his letter “letter from Birmingham jail” he revealed his ethical thought by enunciating real facts furthermore he did not only consider his own viewpoints rather he considered viewpoints of many other people in relation to churches hypocrisy and unjust laws versus just laws. Despite the fact that martin Luther king was in jail, Luther uses ethical thought to critique the ministers by articulating his beliefs and ideas via displaying descriptive and meaningful illustrations of ethics of law and sensible thinking. In his letter king exceptionally introduces his point of view via observation of multiple people by using coherent thinking and more to that having a mentality that is fair minded.

In “the gospel of freedom”, King’s diction reminds us of his connection to the clergymen in profession and shared Christian values. Another instance of King using allusion appears in his discussion of St. Thomas Aquinas, a Catholic saint, who said “An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal and natural law” (King). In citing Aquinas, King is appealing to a Catholic audience and displaying his knowledge of the Catholic faith after studying to become a preacher. In using the phrase “not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws” King’s diction appeals to his audience of clergymen and their morality due to their faith. Citing Jewish philosopher Martin Buber on the topic of segregation, “Segregation… substitutes an ‘I it’ relationship for an ‘I thou’ relationship and ends up relegating persons to the status of things” (King).

In the beginning, King responds to the criticism he received concerning his present activities as “unwise and untimely.” King then explains that he is in Birmingham because the presence of social injustice, and the purpose of the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights is “to be on call to engage

King begs for a civil and peaceful resolution to the unjust laws and unfair treatment of African Americans. But, as history shows, the clergymen were not going to have anything to do with that. King says that he is trying to do this in the best way possible but it will not seem that way, “In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law… One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty.”(par. 12)

In the "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Martin Luther King Jr. provided counterarguments before he launched into his main argument to the clergymen. King supplied his audience with rhetorical questions to suggest specific actions, used respected leaders and an emotional appeal to justify the desperate need for nonviolent direct action.

King explains to the clergymen the immorality of an unjust law with what a just law is. In other words, a just law is a law that is in accordance with the word of God and uplifts the human personality. On the other hand, an unjust law is a law that goes against the teachings of the Bible and is established to belittle people. Dr. King refers back to the incident of the Holocaust and says, “We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was legal.”(210). In the time of the Holocaust, it was legal to harm the Jews and it was illegal to aid them. This incident reflects off the current oppression for Dr. King and the African Americans. In Dr. King’s time, it was illegal for African Americans to be mixed in with a crowd of white people, whether it would be in schools, at restaurants, etc. Although these regulations are justified by the written law and by the society's current notions, it does not mean that it is okay to do so. Through juxtaposition of the current crisis of segregation that African Americans are going through with the crisis of the Jewish people and the Holocaust, Dr.

In both works, Dr. King Jr. adopted techniques of series rhetoric, repetitions, effective use of metaphors and similes in protesting against social injustice and assuring his audience of a hope for a better tomorrow. In the letter to the clergy Dr. King Jr. invoked their thinking of what a just and unjust law was. He explained that the just law is a moral act of God’s will and the unjust law is such act instituted by men. When in conflict, he admonished society to accept the laws of God over those of men and cited instances where society had an obligation to reject unjust laws of segregation. Dr. King Jr. draws inspiration from men of historical significance to ascertain his claim and quotes

King combines the use of ethos and pathos as he compares himself and the rights of men to religious backgrounds. His first comparison is with the Apostle Paul, where Paul had “carried the gospel of Jesus Christ,” as to Kings carrying of “the gospel of freedom.” King addresses this similarity to show why he felt committed to go to Birmingham, because like Paul, he needed to respond as an aid to his people. Towards the end of Kings letter; he exemplifies courageousness in the Negro demonstrations by relating them to the actions of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego when they refused to follow what they believed to be unjust laws. Saying that if they are supposed heroes by going against unjust laws, why shouldn't the people see Negro demonstrators the same way? They are also God's children and by those disobedience’s, they were really showing the grace of God. These connections to religion supports their fighting against unjust laws as a divine cause.

King draws an implicit comparison between the contemporary civil rights movement and early Christianity in this section. In the past, the church would disturb those in power, standing firm against imprisonment and intimidation with the conviction that they were obeying the will of God. However, the contemporary church no longer speaks for justice. In fact, the modern civil rights movement has more in common with the early church than the modern church does. Where the modern church is now a lukewarm thermometer, the civil rights movement has become a thermostat capable of “transform[ing] the mores of society.”