Over the years, I have come to see the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday as a black holiday, one in which people who know more about race relations than I contemplate the life of this remarkable man. I suspect that I am not alone among my white friends in having an attitude that has ranged from ambivalence to respect for something I am not supposed to understand. But in giving more thought to the life of Martin Luther King, Jr. I have realized that the last thing I should do is ignore the words of this man. And I have realized that he was speaking just as much to me as he was to any black man.

I have decided to repost this article that I wrote almost exactly two years ago. As I had just started blogging when I wrote this, it is tempting to re-write and edit this piece. But I have decided to leave it as is. I'd love comments on this piece.

Faithful Progressive left me a very nice comment last week regarding a post I wrote about his characterization of the "Religious Right". I very much appreciate his desire for good dialogue rather than the typical stupid attacks back and forth that often happen with those of differing viewpoints. Fortunately we have a common bond as brothers in Christ that transcends any political viewpoints.

"Thank you for your thoughtful comments, I have posted them on my site. At some point I hope to answer them. "- FP "I would also appreciate your thoughts on my continuing series on the Christian Right and the Enlightenment--there is no one bogeyman, but there are many Christian extremists on the right."- FP

FP wrote this post encouraging others to have this kind of dialogue. I would like to give some perspective on the "Religious Right" for FP and any of his readers that might care. I have found that few people really understand the "Religious Right" or even try to.