The MLK Triplet

Martin Luther King, Jr. had a broad understanding of systems of oppression and the many demands of justice.  He called the three systems of oppression in the US a triplet.  He named this triplet, Racism, Capitalism and Militarism.  He believed he should tackle all three at the same time, and that is one reason why he added the Vietnam War to his list, against the advice of even some of his closest disciples.  They thought he should stay focused on racism, period. 

I had a similar triplet, which I called the American Trinity.  I named this trinity, Individualism, Materialism and Racism/Ethnocentrism.    I would have added Militarism, but that ruined the idea of a ‘trinity’.  Someone else might have talked about racial injustice, economic injustice, military injustice, or another way of talking about multiple systems of oppression would be systems of racial oppression, systems of economic oppression, systems of military oppression. 

In the January 16, 2019 Christian Century there was a news item.  Here is a direct quote of this short news item:

“Southern Baptist Theological Seminary issued a seventy-two page report last month admitting its history of supporting slavery, the Confederacy, Jim Crow laws, segregation, and white supremacy.  Four of its founding faculty members were slaveholders.  Early faculty members and trustees spoke of the righteousness of owning slaves and believed in the inferiority of black people.” 

If you read the whole seventy-two-page report, you sense an honest repentance over past racial sins.   What is missing is there is neither a biblically based theology of oppression nor a biblically based theology of justice to prevent this from happening again.  And there was no acknowledgment of what Michelle Alexander calls The New Jim Crow or mass incarceration. 

In another news item we have this factual information.  They listed the amount of money the US spends on its military, which was $609 billion.  The US military spending is more than the next seven countries combined; more than China, Saudi Arabia, Russia, India, France, United Kingdom and Japan.  There is no commentary by the Christian Century, just this statement of fact.

In my opinion, Southern Baptist Theological Seminary needs to issue a seventy-two-page apology about its silence regarding our massive and evil military spending and our unjust wars. 

King was right when he opposed the Vietnam War.  Not only did fifty thousand plus US soldiers die in an unjust war, but an untold number of Vietnamese, many more than fifty thousand, died unnecessarily. 

It is estimated that we have spent $1 trillion on the war in Afghanistan and maybe even another $1 trillion on the Iraqi War.  

In this same issue of the Christian Century, there is an article on what is called Financial Capitalism.  Financial Capitalism is a modern form of capitalism, which makes huge profits for a small number of millionaires and billionaires.  Financial capitalism is another massive social evil. 

Few Americans have this multi-pronged sense of social ethic, probably largely because they know little about the 555 references to oppression in the OT.  So they have little understanding of social systems of oppression.  And few Americans know that English NT’s have been “dejusticized”, according to Nicholas Wolterstorff.  So it is not only Southerners, it is also Northerners and a multitude of other denominations that tolerate or participate in racism, capitalism and militarism.