Dr. King, Riverside Church, NYC, April 1967
Mesmerized by Uncertainty
April 1967. Riverside Church. A week night evening I believe.
Dr King:
Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, we do not easily assume the task of opposing our government’s policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one’s own bosom and in the surrounding world. Moreover, when the issues at hand seem as perplexing as they often do in the case of this dreadful conflict, we are always on the verge of being mesmerized by uncertainty; but we must move on.
King names the hardest part plainly: the pull of apathy, the comfort of conformity, the paralysis of uncertainty. And still—we must move on. Moral clarity has never been easy, but history doesn’t excuse hesitation.