MLK and St. Augustine

One hears whispers, now and again, that Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., harbored imperfection. There are murmurs of improprieties in his doctoral thesis—mutters of infidelity in his marriage. The man was a genius, a visionary, and a great leader; also, he was a man. Not an Archangel, perfect in Heaven. It takes nothing away from his legacy to admit his flaws. Indeed, if he hadn’t been flawed, his achievements would be less admirable.

But contrast our reticence about the putative sins of Rev. King with our almost indecent revelry in the sins of Hippo’s bishop. You already see where I’m going with this: ask ten random people for an Augustinian anecdote, and at least ten of them will say, “Lord, give me chastity, but not yet.” It detracts from neither his sanctity nor his sagacity; if anything, it makes him more relatable, more encouraging, hence in a very real way a better saint, because God can make more use of his example to inspire us.

Now, obviously, there’s one crucial difference here: St. Augustine is not a martyr. His city was beleaguered by heretics—the original Vandals, in fact—during his terminal illness, but he wasn’t murdered by cowards in mid-crusade. Also, there aren’t any Third Century Manichaeans still slinking around, looking for ways to discredit Augustine. The reputation of Dr. King, on the other hand, might still be attacked by bigots and the sons of bigots. All that being the case, it’s only prudent to be more circumspect in mentioning his errors, at least for a few more generations.

Furthermore, the sin of Augustine was not less grave merely because he made a well-known joke about it. In fact, his sin—his mortal sin, that brought so many years of anguish to the soul of his mother, St. Monica—is all the more dangerous to the rest of us because his wit makes it seem roguish and charming. Ultimately, the  famous quip is comic, not tragic, for only one reason: that, in the end, he allowed the Lord to grant his prayer.

In short, a person’s failings are never, in and of themselves, to be celebrated. But, since we all fail, since all have sinned and fallen short, it can sometimes be consoling and encouraging to remember that our greatest heroes are no exception. And whatever their faults, it needn’t tarnish the inspiration we can take from their accomplishments.

I say all this because I happened upon an article alleging some things against Dr. King; I have no idea if those specific allegations were true, but I certainly know the man was a sinner, because he was a man. And I’m not afraid of finding out that a hero did ugly things. On the contrary, it tells me that even with all that extra weight and wounding on one’s soul, one can still reach the starlit peaks above.