January 15, 2017: Del Rio News-Herald * OPINION * Letter to the Editor * Convergence

Letter to the Editor,

Convergence

Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity and the National March for Life in Washington, D.C. are three great movements that happen at the same time of year and are deeply intertwined.

Each January, these three observances converge and reinforce each other and summon all Christians to work together against injustice. 

On the third Monday in January, this year January 16, we observe the national holiday in honor of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

From January 18–25, the Week of Prayer for Christian Unity is observed.

This year on January 27, the National March for Life recalls the tragic and infamous decision made on January 22, 1973 by the Supreme Court in Roe v. Wade, unleashing a devastating policy of abortion on demand.

Both the civil rights movement and the pro-life movement are evidence of our common Christian engagement. 

Both movements seek to secure equal rights for marginalized human beings.

Defending the equal dignity of every human being after birth strengthens our witness to the rights of those in danger before birth. 

The pro-life movement is the civil rights movement of today because it embodies and advocates for the very same principle: the dignity of every human life, which calls for its equal protection under the law. 

Dr. King did not advocate only for the equal dignity of African-Americans/Blacks; he advocated for the equal dignity of every human life. 

The fight against segregation was a corollary of the fight against all injustice.

Dr. King's famous quote: “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere", loudly resounds in both the pro-life and civil rights movements.

When we have the observance of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday and the National March for Life in our nation’s capitol, and both of these events in the context of our Christian Unity, together we are recommitting ourselves to end injustice, along with every other form of violence, and to truly build a culture of life that gives honor, dignity and respect to all humanity.

Marian Casillas, Ed.D.

Del Rio