In The Letter from Birmingham Jail by Martin Luther King Jr., one can analysis this piece of work by dividing it into three different parts, one being King's ethos. According to Aristotle an ethos should conclude to have virtue, good will, and practical wisdom. Martin Luther King Jr. in addressing his adversaries does an exceptional job of touching upon all three of these. The toughest of all three was the virtue issue in which he must prove how virtuous he is, while he has been arrested and is sitting in jail. A tough yet not impossible obstacle to overcome. He uses his background as good credibility, and quotes throughout his letter in biblical terms. From the beginning he opens with the fact that he is a minister to God and is the President of the Southern Christian Movement for Human Rights. Although the white clergymen of the first letter claims that his actions of extreme measures are not justifiable, especially through moral standards. In their minds King and the other protesters are troublemakers and go so far as t
o say, ' "hatred and violence have no sanction in our religious and political traditions." ' How does someone refute this comment? He does so in stating that the only reason for such direct actions is because the political system gave them no justice. The religious realm gave no support or help toward their brothers and sisters. And for this, they sit in jail for disobeying a rule of "parading without a permit". Yet they were the ones who did no wrong. They were denied their God given right to obtain a permit, and for that they are punished. So yes King sits in jail. And as the clergymen attack his moral conduct he states, "one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws". Was Jesus not condemned for disregarding the laws of society? Within his letter King does a great job to support his actions and does not justify in any way that what he did was the best thing, but it was the most necessary. He proves he is a virtuous man and displays it through his understanding of where he is, but also his purpose for being in his situat
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