This short essay was submitted on October 21, 2019 for my Christian Ethics of Love course.
In Martin Luther King’s speech on Loving Your Enemy, King seems to illustrate the concept of enemies through an explanation of the human soul; that all humans, both friends and foes, all have a continual struggle between good and evil within them. King says, “[..] within the best of us, there is some evil, and within the worst of us, there is some good” (pg. 46). This not only reveals that our enemies have some good within them, but that we ourselves are not perfect either. Though we might be more good, and our enemies might be more evil, our enemies are actually not much different from ourselves because we all have both good and evil within us. King further emphasizing this point, noting the “image of God” that is found in everyone. “[...] [N]o matter what he does, you see God’s image there. There is an element of goodness that he can never slough off” (pg. 46). The perpetual goodness of God resides within everyone, including our enemies.
King also mentions the idea of looking within yourself as a first step to loving your enemies, though it can also shed light on the nature of your enemies. King says, “There might be something within you that arouses the tragic hate response in the other individual” (pg. 44). It seems like King is alluding to how personal our enemies can be to who we are as individuals. One can be your enemy, but can also be the friend of your friend. In a way, who we see as enemies are highly subjective; it depends on our own values, actions, and personality, as well as how this person contradicts these aspects of ourselves that we find valuable. It is also often the case that the underlying reasons you consider one to be your enemy actually reflects back to your own imperfections. One who struggles with jealously, over ambition, insecurity, and bitterness can see others as their enemies partially or completely due to their own vices.
Lastly, King talks about the separation between the action and the being of a person, suggesting that the evil nature we associate with our enemies are only due to their actions, not the person themselves. “When you rise to the level of love,” King says, “[...] you seek only to defeat evil systems. Individuals who happen to be caught up in that system, you love, but you seek to defeat the system” (pg. 47). There is a great emphasis placed on the distinction between the inherently good nature of the being, and the evilness of their actions. Your enemies, according to King, are only your enemies due to their hateful actions, though these actions are not of their essence. These actions are from the evil system that should be defeated, and the person trapped within this system should be loved.
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