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"A riot is the language of the unheard"

"A riot is the language of the unheard" - do you agree?

  • Yes

    Votes: 12 48.0%
  • No

    Votes: 13 52.0%

  • Total voters
    25

9-10ths_Penguin

1/10 Subway Stalinist
Premium Member
From Martin Luther King (his speech at Stanford entitled "The Other America"):

But it is not enough for me to stand before you tonight and condemn riots. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society. These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to get attention. And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it America has failed to hear?...It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity.

Do you agree with MLK? Do you see a riot as the language of the unheard?
 

Rival

Si m'ait Dieus
Staff member
Premium Member
If people suffer injustice and they have no effective voice and are ignored.
They will eventually take direct action.
What if most people think that what they say is utter rubbish and are ignoring them for good reason.
Rioters are violent youth usually. They need a kick up the arse.
 

Kemosloby

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
And prison is the home of the riotous. I think the only thing riots do is justify new riot gear for the police department. No wonder they gave MLK a holiday.
 

LuisDantas

Aura of atheification
Premium Member
One can stand up to oppression without rioting.
Think of how effective demonstrations are when they're peaceful.
Riots result in a commercial no man's land...no supermarkets...no Starbucks...like what happened in Detroit.
Didn't you defend the use of the atomic bomb back in the day?

There are circunstances where rioting is less destructive than the alternatives. There is not always a better choice.
 

Rival

Si m'ait Dieus
Staff member
Premium Member
Remember the suffragists?
Men had the idea that women couldn't vote because they were too emotional.
So what did the suffragists do?
They chained themselves to fences and screamed and threw things.
Ergo, the men's biases were confirmed so they even more refused women's suffrage.
The women only got the vote later.
 

9-10ths_Penguin

1/10 Subway Stalinist
Premium Member
One can stand up to oppression without rioting.
Think of how effective demonstrations are when they're peaceful.
Which peaceful demonstrations have been successful?

There are many movements where the "peaceful" side of the movement worked within a context of violence: MLK had Malcolm X, Gandhi had Chandra Bos, etc.

Riots result in a commercial no man's land...no supermarkets...no Starbucks...like what happened in Detroit.
Or Boston.

The effects of riots vary. And riots tend to happen when other avenues of protest aren't available, or have proven themselves ineffective.
 

Revoltingest

Pragmatic Libertarian
Premium Member
Didn't you defend the use of the atomic bomb back in the day?
But not against protesters or supermarkets.
There are circunstances where rioting is less destructive than the alternatives. There is not always a better choice.
If you're saying rioting is the best choice, then I say.....
Pbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbttttttttttttttttttttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!
 

9-10ths_Penguin

1/10 Subway Stalinist
Premium Member
Remember the suffragists?
Men had the idea that women couldn't vote because they were too emotional.
So what did the suffragists do?
They chained themselves to fences and screamed and threw things.
Ergo, the men's biases were confirmed so they even more refused women's suffrage.
The women only got the vote later.
So you think that if women had waited patiently for men to give them the vote, they would have got it quicker than if they demanded it?
 

LuisDantas

Aura of atheification
Premium Member
The riots against the Tzar Nicholas II of Russia seem to have been succesfull. As have those against Gadaffi. Then there is the French Revolution. And I seem to recall hearing of something that happened in Boston in 1773.
 

Kemosloby

Well-Known Member
Premium Member
I think he uses deceptive language to make rioting sound wholesome. When there is another answer for the "unheard", and that is to shut up and join the silent majority.
 

Rival

Si m'ait Dieus
Staff member
Premium Member
So you think that if women had waited patiently for men to give them the vote, they would have got it quicker than if they demanded it?
No, what I'm saying is that if they behaved responsibly and didn't confirm men's ideas that they were all too emotionally inept to vote then that would have been better. By confirming people's biases you only serve to shoot yourself in the foot.
 
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