The first sentence of my prior post  (see below) was not written by or spoken by MLK.  Instead it was added, allegedly by Jessica Dovey.  Dovey is a Twitter user who claimed credit for the modification after the quote went viral.  The second sentence  should read “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.” She wrote the post in response to news that the US government shot and killed Osama bin Laden.   See the full context of the MLK quote further below.

“I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

AUTHOR:    Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–68)
QUOTATION:    The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
ATTRIBUTION:    MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, pp. 62–63 (1967).

On the announced killing of

Osama bin Laden

“I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

“How have the past ten years of aerial bombardments, night raids, death squads, assassinations and drone attacks in Afghanistan benefited the U.S. people…?  Have we defeated terrorism or created greater, deeper hatred toward the U.S.?”

— Kathy Kelly  –Voices of Creative Nonviolence

It Was Vengeance, Not Justice

Shot In Cold Blood

Bin Laden ‘Was Not Armed and Did Not Use Wife as Human Shield’

U.S. Sinks Deeper into a Moral Abyss

1. Mourn all victims of violence. 2. Reject war as a solution. 3. Defend civil liberties. 4. Oppose all discrimination, anti-Islamic, anti-Semitic, etc.
5. Seek peace through justice in Hawai`i and around the world.
Contact: Malu `Aina Center for Non-violent Education & Action P.O. Box AB Kurtistown, Hawai`i 96760.
Phone (808) 966-7622.  Email ja@interpac.net   http://www.malu-aina.org

Hilo Peace Vigil leaflet (May 6, 2011, – 503rd week) – Friday 3:30-5PM downtown Post Office