'"
To him, love, in the most basic and Christian sense, did not
require that the resister had to feel a surge of spontaneous
sentiment, but it did mean that he had made a deep and sincere
commitment to the other person's best interest. From this point
of view, helping to free a racist from the shackles of his own
prejudice was construed to be in his best interest and,
therefore, a loving act. The Biblical injunction "Love your
neighbor as yourself" meant being as concerned for his well-being
as for your own. King believed that, if injustice could be
attacked and overcome through a policy of nonviolent resistance,
it would then lead to the creation of the "beloved community."
This philosophy would become the means of reconciliation and, to
put it in religious terms, would be redemptive.
King made it clear that nonviolent resistance was concerned with
morality and justice and not merely with obtaining specific
goals. When laws, themselves, were unjust, nonviolent resistance
could engage in civil disobedience as a means of challenging
those laws. Civil disobedience was not to be understood merely as
law-breaking.
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