MLK Memorial Series: Dr. King, Spirituality, and Our Shared Humanity

“True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.” In these words, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. implores us to embrace the true essence of compassion, which goes beyond a recognition of suffering to a willingness to act to reduce suffering and enhance human flourishing. Such intention propels us to seek justice as a holistic ideal, one capable of breaking down systems and structures that justify and excuse realities of suffering. More than a religious ideal, this talk draws from MLK’s teachings and social justice work to explore compassion as the essence of spirituality, or the ways that humans pursue virtuous living through reciprocal responsibility, empathetic engagement, and loving conduct.

Dr. Morgan Shipley is the Inaugural Foglio Endowed Chair of Spirituality and Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Religious Studies at Michigan State University. His scholarly career focuses on spirituality, spirituality and justice, and new religious movements in the United States.