My favorite is the first one, "A Tough Mind and a Tender Heart." King talks about the need for us to combine disparate qualities, in this case using the Bible verse from Matthew where Jesus sends the Apostles out to preach, telling them, "Be ye therefore wise as serpents, and harmless as doves." Whenever I turn back to this essay, I find it very difficult to put it down because the words flow along so well, building up to King's advocacy of nonviolence.
In this this passage, though, King talks about science and religion, a theme I've been thinking about this weekend. He says there may be conflicts between "softminded religionists and toughminded scientists, but not between science and religion." He goes on:
"Science investigates; religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge which is power; religion gives man wisdom which is control. Science deals mainly with facts; religion deals mainly with values. The two are not rivals. They are complementary. Science keeps religion from sinking into the valley of crippling irrationalism and paralyzing obscurantism. Religion prevents science from falling into the marsh of obsolete materialism and moral nihilism."You can read the whole essay online here.
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