Ailee Slater made a poignant point in her column “Encouraging religious reconciliation in Iraq” (ODE Apr. 2): The need for negotiations. “Iraq will not be healed until the Shiites and the Sunnis can come together and discuss what each group wants,” Slater wrote.
Now even though Slater is speaking specifically about the religious warfare between the Islamic groups, the Shiites and the Sunnis, the power of discourse can be used to alleviate the religious, political or economical issues in Iraq, meaning the potential of deliberative acts can ease the struggles between these two religious groups. America, too, can help by intervening.
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was a proponent of America aiding foreign countries. He believed that discourse was the root of resolution, if it was creative.
“Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted,” King said in his sermon “Transformed Nonconformist.” By maladjusted, King meant those who are unwilling to continue to abide by the current state of governmental injustices. So, if Iraqis desire to resolve the battlements between the Shiites and the Sunnis, Slater is right: They must seek it through discussion. That’s not enough, though. They must find a person who is “creatively maladjusted,” or, in other words, they must find a person who’s charismatic enough to lead a group or a nation for the triumph of a cause.
King was such a leader, and, as his history reveals, he was more than just charismatic. He was a person with character. His character included his temperance, his discipline and, most importantly, his trust-worthiness. Nonviolent protesters during the civil rights movement followed him because of these traits and because of his philosophy, which derived from his “redemptive love.” King knew, for instance, America was in a position to religiously, politically and economically contribute to the well-being of other nations, as is mentioned in his address “A Time to Break Silence.” He also knew it would cost Americans, although the cost was minimal in comparison to the good it could produce.
Therefore, invoking the need for negotiation is an answer to the warfare taking place between the Shiites and the Sunnis; it’s not the only one, but it’s a practical means that can be initiated and facilitated by America, if this nation as a charismatic leader itself decides to offer its assistance to Iraq.
America can contribute. America can act. America can share its wealth to help the Shiites and the Sunnis. As King said in “A Time to Break Silence,” “America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way. … There is nothing except a tragic death wish to prevent us from reordering our priorities, so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war. There is nothing to keep us from molding a recalcitrant status quo with bruised hands until we have fashioned it into a brotherhood.”

Thomas Miller lives in Springfield