Co-hosting the event were Montreat Conference Center and Montreat College; approximately 700 people attended. “Faith and Civil Rights” was part of the college’s Calvin Thielman Lecture series.
Young drew comparisons between today’s political and social unrest and early tensions among our country’s founding fathers, noting that, “In the midst of all the division, diversity, and even hatred and war in this nation, there’s always something right about the other side … always something wrong or weak about the winning side.”
He focused on American history from the signing of the Constitution to the Great Depression, from World War II and Vietnam to today’s wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. “It’s not a question of big government or small government,” he said, speaking repeatedly of times when government stepped in to change things. “It’s a question of good government or bad government.”
As a participant and eye witness to the Civil Rights Movement of the 60s, Young explained how he and so many others like him set out to “redeem America’s soul from the triple evils of racism, war, and poverty.”
Americans, and especially American Christians, face a most challenging present and future, Young said — global economics, government systems, environmental concerns.
“We’re living in fearful and wonderful times,” said the veteran statesman. “I think we’ve just never been here before – where we had the capacity to think about the whole world. … And I think we will do that better together.”
