Banned Books 2024

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail” and Rev. Peter-Hans Kolvenbach’s “The Service of Faith and the Promotion of Justice in American Jesuit Higher Education” hold even more similarities than one might immediately think. The two are both very obviously rooted in the Christian faith, but while Dr. King’s letter is widely regarded as a call to action, Rev. Kolvenbach’s speech also calls attention to injustice within Jesuit institutions, and asks for change. In one of his more poignant points, Kolvenbach states that “Injustice is rooted in a spiritual problem,” (Kolvenbach, 33). This is immediately reminiscent of Dr. King’s “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere” (King, 1). Kolvenbach elaborates by telling his audience that while Jesuit institutions of higher education have not necessarily lost sight of that, they must still redirect their efforts. As the world changes, and more and more marginalized groups’ rights are being recognized, more work must b...

      I had an interesting conversation recently amidst the news of Loyola's history with slavery and what that means in terms of reparations and responsibility. The girl I was speaking with said something along the lines of "recognizing privilege isn't enough, people need to be willing to lose their privilege in order to be an ally" (in this situation it was in relation to black lives, although I could see how it would be applicable to many movements, including trans rights and equal wages. I think it stuck with me because we've been talking so much about performative action and what it would take to qualify for reparations, or if reparations are even fathomable.      In King's Letter to Birmingham Jail  he discusses how nonviolent direct action is being dismissed as extremist (King, 5). The irony of the situation lies in the fact that nonviolent direct action is at the very bottom of what is necessary to evoke change, and that sixty years later the f...

   After reading Klovenbach's  The Service of Faith and the Promotion of Justice in American Jesuit Higher Education , I feel like I understand the Jesuit mission more clearly. Although we were all berated by the “Jesuit Mission” from the moment we are accepted to Loyola, but I feel like I never fully understood the reasoning behind most of the points. This article helpfully outlined some of the debates around the Jesuits in the Christian community and how the Jesuits responded, highlighting their core values and the reasoning behind them. For example, Klovenbach describes how “the faith dimension was too often presumed and left implicit, as if our identity as Jesuits were enough” (28) while others “clung  to a certain style of faith and Church. They gave the impression that Gods grace had to do only with the next life” (29). This highlights the emphasis on both sides of “The service of faith and promotion of justice.” Later on, Klovenbach describes the reason behind...

       It is interesting how King and Kolvenbach connect. In each, they are calling for action now. Both address their fellow people, King is writing to black people and supporters of the Civil Rights Movement, and Kolvenbach is speaking to Catholic, Jesuits. In his speech, “The Service of Faith and the Promotion of Justice in American Jesuit Higher Education,” Kolvenbach acknowledges that a huge component of the Jesuit faith is learning and education. Jesuit institutes have developed greatly and are creating groundbreaking discoveries and new technologies. Education is great but it is nothing without applying it. If learning was all that mattered, there would not be these impressive institutes. Now Kolvenbach is not saying that education is unimportant or worthless, but rather that it is not enough. And just like how education is not enough, so too is faith. It is all fine and dandy that you believe in God’s word and the teachings of Jesus Christ, but you are cutt...

This is the third time I have read Peter-Hans Kolvenbach’s “The Service of Faith and the Promotion of Justice in American Jesuit Higher Education,” and with each reading, I am afforded new perspectives on what it means to receive a Jesuit education and the responsibilities I have, as both a student and person, to advocate for the injustices I encounter. (Wow, so many thoughts, where to start). I am always so focused on the justice piece. And yet reading Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” has had me reflecting on what the “Promotion of Justice” means without faith. “Despite the opportunities offered by an ever more serviceable technology,” Kolvenbach writes, “we are simply not willing to pay the price of a more just and more humane society” (32). I often leave conversations about injustices today, my subconscious fighting between feelings of overwhelming disappointment and frustration, and motivation. I see a glass half empty; I see non-existent progress; I see peop...

  The most brilliant aspect of Dr. King’s writing is his mutual connection of Christianity and spirituality that lines everything he writes, especially within “Letter from Birmingham Jail”. What is so explicitly interesting about this connection to religion, is that it is the main foundation for his call for equality. Kolvenbach references something similar in his own writings about Jesuits and their “promotion of justice” that is inherent in all of their works and teachings. The two of these authors write of the integral spirituality that is in the heart of the pursuit of equality and justice.  I will forever be floored by Dr. King’s writing in “Letter from Birmingham Jail”, for there is no greater feat of wordsmithing than what he accomplishes in his essay to white church leaders. For him to state that “we are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.” Even then, Dr. King continue...

                      Why is Equality so Unattractive?                               Response to: Commitment to Justice in Jesuit Higher Learning  No...seriously, why is equality so unattractive? I think that it is a fair point to argue that we are innately selfish. In "Commitment to Justice in Jesuit Higher Learning, "Kolvenbach brings up a good point as to why we are so selfish. He states that we have grown up in an environment that has preached "survival of the fittest" so much so that we have forgotten who we are fighting against...when in reality...we are fighting against one another, but why? If survival of the fittest is our motto, we designed the game as a single player. It's you, versus everyone else. But does that really work? Obviously not, but the idea of having everything for yourself is attractive...but why? Because...

  Kolvenbach and King Response   Both of these readings tackled the same issues, but the one that stuck out to me the most was the necessity of hands-on or first-hand experience in order to better understand how oppression impacts people and how to better fight for justice. King writes that “I don’t believe you would have so warmly commended the police force if you had seen the angry violent dogs literally bitin g six unarmed, nonviolent Negroes. I don’t believe you would so quickly commend the policemen if you would observe their ugly and inhuman treatment of Negroes here in the city jail; if you would w atch them push and curse old Negro women and young Negro girls; if you would see them slap and kick old Negro men and young boys, if you would observe them, as they did on two occasions , refusing to give us food because we wanted to sing our gra ce together” (King 5). The lack of experience that the religious leaders criticising him have with regards to the...