Justin Cline asks in his letter of Jan. 31 what Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s religion has to do with his advocacy for civil rights. He states, "Dr Martin Luther King's legacy is not based upon his religion." On what, then, is it based? What constituted the basis for him to take a bold stand on the important issue of racism, a stand that cost him his life?

Moral convictions flow from our worldview. Our worldview is shaped by our understanding of what true about the world. Dr. King's beliefs about what was true about the evil of racism were based squarely on his Christian faith founded on the teachings of the Bible. This is incontrovertible. Without his religious convictions there would have been no "I Have a Dream" speech nor his commitment to non-violent dissent.

The fact that Martin Luther King Jr. was a preacher makes all the difference, because it was out of his faith that he acted.

For the record, I want to clarify what is at best an ambiguous point in Justin's letter regarding John Adams. Our second president was anything but an atheist. John Adams attended church all his life, read the Bible, and believed in God. Atheists don't do this. When the Constitution was complete he said that it represented a form of government only workable for a moral and religious people.

Adam's beliefs in justice, equality, and the system of checks and balances woven into the fabric of the U.S. Constitution as well as the earlier state Constitution of the State of Massachusetts, which he authored, were strongly influenced by the Judeo-Christian philosophical base to which he ascribed.

Don Peter

Des Moines