Saul Alinsky or Martin Luther King, Jr.?

To the Editor:
The 1960s was a turbulent time that brought forth figures who challenged the culture. Two in particular, Saul Alinsky and Martin Luther King, Jr., each developed disparate codes of behavior. Saul Alinsky wrote thirteen rules in his book, “Rules for Radicals.”
“The first rule is: Power is not only what you have but what the enemy thinks you have. The second rule is: Never go outside the experience of your people. The third rule is: Wherever possible go outside of the experience of the enemy. Here you want to cause confusion, fear, and retreat. The fourth rule is: Make the enemy live up to their own book of rules. The fourth rule carries within it the fifth rule: Ridicule is man’s most potent weapon. The sixth rule is: A good tactic is one that your people enjoy. The seventh rule: A tactic that drags on too long becomes a drag. The eighth rule: Keep the pressure on, with different tactics and actions, and utilize all events of the period for your purpose. [Never let a crisis go to waste.] The ninth rule: The threat is usually more terrifying than the thing itself. [Example: People will die if Obamacare isn’t passed.] The tenth rule: The major premise for tactics is the development of operations that will maintain a constant pressure upon the opposition. The eleventh rule is: If you push a negative hard and deep enough it will break through into its counterside. The twelfth rule: The price of a successful attack is a constructive alternative. The thirteenth rule: Pick the target, freeze it, personalize it, and polarize it. [This is Obama’s favorite.]” (Source: “Rules for Radicals,” Alinsky, 1971)
Martin Luther King wrote a commitment card to all followers in his movement. Here are King’s rules. Notice the sharp contrast: “I hereby pledge myself – my person and body – to the nonviolent movement. Therefore I will keep the following ten commandments: 1) Meditate daily on the teachings and life of Jesus. 2) Remember always that the nonviolent movement seeks justice and reconciliation – not victory. 3) Walk and talk in the manner of love, for God is love. 4) Pray daily to be used by God in order that all men might be free. 5) Sacrifice personal wishes in order that all men might be free. 6) Observe with both friend and foe the ordinary rules of courtesy. 7) Seek to perform regular service for others and for the world. 8) Refrain from the violence of fist, tongue, or heart. 9) Strive to be in good spiritual and bodily health. 10) Follow the directions of the movement and of the captain on a demonstration.” (Source: “Commitment Card,” King, 1963)
Reverend King once left his niece, Alveda, in jail overnight so she could contemplate violating rule 8 during a demonstration.
Which set of rules would you rather employ? Which would your opponents rather see you employ? I pray for the humility required to follow the second set of rules. Anyone who’s unsure which path to follow, understand Alinsky dedicated his book to Satan: “Lest we forget at least an over-the-shoulder acknowledgment to the very first radical: from all our legends, mythology, and history, the first radical known to man who rebelled against the establishment and did it so effectively that he at least won his own kingdom—Lucifer.”
Understand also that Alinsky’s rule 4 is the Achilles’ heel of Obama and Alinsky’s other followers. They live by their own elite, privileged set of rules. Fortunately, we have their playbook. Knowledge of radicals’ tactics is half the way to defeating them.