On Sunday night, an unusual name appeared on my Twitter stream: Osama bin Laden. Through a number of tweets I learned that the United States military had killed this terrorist and of President Obama’s televised address. On Monday morning I found myself paying less attention to social media than I normally do after experiencing several friends who were using uncharacteristically strong language of patriotism and of faith. Later that day, I noticed that a number of friends had posted the same Facebook status and many had shortened it and shared it via Twitter as well. The full message read:
“I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
I was familiar with the last sentence, but the quote in its entirety was unfamiliar. Before sharing the material, I wanted to sit down and learn more. When I did, the truth began to emerge. Megan McArdle’s “Out of Osama’s Death, a Fake Quotation is Born” was the first story I encountered that sought to set the record straight. She noted that prior to May 2, 2011, no one had ever attributed the first sentence to Martin Luther King, Jr. At that moment, using the best available data, she concluded: “Someone made up a quote, attributed it to MLK, Jr., and disseminated it widely, all within 24 hours.”
On Tuesday I returned to the topic when I noticed that several people had continued to post the quote, including the first sentence. By then, McArdle had written another piece for The Atlantic. In this piece, she provides a thorough explanation of what actually happened:
Everything except the first sentence is found in King’s book, Strength to Love, and seems to have been said originally in a 1957
sermon he gave on loving your enemies. Unlike the first quotation, it does sound like King, and it was easy to assume that the whole thing came from him. So how did they get mixed together? Thanks to Jessica Dovey, a Facebook user, that’s how. And contrary to my initial assumption, it wasn’t malicious. Ms. Dovey, a 24-year old Penn State graduate who now teaches English to middle schoolers in Kobe, Japan, posted a very timely and moving thought on her Facebook status, and then followed it up with the Martin Luther King Jr. quote.
At some point, someone cut and pasted the quote, and–for reasons that I, appropriately chastened, will not speculate on–stripped out the quotation marks. Eventually, the mangled quotation somehow came to the attention of Penn Jillette, of Penn and Teller fame. He tweeted it to his 1.6 million Facebook followers, and the rest was internet history. Twenty-four hours later, the quote brought back over 9,000 hits on Google.
So What?
I personally know many Christian leaders, including clergy, who posted the message on Facebook (on a personal page as well as those for their church/parachurch ministry). Interestingly, I have seen very few retractions or clarifications although I certainly hope most are now aware that the quote is part of a viral misattribution. I hope that each person and organization takes a few moments to fill their readers in on the story and to give proper attribution for the words quoted (Jessica Dovey for the first sentence and the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. for the others).
- When did you first see the quote and what was your initial response?
- Do you routinely retweet or use as your Facebook status message quotes shared by others via social media without first checking for authenticity? Do you regularly engage in passing along unverified data via other channels?
- Do you agree or disagree with my recommendation that those Christian leaders and organizations who shared this quote should now add a clarification or additional explanation? Why or why not?
Note: I have opted to deviate from my normal routine of posting once a day due to the time sensitive nature of this topic. The image on the lower right is from Ms. Dovey’s Facebook page.