Register for the January Acting for Justice Webinar

‘Extremists for Hate or for Love’: King’s Vision for Moral Courage in 2026

In Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail,” he poses questions that give us pause in 2026: “Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice?”

Join us on Thursday, January 15 at 7:00pm ET/4:00pm PT as professor Andrew Stone Porter illuminates Dr. King’s strategy for collective action as a force of love in opposition to policies of domination we face today: racial profiling as a tactic for mass deportations; the attack on diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives; surging white Christian nationalism; and the attempt to mythologize American history. Find out what can be learned from King’s strategy to galvanize the national conscience, and how people of faith can be “creative extremists” for love in this moment.

Andrew Stone Porter is Assistant Professor of Theology and Religious Studies. His teaching, scholarship and service focus on religious symbols and institutions in light of social justice issues especially around race, gender, and class. Andrew received a Ph.D. in Religion, Ethics and Society from Vanderbilt University and a Master of Divinity from Harvard Divinity School. Andrew’s work has appeared in the Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics, the Journal of Religious Ethics, the American Journal of Theology and Philosophy, CrossCurrents, Journal for Religious and Cultural Theory, The Other Journal, and the Political Theology Network. He also serves as music minister at St. William Church in Louisville and on the leadership team of the Interfaith Coalition for Immigrant Justice. He lives in Louisville with his partner Shannon and their three children.