MLK, Michael King and Martin Luther

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For my friends from other lands, our American Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday is today. You may be aware of him. What you may not be aware of is that MLK Jr. started out with the name of Michael until his father went to Germany in 1934 and was so impressed by the original Luther that he changed his name and his son's name. And for those of you Greek scholars, I'm guessing you may have thought it more than coincidental that the name "Luther" in Greek means "freedom".

In honor of both Luthers, enjoy this short song from "Luther the Rock Opera". The voice you're hearing is Robert Robinson playing Elector Frederick, Luther's protector, singing with Luther moments after his trial:

Isn’t it strange that they should name you Luther?
The word in Greek means “freedom”
Isn’t it odd?
All our lives, to fear we’ve been in bondage
Now we’re finally free
And captive to the Word of God

We are mortal and we’ll all die
It matters not so much how and when, but why
We’re all going to die - scad few of us live
Most everyone else is a pawn
But those who die for freedom
Well, there’s a chance that they will live on

You can watch the trailer of the official lyric version at https://vimeo.com/ondemand/luthertherockopera