"Letter From Birmingham Jail" Comprehension Questions (pg. 610)

1. King says he does not answer criticism due to the fact that he has no time for it. If he was to answer all of the criticism that was aimed his way, he would have no time for constructive work. 
2. The actions are thought "unwise" because the clergymen do not believe that King's ideas are very good ones, or will result in success and integration. The actions are seen as "untimely" by the clergymen because the actions are being performed in a difficult time in the nation. 
3. King's reasons for the demonstrations are: the injustice in Birmingham. He says the white power structure left the Negro community with no alternative the unjust treatment in courts, the ugly record of brutality, and the unsolved bombing of Negro homes and churches. 
4. King says that "wait" means "never" to blacks. 
5. Just and unjust laws. The difference between the two is: a just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law or the law of God; an unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law. 
6. King sees it as wrong to urge an individual to cease his efforts to gain his basic constitutional rights because the quest may precipitate violence. 
7. King is disappointed in the white church because: the white moderate is using the length of time that Christianity has taken in order to back up their argument for that of equality for blacks.