174 Knights of Labor
found in the United States and elsewhere undermined
the conditions needed to make equality and freedom
real for the poor. King argued that economic inequality
was a problem for both whites and blacks who were
exploited by an economic system that was determined
to limit the power of working people. Therefore, he
sought to expand the struggle for freedom to include
both racial and economic justice, based on a theory of
economic reconstruction inspired by democratic
SOCIALISM.
While in Memphis, Tennessee, to support a strike
by the city’s sanitation workers, King was killed by a
sniper’s bullet on April 4, 1968, as he stood on the
balcony of the motel where he was staying.
Further Reading
Oates, S. B. Let the Trumpets Sound: A Life of Martin Luther King,
Jr.New York: HarperPerennial, 1994.
Knights of Labor
A CATHOLIClabor union in the United States, first con-
demned and later endorsed by the church. The central
controversy, like that of LIBERATION THEOLOGYa century
later, was the degree of anti-CHRISTIAN, COMMUNIST IDE-
OLOGYin this labor organization.
Founded in 1869, the Knights of Labor was the first
national workers’ union in America. Led by Uriah
Stevens, it contained primarily immigrant (Irish)
Catholic INDUSTRIALlaborers. Like other early unions, it
employed secret rites, customs, and practices (similar
to the Masonic Order). Such secrecy and potentially
pagan rites were condemned by Pope Leo XIII (1884),
prompting several U.S. Catholic bishops to condemn
the Knights of Labor. However, in 1887, a majority of
the archbishops in the United States criticized this
blanket rejection of the Knights of Labor, warning the
Vatican that it could result in a tragic loss of Catholic
influence in the U.S. labor movement and among ordi-
nary Catholics. The Rome hierarchy examined this eco-
nomic/religious controversy and ruled that the union
could continue if it removed any references to SOCIALISM
or communism in the Knights’ CONSTITUTION. This was
seen as a victory among socially LIBERALU.S. Catholics
as a church accommodating MODERN industrial eco-
nomic realities and conditions in the United States. The
same compromise occurred in the latter 20th century
in response to the Latin American liberation theology
of Gustavo GUTIÉRREZ, when Pope John Paul II con-
demned the MARXIST-LENINISTcomponents of that move-
ment but furthered the church’s commitment to social
JUSTICEand the poor in the developing world. An inter-
esting episode in CHURCH AND STATE relations, the
Knights of Labor controversy shows the evolving
nature of religion and politics in America.Further Reading
Fink, Leon. Workingmen’s Democracy: The Knights of Labor and
American Politics. Urbana: University of Illinois Press,
1985.Knox, John (1513–1572) Scottish religious and
political activist
A leader of the Protestant REFORMATIONin Scotland,
Knox was alternately in and out of favor in the British
government. Converted as a CATHOLICpriest to Calvin-
ist theology, he led the Protestant movement in Scot-
land and England. This included the abolition of the
pope’s authority in Great Britain, idolatry of the Virgin
Mary, and celebration of the mass. His virulent opposi-
tion to women in positions of authority in both church
and state did not earn Knox favor with the new
monarch, Queen Elizabeth I. He preached fervent ser-
mons against Mary, Queen of Scots, for her “popery”
and worldliness, which lost him favor during her
reign. With the ascension to the throne of King James
I, Knox enjoyed favor in court but soon lost it with the
demise of the regent, Lord Murray.
A prolific writer, John Knox influenced Scottish
reformed theology in Britain and America. Its EVANGEL-
ICALand DEMOCRATICthemes appear in his works The
Scottish Confession; The First Book of Discipline; Treatise
on Predestination; The Book of Common Order;and His-
tory of the Reformation of Religion within the Realm of
Scotland(1587). By influencing the Scots and Scots-
Irish PRESBYTERIANS, many of whom settled in the
American colonies, Knox’s ideas on religion and poli-
tics greatly affected CHURCH-AND-STATEideas in the later
United States of America, including Founders such as
John WITHERSPOON, James Wilson, and James MADISON.Further Reading
MacGregor, Geddes. The Thundering Scot: a Portrait of John
Knox.Philadelphia: Westminster Press, 1986.Koran (Qur’an), The
The sacred book of the religion of ISLAM, which pro-
vides for its views of God (Allah), faith, morals, LAW,