After being accused of extremism , Martin Luther King Jr. criticized the mainstream usage of the term in his Letter from Birmingham Jail , ″ But though I was initially disappointed at being categorized as an extremist , as I continued to think about the matter I gradually gained a measure of satisfaction from the label . Was not Jesus an extremist for love … Was not Amos an extremist for justice … Was not Martin Luther an extremist … So the question is not whether we will be extremists , but what kind of extremists we will be . Will we be extremists for hate or for love ? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice ? ″ Barry Goldwater , in his 1964 acceptance speech at the 1964 Republican National Convention , said , " I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice . And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue . " Robert F. Kennedy said " What is objectionable , what is dangerous about extremists is not that they are extreme but that they are intolerant . The evil is not what they say about their cause , but what they say about their opponents . " In Russia , the laws prohibiting extremist content are used ( both by poorly trained officials and as part of an intentional politics to suppress opposition ) to suppress the freedom of speech through very broad and flexible interpretation . Published material classified as " extremist " , and thus prosecuted , included protests against the court rulings in the Bolotnaya Square case ( " calling for illegal action " ) , criticism of overspending by a local governor ( " insult of the authorities " ) , publishing a poem in support of Ukraine ( " inciting hatred " ) , an open letter against a war in Chechnya by the writer Polina Zherebcova , the Jehovah 's Witnesses movement in Russia , Raphael Lemkin , and articles by the initiator of the Genocide Convention of 1948
1964 Republican National Convention
1964 Republican National Convention
Extremism