It gives me goose bumps to think about it. On Sept. 8 three days before the assaults of Sept. 11, President George W. Bush said, “We also must strive to treat each other with civility, to love our neighbors, and to extend the American dream to every willing heart.”

In that same speech Mr. Bush spoke of the heroism of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and declared the week National Birmingham Pledge Week.

On Sept. 17, eight short days later, Bush said, “I want justice, and there’s an old poster out West, I recall, that says, `Wanted: Dead or Alive.'”

I think King would be saddened by the tragedy of Sept. 11. But I think he would also be troubled by the war of revenge that has followed.

In this time of the great “war on terrorism,” I can’t help but think of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., the man we are to honor for the next week.

I can see his face gently wrinkle in anguish upon hearing of the murder of thousands in places with names like New York, Mazar-e-Sharif, Washington D.C. and Kabul.

I can almost see Dr. King wring his hands when learning of the of thousands of innocent lives lost to people bent on horror with airplanes and fellow human beings exacting their revenge with a different kind of aircraft.

Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. holiday was signed into law by former president Ronald Reagan in 1986.

Then former Senator Harris Wofford and John Lewis co-authored the King Holiday and Service Act.

The idea of the service act was to encourage a day of action and civic engagement. That piece of legislation became law in August 1994 with the signature of former President Bill Clinton. So, as a living memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, we are to give service to our nation.

To truly honor Dr. King, we must consider the ideals for which he stood.

Those morals are clear. Humility and nonviolence were paramount. According to the King Center, the official organization run by Dr. King’s family, he was the “leader of America’s greatest nonviolent movement for justice, equality and peace.”

Dr. King was a student of nonviolence and the social justice philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi. He was a man who believed whole-heartedly that mass nonviolent action can solve the greatest of conflicts.

Dr. King’s message was not an esoteric, utopian idea of a place where lamb and lion simply share each other’s company, but one of a tough, hands-on nonviolent movement, of marches, sit-ins and strikes.

It baffles me that our leaders are able to champion this great “war on terrorism” and simultaneously honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., our nation’s most outspoken proponent of nonviolent direct action.

President Bush and the officials before him surely observe the holiday.

I’m certain the public relations folks have speeches, banquets and appearances organized for Monday.

Will the very spirit of Dr. King’s message of reconciliation and love be lost in this deluge of P.R. schemes and war propaganda?

If we are to truly honor one of our nation’s greatest leaders, then we must embark on a nonviolent path for justice.

For the next week, remember the ideals for which Dr. King truly stood.He was a man who stood for justice, there is no doubt about it.

However, he also believed that the correct journey to justice was one without violence.The goose bumps returned when I recently read these words of Dr. King in 1967. They are words that ring remarkably significant 35 years later:

“Today there is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence. It is either nonviolence or nonexistence . Whether we live in America or Asia or Africa we are all tied in a single garment of destiny and whatever affects one directly, affects one indirectly.”

Omar Tesdell is a sophomore in journalism and mass communication from Slater. He is online editor of the Daily.