From a Canadian... so what do they know, right? (from Ern)

What would Martin Luther King Jr. think of war with Iraq?
Wednesday, February 26, 2003

I have a challenge for you.

The next time you attend a protest against war in Iraq, ask your fellow protestors what they think of Martin Luther King Jr.

Chances are, you'll get pretty glowing responses. After all, he not only went to protests -- he led them.

Then ask your fellow demonstrators if they know King's philosophy.

Sure, many will exude. Civil disobedience, non-violence -- the very opposite of America's mindless war-mongering right?

Then ask them if they know how King defined "peace."

As the lack of conflict? No. King distinguished between negative peace and positive peace.

Negative peace, he said, is only the absence of tension.

Positive peace is the presence of justice, something that even ardent anti-war activists agree Saddam has never provided to the Iraqi people.

That's what Martin Luther King Jr would have fought for -- positive peace.

Ah, but as a guru of non-violence he wouldn't have resorted to occupation.

Don't be so sure. His fellow liberals, clergymen at that, accused King of creating needless conflict.

They deemed him and his troops invaders, and wanted them to pull out of Birmingham, Alabama in the name of peace.

King refused, arguing that "injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere ... Never again can we afford to live with the narrow, provincial 'outside agitator' idea."

As Colin Powell might say, Amen Brother.

I'm Irshad Manji and that's The Last Word.