Lewis Calls on Nation to Abandon Violence to Honor King

WASHINGTON — Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., called on the nation Sunday to honor the memory of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. by abandoning violence and racial bitterness in favor of peace and reconciliation.

And, with issues of race, war, gender and economic inequity at the forefront of the contentious presidential campaign, Lewis urged Americans of all persuasions to look beyond past injustices and come together around the dream King gave voice to before he was gunned down 40 years ago this week.

"An entire generation had a vision. An entire generation had a dream," Lewis said in the sermon he delivered to hundreds of attendees at the National Cathedral. "If our goal is a beloved community of peace, love and justice, then our methods cannot include war, hatred and bitterness against our fellow man."

Lewis spoke from the ornately sculpted stone pulpit where King preached his final Sunday sermon on March 31, 1968. On April 4, King was shot dead in Memphis by James Earl Ray.

Since then, said Lewis, the nation has compiled a mixed record in addressing the social, economic and foreign policy ills King highlighted.

"Have we moved forward in our mission to respect the dignity and the worth of all humankind?" Lewis asked. "We must not let another 40 years pass without redeeming this nation from the perils of racism, poverty and war."

Lewis, a civil rights activist who worked shoulder to shoulder with King a generation ago, has spent recent weeks near the epicenter of the most divisive Democratic presidential nomination process in decades.

After coming out early in favor of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., Lewis in February switched his support to Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill.

While he did not mention either candidate by name in Sunday's sermon, Lewis said the presidential campaign has given the country the chance to look clearly at the racial divisions at the heart of its past and seek common ground among all Americans.

"If we are to emerge from this struggle unscarred by hate, we must learn to understand and to forgive those who are most hostile toward us," said Lewis. "We can forgive, because we have a dream."

Lewis also did not specifically mention the war in Iraq, where 4,000 Americans have died and another 30,000 have been wounded. But Lewis, who has opposed the war since before it began five years ago, made a plea for the country to embrace the non-violent teachings of King and his disciples in the civil rights movement.

"For many of us it became a way of life - non violence," said Lewis. "I keep praying, I keep hoping, that maybe one day, just maybe ... we will come to the place where we will say that violence is obsolete ... that war is no longer a necessary part of our foreign policy."

U.S. influence abroad, Lewis said, rests on the country's commitment to justice, freedom and human rights, not on its prowess as a military power.

"The people around the world have looked to our nation as a beacon," said Lewis. "They have not been inspired by our bullets, our guns and our bombs. They have been inspired by the nonviolent efforts in our country and around the world."