Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. wrote that the philosophy and practice of nonviolence has six basic elements.
First, nonviolence is resistance to evil and oppression. It is a human way to fight.
Second, it does not seek to defeat or humiliate the opponent, but to win his/ her friendship and understanding.
Third, the nonviolent method is an attack on the forces of evil rather than against persons doing the evil. It seeks to defeat the evil and not the persons doing the evil and injustice.
Fourth, it is the willingness to accept suffering without retaliation.
Fifth, a nonviolent resister avoids both external physical and internal spiritual violence- not only refuses to shoot, but also to hate, an opponent. The ethic of real love is at the center of nonviolence.
Sixth, the believer in nonviolence has a deep faith in the future and the forces in the universe are seen to be on the side of justice.
"Nonviolent refusal to cooperate with injustice is the way
to defeat it.”
--Mahatma Gandhi
"Non-violence is not inaction. It is not discussion. It is not for
the timid or weak... Non-violence is hard work. It is the willingness
to sacrifice. It is the patience to win.”
--Cesar Chavez
Nonviolent Civil Disobedience as described by the Nonviolence Training Project in Australia:
“Nonviolence is often described as the ‘politics of ordinary people’. As a means of radical social change, nonviolence draws on a rich history of people’s struggles from around the world. Grassroots people’s movements have brought down dictators, stopped armies, undermined corporations and halted entire industries with nonviolent resistance. Nonviolence can be applied personally as a way of life, or collectively as a method of transforming conflict and building peace.
As a strategic and grassroots approach to social change, nonviolent campaigns apply a huge array of creative protest actions, mass non-cooperation and nonviolent interventions with the aim of redistributing power in society. Revolutionary nonviolence aims to create conditions for just, peaceful and sustainable societies that meet the needs of all people. At its core is a recognition of the shared humanity of all people and the value of life itself.”
Some important links for nonviolent civil disobedience:
http://www.nonviolencetraining.org/Training/nonviolence.htm
http://www.actupny.org/documents/CDdocuments/HistoryNV.html
http://www.actupny.org/documents/CDdocuments/PracticingNV.html
http://www.actupny.org/documents/CDdocuments/Affinity.html
take care
Kelly Rivera Hart
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