Today's story, activity, and respond all revolve around the following definitions of nonviolence.
Dictionary:
The policy or practice of refraining from the use of violence, as in reaction to oppressive authority.
Mohandas Gandhi:
Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of [human]kind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of humanity.
Barbara Deming (an American feminist and advocate of nonviolent social change):
For Deming, nonviolence weaves confrontation and compassion together. She writes that we “can put more pressure on the antagonist for whom we show human concern. We put upon [the opponent] two pressures – the pressure of our defiance of him [sic] and the pressure of our respect of his life – and it happens that in combination these two pressures are uniquely effective. …Because the human rights of the adversary are respected, though his actions, his official policies are not, the focus of attention becomes those actions, those policies, and their true nature. The issue cannot be avoided.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (leader within the Civil Rights Movement):
The nonviolent approach does not immediately change the heart of the oppressor. It first does something to hearts and souls of those committed to it. It gives them new respect; it calls up resources of strength and courage that they did not know they had. Finally it reaches the opponent and so stirs his [or her] conscience that reconciliation becomes a reality.”
Michael Nagler (professor and former Founder and Chair of the Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of California at Berkeley):
Nonviolence is the power released by an individual in a successful struggle with a potentially destructive negative drive AND its systematic release into the social field.
Angie O’Gorman (free-lance writer and Catholic theologian):
The call for human beings to “love your enemies” means “wanting wholeness and well-being and life for those who may be broken and sick and deadly. It was meant to be the cornerstone of an entirely new process of disarming evil; one which decreases evil instead of feeding it as violence does.”
Thich Nhat Hanh (Vietnamese Buddhist monk; founder of the Order of Interbeing):
The essence of nonviolence is understanding and compassion, so when you cultivate understanding and compassion, you are practicing nonviolence. You cannot be absolutely nonviolent -- but the more you can understand, the more you can be compassionate, the more you can be nonviolent. …Nonviolence is not a principle. It is a flower that blooms on the ground of understanding and love. Nonviolence is something to cultivate.
Ken Butigan (co-author of Engage; PhD in Spirituality):
Nonviolence is the unfinished democratic revolution started 300 years ago. Democracy is the idea that we can decide the future of a culture by nonviolent means – by ballots instead of bullets.
From Engage: Exploring Nonviolent Living (Session 5: Trying it Out) page 91, Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service.
