Ironically the International Day of Non-Violence falls (2 October 2014) on the same day as UK fighter planes went into action in Iraq, bombing ISIS sites.
Ironically the International Day of Non-Violence falls (2 October 2014) on the same day as UK fighter planes went into action in Iraq, bombing ISIS sites.
The disabling lack of popular and government imagination when it comes to handling conflict and violence all-too-frequently results in a militaristic response which only aggregates and deepens the problem it is intended to (literally) eliminate.
IS and al-Qaeda, formerly enemies in the so-called jihadist movement, are now cooperation, and thousands more recruits are being drawn to IS, which now holds sway over millions of people.
The UN International Day of Non-Violence honours Gandhi (it falls on his birthday) and others who believe and demonstrate that “just means lead to just ends”; that it is irrational to try to use violence to achieve a peaceful society, annihilation to give rise to justice.
The principle of nonviolence — also known as nonviolent resistance — rejects the use of physical violence in order to achieve social or political change. Often described as “the politics of ordinary people”, this form of social struggle has been adopted by mass populations all over the world in campaigns for social justice.
Professor Gene Sharp, a leading scholar on nonviolent resistance, uses the following definition in his book, The Politics of Nonviolent Action:
“Nonviolent action is a technique by which people who reject passivity and submission, and who see struggle as essential, can wage their conflict without violence. Nonviolent action is not an attempt to avoid or ignore conflict. It is one response to the problem of how to act effectively in politics, especially how to wield powers effectively.”
While nonviolence is frequently used as a synonym for pacifism, since the mid-twentieth century the theory and action of nonviolence has been adopted by many movements for social change which do not focus on opposition to war.
One key tenet of the theory of nonviolence is that the power of rulers depends on the consent of the population, and nonviolence therefore seeks to undermine such power through withdrawal of the consent and cooperation of the populace.
There have been three main categories of non-violence action:protest and persuasion, including marches and vigils; non-cooperation; and non-violent intervention, such as blockades and occupations.
Christian thinkers and activists from Martin Luther King and the Berrigan Brothers through to Dorothy Day, Walter Wink and John Dear have been at the forefront of advocating non-violence, even as some of the churches of Christendom still accept theories that justify war and accommodate militarism.
Ekklesia’s outlook and work, as a Christian think-tank seeking to collaborate with many others who share practical concerns for social justice and peacemaking, is rooted in nonviolence.
Part of the ‘core convictions’ of the Anabaptist Network, with which we collaborate, states: “Peace is at the heart of the gospel. As followers of Jesus in a divided and violent world, we are committed to finding nonviolent alternatives and to learning how to make peace between individuals, within and among churches, in society, and between nations.”
* More on the International Day of Non-Violence: http://www.un.org/en/events/nonviolenceday/index.shtml