Non Violence

Despite the reputation, non-violence has little to do with being inactive and nothing to do with being weak. One might even exercise force, but there is no judgement in it, indeed there is instead ever-present compassion. Being on the receiving end of this attitude when we expect violence is a very confusing and powerful experience for most of us, trained otherwise.

To those who say it's a nice idea and maybe someday it can work as a means for change, one can only laugh or cry. Go talk to people of the former Soviet Union, of South Africa, and of course of South Asia. Successful non-violent revolutions are not a matter of theory or philosophy, but of historical fact.

For MohandasGandhi it was ahimsa, and MartinLutherKing? called it non-violence. I'm not sure what GhaffarKhan called it. The philosophy is really quite ancient though, for example WalterWink? writes about Jesus' teachings on it. It can be found in most, perhaps all, religions. Above are already connections to Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. Buddhism has nonviolent themes, as do other non-religious philosophies, e.g. humanism. Nonviolence might include things like:

• a willingness to die but not kill for one's values.
• the assumption that there is good in the other that can be appealed to.

Equals non-coercion (AnArchy) in my book. --JohnAbbe