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The 25 Lessons of Nonviolence

Started by markvans · 7 months ago

I’m reading Mark Kurlansky’s Non-violence: The History of a Dangerous Idea. Kurlansky is the New York Times Bestselling author of a number of quirky history books about Cod and Salt and whatnot. His book on nonviolence is enjoyable–though it has a few historical ... Continue reading »

15 comments

  • Micael

    7 months ago

    I agree with all the points I understand (well, I'm Swedish), and especially nr 9, 17 and 18 hit my heart. Indeed, our mission is to create peace, but what have we become if we use war to bring peace? What happened to the almighty God whom nothing is impossible for? And indeed, it is those who have lived through war that really knows how it is, and therefore peace actvists are among them (after nearly every war USA has performed, groups like "Vietnamn veterans against the war" and "Iraq veterans against the war" occours...) And indeed, fear is the thing that make people tp kill each other. Therefore Jesus said that we don't have anything to be afraid of (Luke 12). We have a Father who cares for us and free us from death. And notice that just before Jesus teaches us His golden rula, He talks about that God always hear our prayer and give us what we pray for... a trust in God and nonviolence comes together.
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  • hewhocutsdown

    7 months ago

    "A shooting war is not necessary to overthrow an established power but is used to consolidate the revolution itself."

    This one's quite intriguing....very few things garner unity amongst rebels like a common enemy.
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  • Jonathan Brink

    7 months ago

    "There is no proactive word for nonviolence."

    Ugh...it's called love.
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  • hewhocutsdown

    7 months ago

    Violence is a virus that infects and takes over.

    This one seems a bit too vague.

    I'm enjoying/processing the rest of them though.
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  • Nicholas Perks

    7 months ago

    I find the list true to my own understanding of human history and violent confrontation, but I would disagree with number ten for sure. It is most definitly in the nature of man to abuse power.

    Nicholas Perks
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  • anita

    7 months ago

    I would definitely disagree with number 10 as well.
    Power has no soul, man does.

    But the rest of the point are wonderful!
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  • Charles H. Featherstone

    7 months ago

    Yeah, number 10 -- The problem lies not in the nature of man but in the nature of power -- is a problem, because there is no power without human beings, human desire and human sinfulness.
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  • Mark T

    7 months ago

    Thanks for this list, it sounds like a great book.
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  • Micael

    7 months ago

    Actually, I have written a text called "Early Christian Pacifism and Nonviolence" with qoutes from 11 different early church fathers and has some Bible studies (including Romans 13 and the OT wars). Maybe you want to see it? I can't find your e-mail or something though ("Contact us" and "Submit your article" doesn't work) so if you see this and are interested, contact me on micael@grenholm.net
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  • BarryClemson

    7 months ago

    #15 "A shooting war is not necessary to overthrow an established power but is used to consolidate the revolution itself", reminds me of the American Revolution. According to one author, the colonists had so defeated the British Governors that even the Governors themselves recognized that no one paid any attention to their orders. What we call the American Revolution is the newly victorious colonists defending themselves against the British Army attempt to conquer them AFTER they had nonviolently beaten the British Governors.
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  • roger Flyer

    7 months ago

    Great stuff. you might be interested in a blog called Inhabitatio Dei
    Halden Doerge.
    reply
  • Casey

    7 months ago

    "Somewhere behind every war there are always a few founding lies."

    "Any man who has once proclaimed violence as his method is inevitably forced to take the lie as his principle."
    Alexander Solzhenitsyn

    "All war is based on deception."
    Sun Tzu

    Nothing new here, but it is good to remind us of this fact. Remember the Maine!
    reply
  • Luke

    7 months ago

    Nagler's UC Berkeley courses on Nonviolence are available for free download:

    http://webcast.berkeley.edu/course_details.php?...
    http://webcast.berkeley.edu/course_details.php?...

    I've been listening to them on my iPod and these lectures are awesome.
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  • stefan

    5 months ago

    I can't figure out whether or not agree with #10. I like it though. Is this dude an anarchist?
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  • Maria Kirby

    7 months ago

    "People who go to war start to resemble their enemy." I heard somewhere that the people who annoy us the most are the ones with faults just like ours.

    "Once you start the business of killing, you just get “deeper and deeper,” without limits." This is why we have governments and legal systems: to set limits on the business of killing.

    "A conflict between a violent and a nonviolent force is a moral argument. If the violent side can provoke the nonviolent side into violence, the violent side has won." I find this comment most interesting. It really starts to make a person think about their definitions and boundaries. At what point does force change from being nonviolent to violent. Is it only physical force that we're trying to set limits on?
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