Tag Archives: Power of Nonviolence

Roy: Afghan War based on DoubleSpeak

The Power of Nonviolence: Writings by Advocates of PeaceThe Arundhati Roy excerpt War is Peace is from her .from ‘s 2002 book Power Politics.  It form the twenty-second chapter in The Power of Nonviolence: Writings by Advocates of Peace. This essay continues the Post-Vietnam to the Present (1975-  ) section of the book.  Roy is an activist and Man Booker Prize winning author. Though, the preceding essays in this book all deal with timeless themes in supporting pacifism, this essay, which centers on the US invasion of Afghanistan in 2001, is the first essay in the book to feel that it is based on contemporary world politics.

Roy starts the essay with the gamification {the process of turning war into a video game] of the October 7, 2001 US-led attack on Afghanistan. The attack was done without seeking UN approval or even under color of international law.  Inverting the expected criticism against her comments, Roy makes clear that she does not take the side of any entity that chooses violence:  Continue reading Roy: Afghan War based on DoubleSpeak

Prasad: The Way to Disarmament

The Power of Nonviolence: Writings by Advocates of PeaceThe fifteenth chapter of The Power of Nonviolence: Writings by Advocates of Peace contains Rajendra Prasad‘s 1963 essay  The Way to Disarmament.  Like the recently discussed writings by Merton, Fromm, and Muste, finding the path to peace through disarmament is the focus of Prasad’s  essay. Dr. Prasad spent his life working for Indian independence and was the first President of the Republic of India. He wrote the essay a year before he died.

Prasad decries the technological advance of warfare. He found that this “misuse” of science and techonolgy vastly increased the scale of human life that was destroyed, and seperated the destructive act from the realization that human life was being taken.  His discussion is immediately relevant to the use of drones to murder today. Prasad looks to his contemporaries for guidance on how to move foraward”

This is what Mahatma Gandhi meant when he said that ultimate nonviolence was only safe defense not only for the individual but for nations.   Continue reading Prasad: The Way to Disarmament

Fromm: Unilateral Nuclear Disarmament

The Power of Nonviolence: Writings by Advocates of PeaceThe thirteenth chapter of The Power of Nonviolence: Writings by Advocates of Peace  contains Erich Fromm‘s 1960 essay  The Case for Unilateral Disarmament.  Fromm was a psychoanalyst and a member of the Frankfurt School.  He co-founded the anti-nuclear organization SANE, which as named after his 1955 book, The Sane Society.  SANE is now part of Peace Action.

Like Muste and Wallace, Fromm argues that the safest path to security is unilateral disarmament.  Not surprisingly, Fromm approaches the discussion from a psychological perspective.  To start with he pushes aside the question of whether disarmament is unilateral or mutual.  Instead, he reaches for the question of what the reaction of the opposing side will be to disarmament. He rather dryly states that

it is unfortunately true that political leaders can rarely be trusted

Fromm’s purpose is not to demonize political leaders; he argues that the human nature causes them to bifurcate their personal moral beliefs from their morality as institutional leaders.   He finds Hitler to be personally immoral, but the Russian [sic] leaders to be moral in their personal beliefs.  Continue reading Fromm: Unilateral Nuclear Disarmament

Dorothy Day’s Christian Pacifist Stand against US entry into WWII

The Power of Nonviolence Writings by Advocates of PeaceThe ninth chapter of The Power of Nonviolence: Writings by Advocates of Peace contains Dorothy Days short 1942 essay Our Country Passes from Undeclared War to Declared War; We continue our Christian Pacifist Stand. This essay is the sequel to last week’s pre-WWII essay Pacifism.

From its title onward, the essay is directed to a Christian audience as it opens with “Dear fellow workers in Christ”  The prior essay quoted the Pope.  This essay quotes a priest named Father Orchard for 5 paragraphs.

This essay seems to refer to Christian imagery more to reassure Day herself of the righteous of her non-collaboration with the war efforts than to convince her audience.  It is clear from the essay that Day’s work has suffered greatly from her pacifist stand in the face of overwhelming US support for entering the war: Continue reading Dorothy Day’s Christian Pacifist Stand against US entry into WWII

Power of Nonviolence Thoreau CD: Peace Book Chapter 4 10/10/11

The Power of Nonviolence Writings by Advocates of PeaceThe fourth chapter of The Power of Nonviolence: Writings by Advocates of Peace brings us to Henry David Thoreau‘s seminal 1849 essay on Civil Disobedience.  This is the essay that turned words into action.  It turned the future into right now.  This essay educated two of the most powerful leaders of the 20th century, Gandhi and King.  It provided the foundations for their nonviolent movements.

Like many of his fellow transcendentalists, Thoreau was an abolitionist. He reacted strongly to President Polk’s incitement of the Mexican War in 1846. The war was intended to annex territory for slavery. Congressman Abraham Lincoln’s outspoken opposition to the war essentially ended his political career for 8 years.

An animation showing when United States territ...
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Thoreau took it a step further.  He saw that living in a the the free state of Massachusetts and speaking out against slavery did not absolve him of involvement in the war, and in furthering slavery.  Thoreau saw that his support of the government — his payment of taxes — made him complicit.  Despite having coined the phrase in the beginning of this essay that teeters between libertarian and anarchist:  Continue reading Power of Nonviolence Thoreau CD: Peace Book Chapter 4 10/10/11

Power of Nonviolence Emerson War: Peace Book Chapter 3 10/3/11

The Power of Nonviolence Writings by Advocates of PeaceWe continue with the third chapter from the The Power of Nonviolence: Writings by Advocates of Peace This week we discuss the third chapter of the book which is an excerpt from Ralph Waldo Emerson‘s essay entitled War. This chapter is in the Pre-Twentieth Century section of the book . Last week we discussed an excerpt from a 1693 essay by William Penn entitled Essay Towards the Present and Future Peace of Europe.

Shall it be war, or shall it be peace?

The discussion in this chapter is, unfortunately, as modern as the Duke’s recent Facebook discussion with childhood schoolmates. The other participants in the discussion brought up every possible reason why the war they opposed is an acceptable course of action.  The lesser evil. The corruption of money in politics. The current state of affairs.  The Duke kept returning the discussion to the phrase that ends the selection from Emerson’s essay, and serves as this paragraph’s pull quote.  Continue reading Power of Nonviolence Emerson War: Peace Book Chapter 3 10/3/11