The way of love, or nonviolence, as Mahatma
Gandhi once said,
is as old as the hills. The English word "nonviolence"
derives conceptually from the Sanskrit word ahimsa, which
literally means not hurting. The root of this word is hins,
a desiderative form of han, which means to slay, kill, or
damage. Thus hins implies the desire to kill, injure or
destroy. The a is a negative giving ahimsa the
broader meaning of not having any desire, wish, or will to kill,
injure or destroy.
If people are hurting, injuring, or killing others, those of us
who feel a concern to alleviate or eliminate that suffering being
inflicted have the right, if we choose to exercise it, to attempt
to intervene to prevent or stop the harm. Yet our first concern
and responsibility is to make sure that we are not adding to the
harm being done, thus the importance of strictly adhering to the
principle of nonviolence in whatever we do. Our love and
compassion for those suffering or about to suffer may move us to
act in a nonviolent manner to help. Everyone is not obligated to
do this, and we cannot force anyone to support us in this effort.
Between Submission and
Retaliation
The way of nonviolent action has been described as a third way,
an alternative to weak submission to wrongs and violent reaction
against them. Most people only see the two common alternatives:
they either accept the unjust situation passively or prepare to
use force in defense of their rights. Unfortunately those who use
force often are not able to control it or keep it from oppressing
others. Thus what starts out as a means of defending a group's
interests often ends up interfering in the affairs of others.
Justice is rarely achieved by seeing who has the strongest
military forces to kill and destroy the opponent most effectively.
On the other hand those who passively submit to what is forced
upon them usually are considered weak and cowardly as they suffer
oppression from the aggressive.
The third way enables even those who are few in numbers or poor in
material resources to stand up for their rights with moral
strength and dignity. Also neutral persons may come to their aid
without injuring either side, and even dissenters from the
aggressive side may intervene nonviolently for the sake of
justice. One need not be big and powerful by worldly standards to
use nonviolent action. The very old and young, women, and even the
handicapped can be just as effective in nonviolent action as
physically strong young men. The power of nonviolence comes from
the spiritual qualities of love, understanding, communication
skill, courage, and persistent endurance.
Regardless of the particular goal or cause at stake, the
nonviolent method is careful to make sure the means do no harm. By
not inflicting any harm on the opponents the nonviolent activists
are not immediately threatening to them. However, the opponents
may not like the goals we are working for, and therefore may
inflict harm on the nonviolent people anyway. When this occurs it
is important that peaceful activists not retaliate or fight back
physically. At the same time it is equally important that we
persist in our efforts and not give in because of the suffering we
are undergoing. Otherwise we are encouraging the opponents to
punish us in order to "deter" us. In this way nonviolent
activists can earn the respect of opponents who believe in force.
As they realize that force is not working in stopping the
activists' protests, they will have to re-evaluate their tactics
and the whole situation. Using nonviolent action is no guarantee
that no violence will result, because the opponents may use force.
However, it is the strongest form of action that we can use to
truly win over the opponents, while minimizing the total violence
by not contributing to it at all. The weak method of passive
submission does nothing to alleviate the oppression and injustice
already present, while violent reaction escalates the violence and
oppression of the situation.
Open Friendliness
The way of nonviolence is open to the flow of love which may
come from any direction. To love completely is to be open to the
whole universe and everyone in it, both in receiving from others
and in giving love to others. True love is universal, not just for
one other person. By being open and friendly to everyone we can
better understand them and their concerns, and they will be more
likely to listen to ours as well. The way of love treats the whole
world as one big happy family. In this way we do not close
ourselves off from anyone or any viewpoint. We are not afraid to
consider all views, and we find that diversity does not have to
result in disharmony if we are friends.
In the nonviolent movement we are very friendly toward each other;
at the same time we try to be equally friendly toward our
opponents and critics, because as human beings they are just as
important as we are, and we need to understand them even more than
people who agree with us. What the world needs more than anything
else is more love and friendship, and this is something that each
of us can contribute to in our daily lives. By developing friendly
relationships with those who oppose us we are beginning the
process of social healing. Nothing is more disarming than a
sincere smile.
Openness means that we are not trying to hide anything or take
advantage of what the other person does not know. Also it means
that we are open to receive what other people have to offer us. We
are open to the flow of Spirit moving in our lives and in the
lives of those around us. We are available to communication and
relationship and cooperation with what is good. However, in our
openness to examine all viewpoints, we still retain our own
discernment of what is morally good. We need not agree with all
concepts or attitudes nor do we cooperate with what we believe is
harmful, but we are always willing to discuss and consider what is
best.
Friendliness is a good feeling that we share with others. When our
hearts are open, we do not discriminate between people but share
our good feelings with everyone equally. In this way we live in
love all the time. Yet we do not need to love what everyone does.
We can discern the difference between our love for people and what
they do. We may hate their actions and attitudes but still love
them as souls and human beings. In fact loving friendship is not
afraid to communicate our concerns and differences of opinions so
that we might resolve them most easily and directly. Sometimes
this requires "hard love" and honesty in communication.
Honest Communication
Gandhi used the term satyagraha to describe the way of
the nonviolent activist. The word satya means truth,
deriving from sat which means truth in the sense of being,
reality or existence. The word graha means firmly holding
to something. Thus satyagraha means firmly holding to the
truth and implies that this truth is the spiritual reality of our
beingness, as when Jesus said, "I am life, truth, and the
way." Regardless of a person's religion or lack of it, this
nonviolent way is based on a spiritual dedication to truth and
therefore honesty in human relations.
The great gift of our human intelligence enables us to communicate
clearly with each other, not only directly by our actions but also
symbolically by means of language. Because language is a symbolic
abstraction referring to objects, relations, and concepts, the
words may or may not be accurate to the reality they are
attempting to describe. In other words, language may be in error,
or people can and do lie. Deception is a subtle form of violence,
because it shows a lack of respect for other people or fear of
reality. The way of love is based on the love of the truth in
everyone and everything. Gandhi used to say that there is no God
higher than the truth. To separate ourselves from the truth is to
separate ourselves from reality.
Thus to be true to ourselves we must be true to others as well. Is
it really loving to try to be nice and not to tell someone we like
that what they are doing is bothering us? If we allow resentment
to build up we soon find ourselves in conflict and
misunderstanding. True love means having the courage to confront
ourselves and others with the reality of what is going on so that
we can work to resolve it together. By hard love we learn how to
be self-critical and constantly watchful of how we can improve
ourselves and our situation with others.
Our feelings tell us much about what is going on with us and by
communicating them we will be much more able to master the
situation in a way that is best for the group. Of course this does
not mean we unleash all our personal problems on others without
any discernment. The best communication is clear, open, and
honest. We clearly communicate when we are aware of what our
feelings, thoughts, and concerns are and make them clear to others
without inflicting our own "stuff" on to other people.
We are responsible for working out our own emotional problems
without projecting them on others, but we can still communicate
what we are going through if we wish. We need to be careful not to
let personal problems distort the larger issues we are working on
together. The process of group communication can help us each to
see past our own personal concerns to what is best for everyone.
As a group it is especially important that we make sure that our
communications with the public and our adversaries are accurate
and truthful, because the credibility of our movement depends on
this trust that we are not trying to mislead people. This is
another contrast to the military methods of secrecy and surprise.
In making peace with others we want them to know exactly what we
are doing and what our objectives are so that we can work them out
in as open a situation as possible. How much information a group
decides to volunteer to opponents is an issue to be discussed in
relation to strategy. However, there can be little doubt that
conscious deception must be prohibited for the sake of public
trust.
Respect for Freedom and
Equality
The way of love is also the way of freedom, because no one but
ourselves directs us how to express our love. This is another
contrast to military authoritarianism where individuals must take
orders from superiors. In the nonviolent movement we are all free
and equal, each listening to our own inner guidance and sharing
our concerns with the group. Then the group can freely decide,
based on all individuals' considerations, how the group wishes to
act. Thus first we must recognize our own freedom of choice and
equal right to participate.
Even more important is that we realize the equality of all human
beings and respect the liberty of others just as we want our own
freedom respected. The nonviolent way of love is not possessive of
others nor does it attempt to control others or use force against
them. If we love others, we respect their autonomy to make their
own decisions. We certainly can communicate with them, and we may
even confront them with our presence to pressure them nonviolently
to make a specific choice, if we believe that what they are doing
is wrong and harmful to people. The important distinction is that
we do not try to physically or violently force them to do what we
want. Rather we may attempt to nonviolently intervene between the
persons and the wrong acts we believe they are doing so that they
have to make a choice either to remove us or stop that behavior.
Nonviolent protests do not hurt people, although they may cause
them some inconvenience in going about the business which we
believe is harmful. In doing this we attempt to treat these people
as our equals and respect them as individuals. Our actions are
meant as a direct communication of our concern for the well-being
of those involved in the situation.
We must be careful in our attitudes not to imply that we feel we
are superior, because we are critical of what others are doing. We
all make mistakes, and the nonviolent way is a path of humility
which attempts to peacefully suggest to others that they may wish
to examine the morality of what they are doing. We are not
insisting that they change, but we may insist that they at least
consider changing. We do this by presenting them with clear
choices which often result in our own self-sacrifice if they make
the choice we believe is wrong. Thus we have not inflicted
suffering on them, but have been willing to suffer in our attempt
to alleviate the wrong.
Courageous Compassion
Contrary to much popular belief the way of love and nonviolent
action is not a weak and passive method, and it certainly is not
for cowards. Nonviolent direct action may take more courage than
fighting with violence in a war, although that is a kind of
bravery. However, if we analyze the use of weapons we can see that
they are employed out of fear of what the opponent will do to us
if we do not use violence against them. The truly courageous are
not afraid of the opponents and therefore need no weapon at all.
Does it take more courage to go into battle hiding behind armor
and using a gun to kill anyone who appears threatening or to walk
with dignity unarmed and unafraid into the conflict?
Thus courage is measured by how much we are able to overcome our
fear and do what we believe is best to do anyway. Those who fight
with weapons for what they believe are more courageous than those
who passively accept injustice and allow themselves to be
controlled by those who are threatening them. Yet the most
courageous are those who stand up to injustice and actively work
to change it by nonviolently intervening using purely moral
courage and no physical weapons for defense. The most courageous
do not kill out of fear of others but are willing to die if
necessary for what is right. Love and trust, not hate and fear,
are the real marks of the truly courageous. The word
"courage" comes from the French word for heart (coeur).
Do we have the heart to expose ourselves to our opponents trusting
in a human and nonviolent process of reconciliation?
Compassion is what gives us this heart. Compassion may be defined
as the love which not only empathizes with others in feeling what
they are going through, but also is wise and courageous enough to
do something about it. Thus compassion is love in action and is
willing to take on the suffering of others in order to redeem them
and those who are doing wrong to them. In compassion we have
progressed beyond anger and hate of those who are doing wrong
through pity and into mercy and caring and healing. Compassion
comes from an experience of oneness with others which expands our
hearts so that we feel what people are suffering and are moved to
help them.
When we discover that people are dying of starvation or suffering
chronic malnutrition at the same time as the world has surplus
food and is wasting its resources, then compassion tells us we
must work to alleviate this situation. When we see our government
using vast financial, technical, and human resources oppressing
poor people in other countries and threatening all nations on the
earth with genocidal weapons, then compassion tells us that it is
our responsibility to change our nation's priorities from death
and exploitation to life and sharing. When we see the natural
environment deteriorating and this generation robbing the
resources from the future, then compassion tells us that we must
learn to live more in harmony with the earth and plan for our
children's health and well-being. When we hear of individuals
caught in a web of propaganda and exploitation not realizing the
harm they are doing or seeing any other way out from their
predicament, then compassion tells us we must communicate to them
the alternatives which are better for all of us. When we know in
our hearts that we can make a contribution for the betterment of
humanity, then compassion tells us that we must move into action.
Detached Trusting
The way of love is based on the faith that if we act in a good
way without harming anyone, then inevitably in the long run the
results will be good. Instead of trying to control people by
threats and force of might we allow humans to use intelligence to
solve our problems by communication and negotiation. We may trust
in God, or the process of the universe, as well as in human
abilities. By challenging our opponents unarmed we are
demonstrating our trust in them that they will not destroy us. By
standing up to the wrongs we believe they are doing, we are
trusting that by a nonviolent process those wrongs will eventually
be redressed. Ultimately even if our bodies are destroyed, we will
have done what was right and would be trusting that in the future
people would recognize that and right the wrongs eventually.
In order to trust fully we must let go of our own control of the
situation and allow others to participate in the process. If we
are attached to achieving certain results, then we may prejudge
the process and reject the will of the Spirit of the whole. The
situation may not be best resolved in exactly the way we think it
should. Of course we can have goals and objectives for our action;
but once we have defined the purpose of our action we need to be
detached from the specific results along the way. Otherwise we
will find ourselves disappointed and discouraged. The Bhagavad-Gita
teaches non-attachment to the fruits of action. That means that it
is important that we act for the good without worrying about
whether we are immediately successful, and also that we should not
be concerned about receiving any credit or reward for our work.
Jesus spoke about the same thing when he taught how the selfless
person desires no personal reward; the rewards come spiritually
(inwardly) or "in heaven."
Of course being detached and trusting does not mean we should
trust blindly. We must monitor what is going on and be working
toward our objectives constantly. To trust people is not
necessarily to let them take advantage of us. We must watch what
they do. If they betray their word or deceive us, then we can
point that out to them and others. We can continue to protest the
wrongs they are doing while informing the general public. Our own
integrity is always within our own control. We can love others
unconditionally, but we don't have to reward people for doing
wrongs. In that case we do not withdraw our love for them, but we
can withdraw our cooperation from the wrongs we believe they are
perpetrating.
Detachment enables us to be free within ourselves from emotional
clinging to people or specific experiences. It does not mean that
we don't care, because we can show that we care by our actions. To
be detached means that we are not controlled by others or by
conditioning or the situation. We are free enough to transcend our
fears, desires, aversions, ambitions, etc. and perceive what is
truly best for all concerned. This equanimity or even-mindedness
gives us peace within ourselves that we can then share with others
by being calm and in control of ourselves in any situation.
However, this does not preclude the feeling or expressing of
emotion through compassion or other passions; but instead of being
controlled by the emotions we are aware of them and in control of
them so that we can use our feelings in our communication with
others. So when the situation calls for it we may weep in sorrow
or joy, or shout assertively to protest a terrible situation.
These feelings will not destroy our detachment if they are
authentic feelings, we are aware of what is going on, and we are
controlling their expression by channeling the emotional energy in
such a way that it is not harming anyone but is communicating a
proper concern. Feelings are very powerful means of communication
and often we need to pay more attention to them not less. To
suppress consciously or repress unconsciously our inner feelings
is not detachment nor is it healthy. If more people would listen
and act on our truer and deeper feelings, our society might not be
as sick as it is today. Thus we can distinguish the difference
between the prevalent psychic numbing in the face of our
overwhelming problems and the detachment which enables us to act
freely and intelligently.
Patient Persistence
Jim Douglass of Ground Zero in the state of Washington has
referred to patience as a revolutionary virtue. Others may
criticize us as impatient, because we feel the need to take direct
action rather than let a slower evolutionary process occur.
Patience is not an excuse for not acting, but rather a quality
that helps us to endure and persist in our efforts while
proceeding in a calm and intelligent manner. When we are caught up
in action, the emotions are often very active and sometimes
turbulent. We must be careful not to react without thinking very
carefully about what we are doing and what the consequences are
likely to be. Patience gives us time for deliberation and
reflection on the issues and how our actions can be both
nonviolent and yet effective. It is better to wait and perhaps
miss a small opportunity of the moment than to rush into something
foolishly or unprepared. New opportunities always come forward. If
we think out the situation and how we can best deal with it, the
next time it occurs we will be ready to act in a good way.
Unlike military action which strikes quickly and ruthlessly,
nonviolent action is slow and deliberate with ample warning given
to the opponents so that they can consciously decide how they wish
to meet our confrontation. We do not want our opponents to have to
react quickly with instinctive reflexes. We want them to know us
and our methods so that they can respond as calmly and as
intelligently as possible.
Military methods are quick and destructive like fire, but
nonviolent action is flowing and nurturing like water that
nourishes growing things. For some crazy reason people say,
"Fight fire with fire," but doesn't it make much more
sense to fight fire with water? The flow of water follows the
lowest path, but by flowing constantly for a long time it wears
away the hardest rocks. To be successful, nonviolent movements
must continuously persist until the opposition's hard hearts have
melted and we have achieved a higher level of cooperation. After
Gandhi returned to India from South Africa where he spent twenty
years developing his nonviolent methods, it took thirty years
before India won her independence from Great Britain. The only way
for a nonviolent movement to lose is to stop the effort. As long
as we persist, we will make progress in communication, education,
and awakening of the public to the circumstances we want changed.
The other way to lose is to become violent and lose moral
credibility. When we act nonviolently, the opponents may arrest us
or allow us to stop the wrong we are acting to stop; either way we
win attention to our cause and make it more difficult for them to
continue those wrongs.
Persistence also means that we must be flexible in our strategy
and tactics. If one method does not work, we should let it go and
try another. If one issue has been resolved successfully, then we
can go on to the next in importance. If one avenue seems to be
blocked, we can flow to another area that needs attention. If
people seem to be losing interest, we can be creative with new and
interesting approaches to the problems. If we feel we are burned
out, we can take a break to replenish our spiritual and inner
resources and come back with renewed energy. We need to persist
not only in our efforts for social change, but even more important
we must persist in our love for one another, for this above all
will sustain us.
The way of love is always patient and forgiving but at the same
time persistent in doing good. When people admit they have done
wrong, we can achieve reconciliation by forgiving them. The
ultimate goal of nonviolent action is not victory over the
opponents but the finding of a harmonious way of living together
peacefully with justice. We seek no advantage over anyone else. We
are working for the good of our adversaries just as much as for
ourselves. Thus when we are successful, everyone will be the
victors; and those who have become converted to a better way of
life will truly deserve just as much credit, if not more, for
their transformation as those who worked to stimulate that change.
The way of love leads to a society where freedom and equality and
justice and friendly relationships between all people become the
norm, what might be called the reign of God, spiritual democracy,
or paradise on earth. Since we would be very fortunate indeed to
achieve these goals within our lifetime, we will need a great
amount of patience and persistence.
******************************************************
For we no longer take up 'sword against nation"
nor do we 'learn war any more,' having become children of peace,
for the sake of Jesus, who is our leader.
Origen
******************************************************
The alternative to violence is nonviolent resistance....
First, this is not a method for cowards; it does resist.
The nonviolent resister is just as strongly opposed to the evil
against which one protests as is the person who uses
violence....
This method is passive physically but strongly active
spiritually.
... A second point is that nonviolent resistance
does not seek to defeat or humiliate the opponent,
but to win their friendship and understanding....
A third characteristic of this method is
that the attack is directed against forces of evil
rather than against persons who are caught in those forces.
It is evil we are seeking to defeat,
not the persons victimized by evil....
A fourth point that must be brought out
concerning nonviolent resistance is that
it avoids not only external physical violence
but also internal violence of spirit.
At the center of nonviolence stands the principle of love.
In struggling for human dignity
the oppressed people of the world must not allow themselves
to become bitter or indulge in hate campaigns.
To retaliate with hate and bitterness
would do nothing but intensify the hate in the world.
Along the way of life, someone must have sense enough
and morality enough to cut off the chains of hate.
This can be done only by projecting the ethics of love
to the center of our lives....
Finally, the method of nonviolence is based on the conviction
that the universe is on the side of justice.
It is this deep faith in the future
that causes the nonviolent resister
to accept suffering without retaliation....
World peace through nonviolent means
is neither absurd nor unattainable.
All other methods have failed,
Thus we must begin anew....
We have the choice in this world today
between nonviolence and non-existence.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
********************************************
Experiment with nonviolent struggle has barely begun.
But in a world in which traditional violent battle
can escalate into nuclear war,
it is an experiment that is absolutely necessary
to push to its furthest limits.
Barbara Deming
********************************************
The Politics of Nonviolence
The conventional view of political power sees people as
dependent on the good will and caprice of their government and any
other hierarchical system to which they belong. Power is seen as
something people have -- kings, czars, generals hold power as one
holds a knife. Power resides in knowledge, control of wealth and
in the ability to impose violence. Those who serve have little
power. Consequently, those without power must kill or destroy
their rulers and replace them in their positions in order to wield
the selfsame power.
The theory of active nonviolence proposes a different analysis:
that government depends on people and that political power is
variable, even fragile, always dependent on the cooperation of a
multitude of groups and individuals. The withdrawal of that
cooperation restricts and can even dissolve power. Put another
way, power depends on continuing obedience; thus when we refuse to
obey our rulers, their power begins to crumble.
In this sense, nonviolent action is not passive - nor is it a
naive belief in converting the opposition - nor is it a
"safe" method of protest, immune from repression.
Rather, it is based on a different understanding of where people's
power really lies. By disobeying, people learn to withhold, rather
than surrender, their cooperation. This recognizes that the
individual's discovery of self-respect is tied to the recognition
that one's own assistance makes the unjust regime possible. When a
large enough group of people recognizes this - as the
"untouchables" did with Gandhi's help - the result is
massive noncooperation and obstruction involving the use of
social, economic, and political power.
Then why don't people decide to withdraw cooperation? Why instead
do the many obey the few - and how can this change? The
authorities are able to wield power both because masses of people
passively obey, and because they have the violent means for
suppressing dissent - police, National Guard, prison guards and
prison cells. A few disobey and are punished, keeping the many
afraid.
Yet there are chinks in the armor. First, the repressive apparatus
is made up of human beings whose cooperation is essential. A
nonviolent approach to the police undercuts their rationale for
violence - and reveals to neutral parties the extent to which the
system relies on violence and force. Second, the repressive
apparatus is based on a minimal level of dissent (i.e., much mild
dissent or a small number of militant dissenters). When dissent
grows and brings pressure to bear, the system breaks down. When a
nonviolent campaign stands its ground using nonviolence to resist
dispersal (not merely for a day or a weekend, but over time), it
astronomically raises the cost of continuing violence against it,
until it is no longer feasible.
Increasing Use of Nonviolence
in History
* In 494 BC plebeians in Rome decided not to kill the consuls
who refused to grant their grievances but withdrew from the city
to a hill which became known as the "Sacred Mount."
After a few days of such noncooperation with the city significant
improvements were granted.
* The people of the Netherlands nonviolently resisted Spanish rule
between 1565 and 1576.
* John Adams described the nonviolent period from 1760 to 1775 as
the true revolution, followed by a war of independence from 1775
to 1783. Boycotts and noncooperation with British laws were used
as well as direct action at the Boston Tea Party.
* Hungarians led by Deak struggled against Austrian domination
between 1850 and 1867.
* Both the anti-slavery and woman's suffrage movements in England
and the United States agitated with nonviolent methods and were
successful eventually.
* The Russian revolutions of 1905 and early 1917 were primarily
nonviolent until the Bolsheviks took power by force of arms in
November 1917.
* In Berlin in 1920 a rightist coup d'etat was
defeated by nonviolent action in support of the legitimate
government. A similar situation occurred in the Ruhr in 1923.
* Mahatma Gandhi led several campaigns in South Africa and in
India which led to reforms and eventually Indian independence.
* Nonviolent methods were used against Nazi occupation in Denmark
and in Norway during World War II.
* In Guatemala City in 1944 the dictator Ubico was pressured to
resign by nonviolent opposition.
* The civil rights campaigns led by Dr. King and others in the
southern United States led to significant new legislation and
changes in social policies and awareness in the 1950s and 1960s.
* Nonviolent movements have struggled briefly in Hungary in 1956
before the violence began and in Czechoslovakia in 1968.
* Nonviolent tactics have been used by the labor movement all
through the twentieth century.
* Anti-war protests were a major factor in preventing the use of
nuclear weapons in Vietnam and in ending that war.
* In Markolsheim, France in 1974 people built a friendship house
on the site where a lead factory was to be constructed until the
French government withdrew the plant's permit.
* In Wyhl, West Germany in 1976 thousands of people occupied the
location for a nuclear power plant project, staying for more than
a year until construction attempts were abandoned.
* In April 1977 and again in October 1979 about 2000 people
occupied the construction site of the nuclear power plant at
Seabrook, New Hampshire.
* In July 1977 at Crays-Malville, France, nearly 30,000 people
occupied the construction site of the new fast-breeder reactor.
* On April 30, 1978 and the next day more than a thousand people
blockaded the $300 million commercial reprocessing plant in
Barnwell, South Carolina.
* In April 1979 at Groton, Connecticut, more than 3000 people
demonstrated and over 200 people blockaded the launching of the
first Trident submarine, the Ohio.
* On April 28, 1979 more than 250 blockaded the United States'
only producer of plutonium triggers for nuclear weapons at Rocky
Flats, Colorado.
* In early 1980 thousands of dolphins gathered to resist their own
slaughter by Japanese fishers and forced the fishing boats back to
port.
* In the 1980s many thousands of protesters have been arrested in
Western Europe and the United States for protesting various
nuclear weapons and intervention in Central America.
* In 1986 the people of the Philippines overthrew the government
headed by Ferdinand Marcos.
* In 1988 refugees from El Salvador returned to their homes and
disobeyed orders of the Army to remove certain people from their
villages.
* In April and May 1989 hundreds of thousands demonstrated and
hundreds fasted in China for free speech and democratic reforms.
Nonviolence Discipline
Participants in demonstrations are usually asked to abide by a
nonviolent discipline such as this one:
1. We will regard each individual as a human being with dignity.
2. While not denying our feelings, we will harbor no hate. Should
others express violence toward us, we will not return violence.
3. We will protect others from insults or attack. We will be alert
to the people around us and will be aware of when others need
assistance. We will support each other in peacekeeping.
4. We will not run, use threatening motions, or jump suddenly on
or off the railroad tracks.
5. As participants in a nonviolent demonstration, we will follow
the directions of the designated coordinators. In the event of a
serious disagreement, one should remove oneself temporarily from
the action until the conflict is resolved.
6. We will carry no weapons.
7. We will not bring or use any drugs or alcohol, other than for
medical purposes.
8. Our attitude will be open and friendly, showing respect toward
all people we encounter, including law enforcement officers,
security and military personnel, and the people who work at the
Naval Base.
9. We accept responsibility for our nonviolent actions, and if
among those who risk arrest, we will not use legal subterfuge to
escape the consequences of our actions.
Nonviolence Preparation
Sample Agenda
5 min. Introduction of Facilitators.
5 min. Agenda Review.
30 min. Slideshow or Video Presentation.
20 min. Introductions and Sharing. People give their names and
organizations and share briefly their concerns about nuclear
weapons and the Trident submarines.
30 min. Philosophy and History of Nonviolence. This may include a
brainstorm on what nonviolence is or how it has been used
effectively, as well as some lecture and discussion.
5 min. Nonviolence Discipline.
10 min. Break.
10 min. Present Active Listening Skill.
20 min. Discuss Nonviolence in Triads. In groups of three, people
share their personal feelings about nonviolent action by
responding to questions, such as "What are the qualities of
nonviolence you personally hope to embody?" and "What is
leading you to nonviolently protest the nuclear arms race and the
Trident submarines?" Each person speaks in turn as the other
two actively listen.
20 min. Hassle Line Role-play. The group divides in half and forms
two parallel lines facing each other. One line plays the role of
Navy personnel or state police, while the other line is
demonstrators attempting to communicate their concerns. Switch
roles.
10 min. Scenario. Review plans for anticipated direct action.
30 min. Meal break.
30 min. Consensus Process and Affinity Groups. Discuss how
consensus works and what affinity groups are.
15 min. Consensus Role-play. Group struggles through the process
of coming to consensus on some decision, such as agreeing to the
Nonviolence Discipline.
15 min. Affinity Group Quick Decision-making Role-play. Group is
faced with a situation, such as police brutality in an action and
must decide quickly as a group how to respond.
30 min. Legal Briefing. Discuss legal options and possible
consequences.
10 min. Break.
20 min. Direct Action Role-play. Assign and play out the roles
involved in an arrest situation to include people risking arrest,
supporters, military personnel, law enforcement officers, media
reporters, counter-demonstrators, etc. Share feelings afterwards.
20 min. Jail Conditions. Discuss local jail conditions and share
feelings concerning incarceration.
20 min. Solidarity Issues. Discuss options of cite release, bail,
fines, probation, etc. in regard to strategies of refusing certain
options for group empowerment.
10 min. Affinity Group Formation. Find out if individuals are in
Affinity Groups or whether they would like to form one or more out
of the Preparation.
10 min. Evaluation and Closing Circle. Share feelings.
NONVIOLENT ACTION HANDBOOK (Continued)
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