Dr. King's Gauntlet: Nonviolence or Nonexistence

[G_j]

www.commondreams.org/views04/0119-05.htm
Dr. King's Gauntlet: Nonviolence or Nonexistence

by Father John Dear

 I consider Martin Luther King, Jr. the great, holy prophet to the nation. He was a prophet of nonviolence sent by the God of peace and justice to call our country to repent of the sin of violence and war and to call us to the new life of nonviolence and peace. On this national holiday, as we recall the life of Dr. King, I hope we can remember his central, crucial, critical message.

On April 3, 1968, the night before he was assassinated (by our government), Dr. King told thousands of people at the Mason Temple in Memphis, Tennessee: "For years now, we have been talking about war and peace. But now, no longer can we just talk about it. It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence; it's nonviolence or nonexistence."

"Nonviolence or nonexistence." That is the choice. These are the last words of Dr. King, the gauntlet he threw down before us and the whole world. Nobody talks about it, but this is the heart of Martin Luther King, Jr. It remains the critical choice before us all.

Dr. King was an apostle of nonviolence. He wants each one of us, individually, personally, to become people of nonviolence. But more than that, like Jesus of Nazareth and Mahatma Gandhi, he wants us as a nation and a planet to become nonviolent. He insists that nonviolence is the highest calling of humanity.
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www.thekingcenter.org/prog/non/6principles.html
Derived from "Pilgrimage to Nonviolence" in Dr. King's book Stride Toward Freedom, Harper & Row, 1958.

Martin Luther King- Six Principals Of Nonviolence

Six Principles of Nonviolence

--Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people. It is active nonviolent resistance to evil...

--Nonviolence seeks to win friendship and understanding. The end result of nonviolence is redemption and reconciliation...

--Nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice, not people. Nonviolence recognizes that evil doers are also victims.

--Nonviolence holds that suffering can educate and transform. Nonviolence willingly accepts the consequences of its acts...

--Nonviolence chooses love instead of hate. Nonviolence resists violence of the spirit as well as the body. Nonviolent love is active, not passive. Nonviolent love does not sink to the level of the hater. Love restores community and resists injustice.

--Nonviolence recognizes the fact that all life is interrelated.
Nonviolence believes that the universe is on the side of justice. The nonviolent resister has deep faith that justice will eventually win.

Six Steps for Nonviolent Social Change

--Information Gathering: In order to understand and articulate the issue, problem or injustice facing the community, you much first research, investigate and gather all vital information that will increase your understanding of the problem. Know all sides of the issue, including the other party's position.

--Education: It is essential to inform others about your issue. This minimizes misunderstandings, and gains you support and sympathy.

--Personal Commitment: Eliminate hidden motives and prepare yourself to accept suffering, if necessary, in your work for justice.

--Negotiation: Using grace, humor and intelligence, confront the other party with a list of injustices and a plan for addressing and resolving these injustices. Nonviolent communication does not seek to humiliate, but to call forth the good in an opponent.

--Direct Action: Used to morally force the opponent to work with you in resolving the injustices, direct action imposes a "creative tension" into the conflict.

--Reconciliation: Nonviolence does not seek to defeat the opponent, but to seek his/her friendship and understanding. It is directed against evil systems, forces, policies and acts not against persons.
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[peace4all]

1. he was right

It's hard to believe we are talking about going to Mars when we are so backwards as to continue to approach problems with force and violence on Earth.

[IrateCitizen]

2. Damned straight he was!

So many people repeatedly confirm the gross misconception that somehow nonviolence is the same as weakness. For those of us who have come to realize what nonviolence is really all about, it becomes apparent that the true weakness lies in the willingness to resort to violence -- and that the true strength lies in committed nonviolence.

In the words of M.K. Gandhi, "The true battles between good and evil take place in men's hearts. That is where all future wars should be fought."

Let us remember and spread the message of King the REVOLUTIONARY, as opposed to the sanitized "official" version of King's message, which is horribly limited and innaccurate.

Thanks for posting this, G_j.

[G_j]

3. I couldn't have said it

better and I completely agree. It's time to move on/evolve to a new paradigm. It' a shame we aren't teaching our children to think any differently.

[IrateCitizen]

4. We ARE evolving, G_j. The question is if it is fast enough.

Many souls around this great blue, green, brown and white marble ARE starting to awaken to this paradigm in varying degrees. Just look at the amazing events of just under a year ago, on Feb. 15, 2003. MILLIONS of people took to the streets to demand a halt of the senseless march to war. NOTHING had ever happened like that in the history of the world. NOTHING.

Now, if you turn on the news or listen to the other establishment mouthpieces, you are led to believe that most people support this national policy of belligerence. I disagree. I think that only a minority actually SUPPORT it, and the rest are just plain afraid. That is where it becomes paramount for each one of us who have realized the true strength to be found in love for humankind and its expression through nonviolent resistance to make our witness known and felt -- even if only to those immediately around us.

I realize that "witness" is a term that is loaded with religious overtones, and I still willingly (and forcefully) use it in that context. Religiosity and expressions of spirituality are not the domain of the Religious Right. Rather, they are hallmarks of human progress, as they have the capability to arouse the more noble behaviors, attitudes and beliefs of humankind. Being raised in Christianity, I can say with all certainty that the foundations for the kind of revolution so badly needed were laid by none other than Jesus Christ himself. I am a revolutionary and ultra-pinko-liberal BECAUSE OF my religion and spirituality -- not in spite of it.

Dr. King was also a revolutionary BECAUSE OF his religious beliefs, not in spite of them. While believing in something is not a prerequisite by any means, it is also most DEFINITELY NOT a disqualifier either.

I'm getting off track here, but the gist of my message is to just not give up. In spite of all evidence to the contrary, we ARE evolving. The contrary evidence you are seeing that we are either stagnant or regressing is really just the fire that has started in the treetops. The new paradigm you seek is the fire that is smoldering and spreading in the brush, currently invisible from your perspective. But sooner or later, that fire will burst from the brush and engulf the treetops, leaving people scratching their heads as to where in the hell it came from as they become swept up in it.

In the words of the late Jim Valvano, "Don't give up, don't ever give up."

[Selwynn]

7. I wish I could meet you IC - I'd like to shake your hand.

Ever thought of moving to Boise? :) I'm starving for real local community with people of your caliber and conviction.

Anyway - thanks for that. I hope you're right. I hope we really are evolving. I couldn't agree with you more about religious beliefs. Passion empowered by spiritual conviction can be a powerful, powerful force for good, as it was in Dr. King. It can be perverted to evil as we know. But I believe even while it may be our greatest obstacle, I also believe it is our greatest hope.

Don't give up... man, its exhausting. Sometimes you just feel so tired.

[Bluerthanblue]

5. thank you for this....

he spoke the truth- and then walked it-
some people continue their work long after they die-
he is clearly one of them-

"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929 - 1968), Speech at Civil Rights March on Washington, August 28, 1963"

[Selwynn]

6. Dr. King also spoke about social equality and evil of poverty ---

In addition to championing racial equality and preaching nonviolence, thus Adding to the list of things he was totally right about. I honestly think he was shot for this stance more than anything else. Nothing is more threatening to power than talk of a more equitable and just society.