Introduction
It refers to popular struggle ranging from education, to persuasion, to civil disobedience, to nonviolent direct action, to no cooperation with political or social authorities. The term is complex and has varied meanings among which it is important to draw distinctions. In the negative, it is the absence of violence and both in theory and practice can and should be viewed as a positive, active, and potent force for attaining certain goals.
For the practitioners of principled nonviolence, the aim of any nonviolent endeavor is the establishment of truth and removal of injustice and it does not aim to eliminate or defeat anyone. For a true nonviolent activist, there is no enemy and it aims to end injustice by making the perpetrator of injustice see reason and undo the wrong done by him. The principled nonviolence includes such diverse beliefs as pacifism, generally non-active form of resistance to violence, and the commitment of the Quakers, a religious group, to use their deeply held belief in a nonviolent way of life to effect change not only within themselves as individuals or in their immediate sphere of influence, but also in the world at large.
Pragmatic nonviolence
Pragmatic nonviolence is best understood as the decision to use nonviolence based upon practical strategic considerations and it does not rely on the fundamental commitment to nonviolence which extends to all situations and may be limited only to the situation at hand. It is also based upon the use of proactive, positive nonviolent strategies and actions and it seeks to change the status quo, ranging in individual cases from specific policies which affect a specific group to the overall dynamics of power in a society.
Many indigenous cultures possess traditional methods of conflict prevention and resolution which can be sources of strength when nonviolence is threatened and it would appear that the presence of a nonviolent tradition can support nonviolent action within a society, yet it is not a required prerequisite for success. the nonviolent can be divided into the conflictual actions- these can be considered to include mass public mobilizations, such as economic and political non-cooperation; civil disobedience, such as strikes, hunger strikes, demonstrations, and vigils; grassroots mobilization such as letter-writing campaigns; and campaigns designed to build political awareness among the people and in the sense, nonviolent action can be employed not just for defense, but also for offense.
The non- conflictual actions- can include such activities as negotiations and conciliation, which are carried out once the dynamics of the power have shifted, and the group conducting the campaign has been successful in acquiring enough legitimacy with which to negotiate.
In most cases using violence, whether covert or overt, against groups does not destroy the movement and it can instead make the group stronger and more committed to its goals and it can encourage the group to use violence, thus beginning a cycle of violence which once begun is difficult to stop. In general, nonviolent campaigns can be at least as effective as violent ones, but they require sacrifice, patience and discipline, and great courage.
For Henry, there is a growing movement of families who are concerned about the injustice in the present patchwork of family law. Almost everyone describes the shock of a parent suddenly separated from their children and the disastrous effects it had on all and the large majority of these sites veritably drip with venom toward ex-spouses, lawyers, judges, psychologists, and others who are to be blamed for this event.
What is perhaps most disturbing is that each of these parents normally sees a complete change in custody as the immediate fix and each of these parents who have experienced first hand the misery of the long term separation from their children now want to inflict those same experiences of pain and loss upon the other parent. The vast majority fall slowly into some combination of acceptance and despair and the system is so long and entrenched and a new movement is maturing and more people are beginning to see the problem as one basic civil right. The right of a parent to associate with their children free of government interference.
There are a number of groups who appear to feel a solution lies in not paying child support or of going underground to conceal income from the child support collection and while these might be consistent with his methods of non-cooperation but they are not nonviolent action. It is not just a protest movement or passive resistance of a form where we carry signs, perhaps with an aggressive message which attacks the oppressors as we portray ourselves as victims of the social injustice and the cruelty of others.
We are nonviolent and our goal is not to hurt anyone in the physical or emotional sense and we take action and what we do is just as powerful as swinging a bat at someone and certainly gets as much attention and it is strongly based on faith. Its methods spring from the foundation of all reality the presence of a deeply loving God. There is a need for a family law reform so as to get out those bad people from the system and make some stronger guidelines that they have to follow before making the decision and parents who have experienced such a traumatic loss can not believe that a good person would have put them through such pain.
Civil disobedience
We must accept the real truth that these are good people just trying to do a job for which they feel underpaid, overworked, and under-appreciated and treating our oppressors with courtesy gives more confidence in ourselves and once we quit worrying about the results the ability to take action becomes easier and we are no longer being acted upon by others. Naturally, most of the children who caved into the impulse are able to see how delusional it is. Most people believe that greed is good but Henry he does not agree with the idea of knowing how life in a simple fashion seems good to me and the minimum amount of the resources one can consume.
Literally speaking ahimsa means non-violence but it has a much higher meaning in that it means that you may not offend anybody; you may not harbor uncharitable thought even in connection with those who consider your enemies.
Civil disobedience is the most complete theoretical statement of David’s basic assumptions. He attacked democracy because it was weak and has not the vitality and force of a single living man and under the government which imprisons any man unjustly the true place for a just man is a prison. His expression moved people around the world to practice it against local and national tyrannies. Civil disobedience has had a universal appeal because it dealt with the issue of the moral law in conflict with the government law and it is not desirable to cultivate a respect for the law so much as for the right.
The law is not to be respected merely because it is a law, but only because it is right and just, and if unjust law exists, civil disobedience is an effective way to oppose and change them.
The line between dream and reality
When one has discriminated between dreams, expectations, wishes, worries on the one hand and experiences of the altered consciousness with greater clarity and more energy on the other, the question arises as to what is real and what is an illusion and after all a whole culture can live on illusions and psychoses, as it happened in periods of the European history where the people were burnt as witches and heretics for having another understanding of life, other than that of the religious and political rulers and the common superstition. Ideas are quite dangerous for our existence, as they easily make us go to extremes, both politically, spiritually, and culturally, and consequently miss the goal.
They deprive us of our ability to appreciate what is happening in the situation we are in. it is therefore important not to pull the wool over people’s eyes which can develop into tolerance and sectarianism. There are no easy solutions, but it requires commitment, and also for our sake we must take heed to discover that it is in daily life the miracle is found and that we should occupy ourselves with what lies directly before us, tasks, people close to us and what we carry within us and wish to express.
The idea easily creates neurosis, as when one sees nothing but smiling people in advertisements for healing, religion, new age, positive thinking, and where the deeper earnestness is. It also creates intolerance and hypocrisy and it is true that it is often demanded to be pure saints that we can imitate and that are not allowed to be ordinary people capable of expressing sorrow, anger, childishness, pride, jealousy, disappointment, or the spontaneous joy. It is good that one should not struggle for power or compete in a reckless way but one should achieve his or her own merit, but with respect both for the tradition and for those from whom you learned it and this ensures that one does not get into self-glorification and feel threatened or make out to be clever at the expense of another.
Gandhi was himself inspired by the non-violent civil disobedience and self-reliance of Henry whose philosophy is enjoying a timely revival and the analysis of the causes of violence and the prevention of violence is a current theme in acknowledgment of the tremendous amount of suffering that the violence causes. Violence is caused by negative emotions; this is why ahimsa is the only way out. If we can have no hatred, for those who cause suffering then forgiveness comes otherwise if not, more violence comes and one needs a warm heart and the right motivation.
We must link the spiritual and the material world with our non-violent presence, warm- hearts, and right motivation and there is a way out and it is the path of enlightenment that exists within, leading to our own unborn, deathless and limitless life and the actualized ethics that result from this knowledge. Instead of exploiting the appetite for cruelty. Then one needs to exploit the appetite for compassion and thus lead us away from the brink.
If evil can be identified as the energy that destroys the binding force that holds and connects everything in this composite world together, from the bodies of relationships to kingdoms then the energy of good and goodwill can be described as that which strengthens the ties that bind life and relationships together on earth.
Civil rights movements
During the civil rights movement, martin captured the attention of the nation with his philosophy and commitment to the method of nonviolent resistance and according to him the only solution that could cure society’s evil and create a just society was nonviolent resistance. He put his belief into action and proved that this was an effective method to combat racial segregation. He began to concentrate on discovering a solution to end social ills and he concluded that while the power of love was a compelling force when applied to individual conflicts, it could not resolve social problems and believed the philosophy of turn the other cheek and love your enemies applied only to conflicts between individuals and not the racial groups or nations.
He realized that the Christian doctrine of love operating through the Gandhian method of nonviolence was one of the most potent weapons available to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom. He was not convinced that nonviolent resistance was a viable method and his acceptance of nonviolence would come years later during the involvement in the Montgomery bus boycott.
It was at this time that his earlier intellectual realization about the power of love was put into action and as nonviolent resistance became the force behind the boycott movement, his concerns were clarified. He recognized that nonviolent resistance was a powerful solution, and he committed himself to this method of action. He believed that there are five important points about nonviolent resistance. First, he argued that even though nonviolence may be perceived as cowardly, it is not and in fact, it was a method that did resist. According to him, a nonviolent protester was as passionate as a violent protester.
Despite not being physically aggressive, his mind and emotions are always active and constantly seeking to persuade the opponent that he is mistaken. Second, the point of nonviolent resistance is not to humiliate the opponent, but instead to gain his friendship and understanding. The use of the boycotts and methods of non-cooperation was the means to awaken a sense of moral shame in the opponent. And the result was redemption and reconciliation instead of the bitterness and the chaos that comes from violent resistance.
Third, the battle was against the forces of evil and not individuals and the tension was not between the races, but was between justice and injustice, between the forces of light and the forces of darkness and if there is a victory not merely for fifty thousand negroes but a victory for justice and the forces of light and the tension only existed between good and evil and not between people. Fourth, nonviolent resistance required the willingness to suffer and one must accept violence without retaliating with violence and must go to jail if necessary.
The end was more important than safety, and the retaliatory violence would distract from the main fight. He believed that accepting suffering, led to tremendous educational and transforming possibilities and would be a powerful tool in changing the minds of the opponents.
Fifth, the universe was on the side of justice, and accordingly, people have a cosmic companionship with God who is on the side of truth and therefore the activist has faith that justice will occur in the future.
Conclusion
Both David and martin’s emphasis on non-violence is based on the Christian background in which when love exists then violence is no more and therefore we need to love those who wrong us and have the right motivation to help them and this will enable people to live with violence. The sense of the responsibility has found expression in the development goals and still more idealistic than attainable. The power of goodwill inherent in humanity helps one to choose the right values, right methods, and right goals that will help him or her to live without violence and help others who do not seem to understand the need to be in peace with others in the society and also in the nation at large.
Reference
Bob Irwin, (1978). A classic introduction to nonviolent action and responses to critics.
Cafaro, P. (2004). Thoreau’s living ethics: Walden and the pursuit of virtue. Athens: U of Georgia P.
King Jr, Martin Luther, (1957). Nonviolence and racial justice. The Christian century 74, pp, 165-67.