Several insights into NONVIOLENCE are inspirational and practical.

“Nonviolence offers many ways to create permanent, long-term positive changes that would enable us to rebuild social institutions on a more humane and sustainable basis. . . . Each of us, whatever our station in life or relation to activism, can carry out his grand ‘experiment with truth’ according to our own capacities and the situation we confront.”  Michael Nagler wrote this.  He writes a lot of good materials about nonviolence.  Although Amazon lists many of his books, I encourage people to buy them from locally owned bookstores:  https://www.amazon.com/Michael-N.-Nagler/e/B001JS2SXE/ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1?qid=1548914216&sr=1-1&eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=c837e75d-37a4-4438-9de5-33bd77f131eb&pldnSite=1

 

“Revolutionary change does not come as one cataclysmic moment (beware of such moments!) but as an endless succession of surprises, moving zigzag toward a more decent society. We don’t have to engage in grand, heroic actions to participate in the process of change. Small acts, when multiplied by millions of people, can transform the world. Even when we don’t ‘win,’ there is fun and fulfillment in the fact that we have been involved, with other good people, in something worthwhile. We need hope.”   Howard Zinn wrote this. Although Amazon lists many of his books, I encourage people to buy them from locally owned bookstores:  https://www.amazon.com/Howard-Zinn/e/B000AQ01MQ?ref=sr_ntt_srch_lnk_1&qid=1551216807&sr=1-1&eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=d1a2198d-4247-4ded-9bea-3483114ba4d4&pldnSite=1

 

Somebody asked Nelson Mandela:  “Did you despise those jailers who kept you in prison on Robben Island for twenty seven years?”  Mandela replied:  “Of course I did, for many years. They took the best years of my life. They abused me physically and mentally.  Then one day when I was working the quarry, hammering the rocks, I realized that they had already taken everything from me except my mind and my heart.  Those they could not take without my permission. I decided not to give them away.”   This was found in The 9 Disciplines of a Facilitator by Jon C. Jenkins and Maureen R. Jenkins.   See this link for info about the book, but please buy it from a locally owned bookstore instead of Amazon:   https://www.amazon.com/Disciplines-Facilitator-Transforming-International-Facilitators-ebook/dp/B000VI0WS6/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+9+Disciplines+of+a+Facilitator&qid=1551827981&s=digital-text&sr=1-1-catcorr&eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=93906c88-f772-4d69-892a-ff8bd8d42d30&pldnSite=1

 

Since 1977 an excellent non-profit organization has been NONVIOLENTLY resisting the Trident nuclear submarine, nuclear weapons, and war.  The Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action (www.gzcenter.org) is in Kitsap County WA, immediately next to the Trident base.  All of their activities are grounded in nonviolence — both in theory and in practice.  Part of theiar website invites people to learn more about nonviolent action.  See https://www.gzcenter.org/learn-more/nonviolent-action/

 

Decades ago, two pacifists who conducted nonviolence training all over the world (Hildegard Goss-Mayr and her husband Jean Goss) formalized a ‘nonviolent dialogue’ with five steps:

1. Discover the truth of the adversary.
2. See how we have failed to recognize another’s truth.
3. Discover and recognize our own responsibility in this conflict, even it it is only passivity and silent complicity.
4. Presentation of injustice. Tell the other person about the evil that he/she has done and the reason why we are trying to dialogue.
5. Produce concrete proposals.

Understood in this way, a nonviolent dialogue would be the opposite of rhetoric and methods of influence. An understanding of and openness to the opponent’s arguments are emphasized rather than skillful presentation of the arguments of one’s own side.”  Stellan Vinthagen’s book A Theory of Nonviolent Action is available from Amazon, but I recommend buying it from a locally owned bookstore instead:  https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1780325150/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i0?eType=EmailBlastContent&eId=f8dbb062-f848-47a9-b943-bbbb8440637c&pldnSite=1

 

Look for more information about Nonviolence at the Nonviolence part of my blog, www.parallaxperspectives.org

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About GlenAnderson 1499 Articles
Since the late 1960s Glen Anderson has devoted his life to working as a volunteer for peace, nonviolence, social justice, and progressive political issues. He has worked through many existing organizations and started several. Over the years he has worked especially for such wide-ranging goals as making peace with Vietnam, eliminating nuclear weapons, converting from a military economy to a peacetime economy, abolishing the death penalty, promoting nonviolence at all levels throughout society, and helping people organize and strategize for grassroots movements to solve many kinds of problems. He writes, speaks, and conducts training workshops on a wide variety of topics. Since 1987 he has produced and hosted a one-hour cable TV interview program on many kinds of issues. Since 2017 he has blogged at https://parallaxperspectives.org He lives in Lacey near Olympia WA. You can reach him at (360) 491-9093 glen@parallaxperspectives.org