A Force More Powerful! The Game Of NONVIOLENT Strategy
You may have seen the movie... now play the game and learn Nonviolent Strategy.
From AForceMorePowerful.org...
"Can a computer game help people learn how to defeat dictators, military occupiers, and corrupt rulers–not with laser rays and AK47s–but with a non-military strategy and nonviolent weapons?
A Force More Powerful – the Game of Nonviolent Strategy is the first and only interactive teaching tool in the field of nonviolent conflict... the game is built on nonviolent strategies and tactics used successfully in conflicts around the world.
Featuring ten scenarios inspired by history, A Force More Powerful simulates nonviolent struggles to win freedom and secure human rights against dictators, occupiers, colonizers, and corrupt regimes, as well as campaigns for political and human rights for minorities and women. The game models real-world experience, allowing players to devise strategies, apply tactics and see the results."
We also highly recommend the movie/DVD. Find out more and/or order at AForceMorePowerful.org.
Article/Lecture: Ain't No Saint? Read More From Barbara Deming
One of the more common misperceptions in practicing Nonviolence is that one has to aspire to be Gandhi or King or Chavez or Christ or Buddha. If you can find yourself on that path, fantastic. But even the luminous religious leaders of Nonviolence gave greater weight to the question, " Will it work? Will this action bring about social justice?
Barbara Deming is one of the more brilliant Nonviolence theorists you’ve never heard of. She offered for many the first understanding that Nonviolence doesn’t necessarily need a religious basis. We don’t have to be saints to practice Nonviolence nor do we have to be perfect to use Nonviolence to win social battles.
A member of Nonviolence United forwarded to us this link from Chapter 12: Barbara Deming in the book “American Nonviolence: The History of An Idea” by Ira Chernus, Professor of Religious Studies at the
Ira does a wonderful job bringing together some of Barbara Deming’s thoughts on Nonviolence. Here are a few quotes (including direct quotes of Deming) from that chapter:
“Just as Nonviolence gives more balance to those who use it, it also throws their opponents off balance. "People who attack others need rationalizations for doing so. We undermine those rationalizations." The opponents expect a threat of losing everything, including their physical safety. When this ultimate threat is obviously taken away, they become confused; they hesitate in their response; they have to think before they act: "We undo their minds. And it is at this point that they become vulnerable to receiving a new idea."
And…
Balance and control come from healthy anger. This is just as aggressive as the unhealthy kind. But it is based on a belief and hope for change in social roles and institutions. Healthy anger demands change and creates the confrontations needed for change to occur. It also gives the other an opportunity to help make that change. "Our task, of course, is to transmute the anger that is affliction into the anger that is determination to bring about change. I think, in fact, that one could give that as a definition of revolution."
And…
To use this advantage, nonviolent activists must always oppose unjust actions rather than the people who do the actions. They must separate the unjust person from his or her role in society: "Seek to destroy not the abusers of power but the sources of that power, which are certainly not their particular bodies." By separating individuals from their roles, it is easier to establish communication with them. The more they are engaged in conversation, the more they can be influenced by nonviolent action. In all these ways, nonviolence makes the opponent the one who gets dizzy. And that gives the nonviolent activists more control of the situation.
Leaders Are Readers: "The Gentle Art Of Verbal Self Defense" By Suzette Haden Elgin
Suzette Haden Elgin does a good job explaining everything from how the tone of your voice will cause you to be listened to or dismissed; to the effective use of body language; to the basics of what others call "Nonviolent Communication."
She explains how to recognize the verbal attack, react to it appropriately so as not to "reward" the attacker, and end up unscathed. "The Gentle Art of Verbal Self Defense" offers a lot to activists/advocates who know what it's like to be attacked verbally. Read this book to learn how to have a more effective and appropriate response.
Includes...
The 8 Types of Verbal Attacks
The 4 Principles of Verbal Self-Defense
The 5 Personalities & How They Communicate
Effective & Ineffective Defense Strategies
Instructions on Voice Control & Body Language
If you want to order this book, consider buying it from your local bookstore or online with BookSense.com -- your online source for local bookstores.
Practicing Nonviolence: Lean On Me...
Mother Teresa asked us to "find someone who thinks he is alone and let him know that he is not."
It might be as simple as a smile or a conversation with a homeless person. It might be a “thank you” to the weary cashier. It might be stopping traffic to allow a scared animal cross the street. It might be more involved volunteer work; or a phone call or a supportive email to someone working for an organization you admire; or lending an ear to one of your fellow advocates struggling through the pain of awareness.
Whatever the struggle, we don’t have to go it alone. You might be surprised how this continued practice of helping others will come full circle. You might find that, in fact, you weren’t holding up your friend, but that you were holding up each other.
Words To Live By: "Live Your Life Consistently... "
“Happiness is when what you think, what you say, and what you do are in harmony.” - Mohandas Gandhi
In this issue …
1. The Game Of Nonviolent Strategy
2. Article/Lecture: Ain't No Saint? Fight On!
3. Leaders Are Readers: "The Gentle Art of Verbal Self Defense"
4. Practicing Nonviolence: Lean On Me...
5. Words To Live By: "Live Your Life Consistently..."
About Nonviolence United
Our mission is to see the world become a just home for all -- no more wars, no more hunger, no more suffering of one for the greed of another.
It can be done. And there is a remarkable way to make it happen. A way that builds rather than tears down. A way that allows you to live your ethics rather than selling your soul. A way where everyone is loved and no one is hated. A way that fills you with hope. A way that cannot be stopped and can never be destroyed.
Our Strategy
- Recognize “economic non-cooperation” (along with the cooperation with good industries and services) as a powerful Nonviolent means of advancing social justice
- Organize and unite the social justice movements within this strategy
- Quickly spread this strategy to the people via the social justice movements
Thank you!
Nonviolence United exists through the kindness and generosity of caring people like you. Please support our ongoing efforts to promote Nonviolence as a way of life and as a way of social change.
Keep Your Ideas Coming!
Nonviolence
P.O. Box 1161
Boulder, CO 80306
T: 720.252.8449
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