It's Time For A Love Revolution!
When we learn about "revolution" in school, on television or in books, we see the taking up of arms, we see the bloodshed, we root for tiny David with “God on his side” to slay the evil Goliath.
Why don't we hear of the Nonviolent triumphs -- the "people power" that tumbles oppressive regimes like the “Velvet Revolution” in Czechoslovakia, the “Orange Revolution” in the Ukraine, the dethroning of oppression in the Philipines, in East Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, in Latin America?
All over the world lasting, positive change is the result not of trillion-dollar armies, but of Nonviolent people power. Why don’t we hear about these remarkable revolutions? The information blackout is no accident. We would argue that we don’t learn about Nonviolent revolution because… it works!
Nonviolent people power can change the world. That’s a scary thought for the miniscule minority hanging on for dear life to the helm of power.
When power is being gained, maintained and wielded without the consent of the people and outside the best interests of the people, it most certainly will fall. It’s simply a matter of when; and, for lasting change (as opposed to passing the baton to another oppressor), it is a matter of how.
The only hope of the oppressor for survival is to maintain power by force – military force – a worldwide police state. This is why some of the most unrepresentative, unwieldy and top-heavy governments in the world also have to maintain and use an over-the-top show of force.
What if the secret got out? What if the people knew that Nonviolence works? What if they knew that they didn’t need muscle and guns and the inhumanity to use them? What if people stopped giving their power away to the oppressor? What if the power suddenly shifted back to the people?
It would mean the creation of a world reflective of the values of the people. And for the most part, those values (truth, justice, freedom, kindness, compassion, goodwill toward people, toward the planet and toward animals, etc.) are good. What an amazing world this could be… and it could happen almost overnight if we organized around our values.
When we organize around our values the means must be representative of the ends or we’ll quickly be right back where we started. Nonviolence must be the weapon of choice and reconciliation must be the objective if what we hunger for is a permanent peace. Nonviolence is the weapon of choice because it is available to everyone; the ends are represented in the means; it is abundant and creative; it is transparent; it values the life and liberty of all; it cannot be stopped; and if it is co-opted by the oppressor everyone still wins.
The power brokers in the world have a military might that has made war obsolete. It is time we recognize that might does not make right; right makes might. We can build a brave new world, but it must be reflective of our values. When we reconnect to our values and truly act in accordance with them (even in conflict), we can’t help but reap the Nonviolent fruits of our Nonviolent actions; we can’t help but build a world reflective of those Nonviolent values.
Martin Luther King, Jr. said it this way in his “Beyond Vietnam” speech a year to the day before his assassination:
"A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. The Western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just.
A true revolution of values will lay hands on the world order and say of war, "This way of settling differences is not just." This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into the veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice, and love.
A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death. America, the richest and most powerful nation in the world, can well lead the way in this revolution of values. There is nothing except a tragic death wish to prevent us from reordering our priorities, so that the pursuit of peace will take precedence over the pursuit of war."
Begin to practice Nonviolence as a way of life. Begin to study its successes. Begin to understand the power of simply living your values in order to make this world a better place. Nonviolence isn’t about asking you to change; it is asking you to truly be who you are. You will make good choices when you listen to your heart.
It’s time for a revolution. The weapon is in your heart. The weapon is love. It can not run out of ammunition; it cannot be disarmed; and when the war is won, we all win.
Lecture: I Want To Know What Love Is
Nonviolence United explains Nonviolence as connection; whereas violence is disconnection. This is fundamental to what is taught by the heroes of Nonviolence.
Mohandas Gandhi taught a continual search for the truth – to connect while eliminating disconnection (lies, propaganda, personal disconnection of choices and their effects).
Cesar Chavez taught us that when we buy consciously and live our lives consistently with our values we can build a fair society – connection of our choices and their effects can build a society reflective of those values; disconnection builds a schizophrenic society that doesn’t reflect, respect or uphold our values.
Thich Nhat Hanh teaches us of “interbeing”-- that everyone and everything is connected; how even a piece of paper holds the soil, the tree, the sky, the clouds and the rain that gave birth to it.
And Martin Luther King, Jr. taught us of how the disconnection from how we waste our resources on hate, militarism and materialism rather than on uplifting humanity is limiting our true potential.
You’ll also hear from the masters of Nonviolence their call for love. As Thich Nhat Hanh puts it, “Love is the essence (the core, the heart) of Nonviolence.” But what is love? How can we love our enemies when they cause us so much pain?
Love in the tradition of Nonviolence doesn’t mean acceptance of an opponent. It doesn’t even mean you have to like your opponent. Love means connecting to the potential of your opponent. Love means seeing yourself in your opponent.
We each may remember a time when we were not who we are now. If you sat down and had a conversation with your past self about issues now important to you, you might not even like that person. If that person was in front of you today, you might even see that person as an opponent. But what if you hate or dismiss or even hurt that person? Will that person have the opportunity to reach their potential? How might you help? Think of how much more powerful it would be to recognize the potential for good in that opponent, to foster their potential and to offer a hand in their reaching that potential. That is love.
We hope you’ll take the time to read Martin Luther King’s sermon on peace. Here is an excerpt:
“… the Greek language has another word for love, and that is the word "agape." Agape is more than romantic love, it is more than friendship. Agape is understanding, creative, redemptive good will toward all men. Agape is an overflowing love which seeks nothing in return. Theologians would say that it is the love of God operating in the human heart.
When you rise to love on this level, you love all men not because you like them, not because their ways appeal to you, but you love them because God loves them. This is what Jesus meant when he said, "Love your enemies." And I'm happy that he didn't say, "Like your enemies," because there are some people that I find it pretty difficult to like. Liking is an affectionate emotion, and I can't like anybody who would bomb my home. I can't like anybody who would exploit me. I can't like anybody who would trample over me with injustices. I can't like them. I can't like anybody who threatens to kill me day in and day out. But Jesus reminds us that love is greater than liking.
Love is understanding, creative, redemptive good will toward all men. And I think this is where we are, as a people, in our struggle for racial justice. We can't ever give up. We must work passionately and unrelentingly for first-class citizenship. We must never let up in our determination to remove every vestige of segregation and discrimination from our nation, but we shall not in the process relinquish our privilege to love.
I've seen too much hate to want to hate, myself, and I've seen hate on the faces of too many sheriffs, too many white citizens' councilors, and too many Klansmen of the South to want to hate, myself; and every time I see it, I say to myself, hate is too great a burden to bear. Somehow we must be able to stand up before our most bitter opponents and say: "We shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering. We will meet your physical force with soul force. Do to us what you will and we will still love you. We cannot in all good conscience obey your unjust laws and abide by the unjust system, because non-cooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good, and so throw us in jail and we will still love you. Bomb our homes and threaten our children, and, as difficult as it is, we will still love you. Send your hooded perpetrators of violence into our communities at the midnight hour and drag us out on some wayside road and leave us half-dead as you beat us, and we will still love you. Send your propaganda agents around the country, and make it appear that we are not fit, culturally and otherwise, for integration, and we'll still love you. But be assured that we'll wear you down by our capacity to suffer, and one day we will win our freedom. We will not only win freedom for ourselves; we will so appeal to your heart and conscience that we will win you in the process… and our victory will be a double victory."
Read the rest of Dr. King's sermon here.
Leaders Are Readers: "Peace Pilgrim: Her Life And Work In Her Own Words"
Peace Pilgrim was an American peace activist who, in the name of world peace, walked the United States for over 28 years until she was killed in an automobile accident.
Peace's Pilgrim's only possessions were the clothes on her back and the few items (a toothbrush, a comb and a pen) she carried in her pockets. She carried no money and would not ask for food or shelter. It had to be offered without asking. For 28 years, all her needs were met.
"Aren't people good," she would often say. She spoke to all who would listen about peace -- peace among nations, peace among groups, and about inner peace because she believed that was where peace began.
From the book: "After a wonderful sojourn in the wilderness, I remember walking along the streets of a city which had been my home for a while. It was 1p.m. Hundreds of neatly dressed human beings with pale or painted faces hurried in rather orderly lines to and from their places of employment.
I, in my faded shirt and well-worn slacks, walked among them. The rubber soles of my soft canvas shoes moved noiselessly along beside the clatter of trim, tight shoes with stiltlike heels.
In the poorer section I was tolerated. In the wealthier section some glances seemed a bit startled and some were disdainful.
On both sides of us as we walked were displayed the things we can buy if we are willing to stay in the orderly lines day after day, year after year. Some of the things are more or less useful, many are utter trash. Some have a claim to beauty, many are garishly ugly.
Thousands of things are displayed – and yet, my friends, the most valuable are missing. Freedom is not displayed, nor health, nor happiness, nor peace of mind. To obtain these things, my friends, you too may need to escape from the orderly lines and risk being looked upon disdainfully."
Remember, if you want to order books, consider buying them from your local bookstore or online with BookSense.com -- your online source for local bookstores. And consider a copy for your local library.
Practicing Nonviolence: How Sweet It Is
We love it when people and individuals come down off their particular social justice mountaintop to recognize the importance of and interconnections to the other mountaintops.
That's why when we found this explanation of the importance of buying fair-trade chocolate at Friends Of Animals we were excited to share it with you.
The food you buy and eat has a tremendous impact on the lives of people, animals and on the health of the planet.
If you buy, please buy with your hearts this Valentine's Day. Choose fair-labor, Vegan chocolate and put your actions in line with your values.
You can find out all the details on the power of that action and find wonderful resources on how and where to make those compassionate choices here:
Friends of Animals "Fair Trade Chocolate: The Sweetest Direct Action You’ll Ever Do"
Words To Live By: "Align Your Beliefs With The Way You Live."
“To attain inner peace you must actually give your life, not just your possessions. When you at last give your life - bringing into alignment your beliefs and the way you live - then, and only then, can you begin to find inner peace.” - Peace Pilgrim
Click here to view a 1-hour documentary about Peace Pilgrim in streaming RealPlayer!
In this issue …
1. It's Time For A Love Revolution
2. Lecture: I Want To Know What Love Is
3. Leaders Are Readers: "Peace Pilgrim"
4. Practicing Nonviolence: Sweets For The Sweet
5. Words To Live By: "Align Your Beliefs With The Way You Live."
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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