Non-Violence: It's Not What You Think It Is

I hear a lot of voices advocating for non-violence without understanding what non-violence is. Non-violence is not passivity or a willingness to tolerate evil. Non-violence is a type of warfare that is waged strategically with weapons of the spirit. Proponents of non-violence must be willing to die in battle just as any other soldier in warfare. The basic thought of non-violence is that the love-ethic modeled by Jesus is the most powerful force in the human sphere, and perhaps in the sphere of the known material universe. If our ultimate goal is social change in the direction of genuine shalom then non-violence is the best and, perhaps, only methodology. Non-violence rooted in the love-ethic of Jesus finds its antecedents in the mystical elements of radical protestant reformation and Catholic counter-reformation. American transcendentalists and abolitionists began to shape these thoughts but it was Russian novelist, Leo Tolstoy, who began to shape these strands into a genuine idea. The idea of non-violence rooted in Jesus' love-ethic moved from being an idea to an actual practice through the work and genius of Gandhi who studied Tolstoy deeply. The non-violent strategies of Gandhi were handed on to Howard Thurman and other black American pastors, mystics and theologians in the 1930's. It was this moment that brought the various strands for social justice together in what we now broadly understand to be the Civil Rights movement. Non-violence should be distinguished from pacifism which generally avoids provocations and conflict while non-violence seeks out strategic prophetic acts that deliberately provoke and unmask unjust power structures. Non-violence should also be distinguished from non-violent communication and consensus building. Non-violent communication and consensus building are methods of communication that seek to build community within a bonded social set. Non-violent communication and consensus building are essential building blocks of a non-violent community capable of living out a strategy of social change through non-violence. However, practitioners of non-violence understand that they cannot be shamed into silence and non-confrontation when supposed allies seek to quiet them with the need to use non-violent communication. It is worth noting that non-violence is not the only path serious leaders for social change have followed. The Civil Rights movement split over the nature and limits of non-violence. Malcolm X decided against non-violence but later in life softened in his stance towards it. Dietrich Bonhoeffer began as a pacifist, moved towards non-violence, but late in his life struggled with the limits of it and ultimately rejected it. In America the greatest practitioner and most widely known proponent of non-violence was Martin Luther King, Jr. However, it has become something of an American pastime (especially among white Christian folks) to throw out a quote or two about how "Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that" without reckoning with how relentless MLK was in confronting hatred head on. If you listen to MLK's final sermons and speeches it is plain that he deliberately provoked and unmasked hatred to the point of his eventual martyrdom. King did not whitewash evil. He did not want everybody to get along while injustice and violence were the structures of society. He did not tell the marchers to stand down. Non-violence teaches us to keep getting up and keep getting our skulls cracked open while polite society shouts, "By confronting hate you are hateful. Hate can't drive out hate, only Love can do that!" Non-violence teaches us that through confrontation we unmask not only those who are filled with hate, but also those whose love has been stunted by cowardice, ignorance and selfishness. Non-violence teaches that through sacrifice and spirit-based combat there is a new humanity and a beloved community that is worth dying for.

For a deeper dive I recommend beginning where Gandhi started, Leo Tolstoy's The Kingdom of God is Within You.