Whitney Sanders
Introduction to Peace Studies
Reflection Paper 3
Nonviolence
and Religious Inspiration: Roots of Peace
The Golden Rule is mentioned
one way or another across almost all religions. For example, “Hindu Faith:
This is the sum of duty: do naught to others which
if done to thee would cause thee pain.-The
Mahabharata.
Jewish Faith: What
is hateful to you, do not to your fellow men. That is
the entire Law; all the rest is commentary. -The Talmud
Christian Faith: All
things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them:
for this is the law and the prophets. -The
Gospel of Matthew Matt 7:12, Luke 6:31” (http://www.bci.org/konabahais/rule.htm)
Treating others the way you want to be treated, I think, is directly
intertwined with nonviolent practices. One thing this class has really taught
me is to know the actual definition of things when trying to explain them to
someone else. According to
dictionary.com the definition of nonviolence is, “the policy, practice, or
technique of refraining from the use of violence, especially when reacting to
or protesting against oppression, injustice, discrimination, or the like.” If I
were to get into an argument with someone over anything, I don’t want to be
punched in the face therefore I shouldn’t punch someone else in the face. Even
on a bigger scale, if I work for a fur company, I would prefer if people didn’t
throw buckets of blood on me so if the situation were to be vice versa and I
was trying to shut down a fur company I should practice nonviolent behavior to
get my point across such as boycotts, peaceful protests, banners, sit ins, etc.
Although religion intertwines
so well with nonviolence, it also can go the other way as well. Deuteronomy
7:12 says, “When the Lord your God gives them over to you, and you defeat them,
then you must utterly destroy them; you shall make no covenant with them, and
show no mercy to them.” There are wars and acts of violence that take place all
throughout the Bible. David P. Barash writes in his book, Approaches to Peace, “Although Hinduism contributed mightily to Gandhian nonviolence, it also has a vigorous military
tradition, reflected in such texts as the Mahabharata,
in which the devout are urged to fight, even for a cause with which they might
disagree.” (220) Even though Hinduism greatly
influenced Gandhi and his nonviolent lifestyle, Hinduism has a serious military
system.
Then there are the religions
out there that are completely against war and violence all together, prime
example being Taoism. Taoism was founded around the six century by a Chinese
Philosopher names Lao Tse. Lao Tse
writes in his book, Tao De Ching, “Fine
weapons are instruments of evil. They are hated by men. Therefore those who
possess Tao turn away from them. The good ruler when at home honors the left.
When at war he honors the right. Weapons are instruments of evil, not the
instruments of a good ruler. When he uses them unavoidably, he regards calm
restraint as the best principle. Even when he is victorious, he does not regard
it as praiseworthy. For to praise victory is to delight in
the slaughter of men.” (231) Lao Tse makes it
very clear what he believes and what he believes the values and actions are that
people should carry out. He shows that he understands that there is violence in
this world but it doesn’t need to be the way to solve things, and even when it
does happen, it should never be praised. Barash
states, “But Confucius did not hold to these ideas because he valued obedience
and social order as such but rather, because he felt that peace was the
ultimate human goal and that it was attainable only through social harmony and
equilibrium.” (230) Confucius really understood the point of Taoism and what
Lao Tse was trying to teach people.
I think that religion and the
practice of nonviolence play a huge role in establishing roots of peace. Many,
many things in life are a domino effect in my opinion. I believe that just
about everything you do affects people one way or another whether you are aware
of it or not. If you handle a situation nonviolently then it has the potential
to stand out to people because it’s like it’s something new. People aren’t used
to seeing certain confrontations and situations handled nonviolently. Also
depending on what religion you practice depends on how you view nonviolence and
how you choose to use it.
I do believe that nonviolence
is practical and can be extremely powerful. Look at what Martin Luther King
did. Look at what Gandhi did and the amazing things they both accomplished
because of it. Also look at the things Randy Kehlor
and Daoud Nassar have
accomplished and are accomplishing. It is amazing how far nonviolent acts can
take you and I don’t think enough people understand that. Violence can be the easy road but it can also not only not solve anything but also make a situation
that much worse. I think that it can work to reduce violent conflict and
structural violence. Do I think it would ever completely eliminate it? Absolutely not. Simply because I honestly don’t know if it’s
possible to completely eliminate structural violence. Just like racism, I think
it’s something that is so in our culture and society that it could never be
truly and completely gone. I do think that it could help reduce it though. By
practicing nonviolence, people are making a whole new way of handling things
which when it comes back around the circle could end up avoiding violence all
together in certain situations therefore reducing violent conflict.
I think that from this class,
it’s been made clearer to me through examples, that anybody can do anything if
you want it enough, it won’t come right away and it will take time, years
sometimes, but everybody can make a difference. I think for me personally I
don’t always remember that Martin Luther King and Gandhi were just regular
people who ended up making a huge difference in the world, it’s not like they
were born with a save the world trait.
I think that also through the readings and discussions it has opened my
mind and my eyes to see that nonviolence can be extremely affective and that if
more people took such an approach that this world could potentially be an
entirely different place. Something I think many people can’t even begin to imagine.
I’ve learned that every decision you make and everything you do affects
something whether it’s big or small. So make sure you make good decisions
throughout life because you never know who may be watching or listening and how
it might affect them which in turn could end up saving or destroying the world
as we know it.