January 20, 2003


  • Living Nonviolently -


    I'm still thinking about Martin Luther King, Jr. and his legacy of nonviolence. The basic idea of nonviolent living, nonviolent protest, or nonviolent politics isn't difficult to understand, on the surface. (Steven gave me a link to a website sponsored by the King Center that offers outlines of his ideas.) The thing is that like so many other ideas that look simple, they aren't easy.


    Adopting the principles of nonviolence doesn't mean simply choosing not to fight physically with those who may be physically threatening you. Nonviolent living calls for commitment to aggressive spiritual, mental and emotional resistance to evil. Dr. King constantly worked with the people who volunteered alongside him encouraging them to daily look at their own hearts and renew their commitment to fight against evil but not against people. He taught that evil doers were as much imprisoned by evil as their victims.


    He fully accepted that his nonviolent stance could and would bring severe consequences. My mind immediately leapt to the scenes of hatred when he was physically assaulted and/or verbally abused. But, in his writings, he describes as much more difficult the times in which he had to face the doubts of his own family, when his strength just wasn't quite enough to make it and he leaned on his faith to get him through.


    Always he held onto the dream, not a dream of rights and privileges, but of the vision he called "Beloved Community," the vision of reconciliation. Because he looked into the future, into his vision, he demanded that in negotiations his people conduct themselves with grace, humor and intelligence. It wasn't enough to bring a list of demands, he said they must also bring a proposed solution. It wasn't enough to see only the actions of disagreement and injustice, he demanded that the positive statements and steps of the opposition be acknowledged in a sincere and affirming manner. "Do not seek to humiliate the opponent, but to call forth good from the opponent."


    Over and over he spoke the message that the nonviolent way is not to seek the defeat of the opponent, but to seek friendship with the opponent. ?! Can't we just agree that we don't like each other and move on with our separate lives? Not unless we can rise above our feelings to behave with love toward each other, Dr. King answers.


    Do you know how hard that is? I've never had anyone treat me the way he was treated, not even close. I've faced opposition before, but I've never had anything more than my dignity at stake. I have tried to apply Dr. King's nonviolent principles of negotiation, and I can tell you that even in relatively minor conflicts they are almost impossibly difficult to live out. It's easy to see the person who on the other side of the table as evil personified. Why on earth should I cut him slack? Why on earth should I formulate my strategy for any outcome other than his humiliation and defeat? Because, says Dr. King, that's selling out to a system of injustice. Anytime you seek the humiliation of your opponent rather than the defeat of injustice you have forgotten that it is in loving your enemy that you love yourself. For, most of the time, are we not each our own worst enemy?


    When Dr. King says that nonviolence chooses love not hate, he illustrates his points with instructions he drew out of the Sermon on the Mount.



    • Nonviolence resists violence of the spirit as well as of the body.
    • Nonviolent love is spontaneous, unmotivated, unselfish, and creative.
    • Nonviolent love gives willingly knowing that the return may be hostility.
    • Nonviolent love is active, not passive.
    • Nonviolent love is unending in its ability to forgive in order to restore community.
    • Love for the enemy is how we demonstrate love for ourselves.
    • Love restores community and resists injustice.
    • Nonviolence recognizes the fact that all life is interrelated.
    • Nonviolence believes that God is a God of justice. The nonviolent resister has a deep faith that justice will eventually win.


    Several years back, my friend's son learned about Martin Luther King, Jr. in his kindergarten class. Later he had the opportunity to tell me why the school had a holiday -


    "You see, Martin Luther King was a man who had a dream that he was on a bus. He was sitting right behind the driver when this girl named Rosa got on. The bus driver liked her and wanted her to sit up front with him. So he told Mr. King he had to sit on the very back seat of the bus. Well, Mr King said that people ought to treat each other better than that. Then somebody, I don't know if it was the bus driver or a friend of the bus driver, shot him. So we didn't have school yesterday."


    You know why I love this story? Jared heard all the basic parts of the Civil Rights story, but they didn't make sense to him. He could understand wanting to have a girl you like sit near you. But he couldn't comprehend anybody being mistreated for the color of their skin. I think that we are closer to the day of Dr. King's dream that we sometimes realize.

Comments (23)

  • that's the best thing about children...they haven't been taught yet to hate, or to mistrust, or look at someone differently.  Martin Luther King was a man we all do well to remember, and I'm glad that people like you are posting about him to spread awareness.  thank you for that. 

  • You've done  a wonderful job in your writing about such a great man these past few days.

    I love that bit by the boy.  I wish I could return to the simple times of childhood...

  • ...excellent post, Terri! Dr King was a master of holding his vision of the end result to which all was measured. These words of Dr King I will remember forever:
    We shall have to repent in this generation , not so much for the evil deeds of the wicked people, but for the appalling silence of the good people. - Martin Luther King, Jr  MuSe

  • I know you are told this all the time but you write so beautifully.  No matter what you write about when I read it I always see things differently after I read your posts.  Thank you for the insight!!  This is a wonderful post!

  • Very nice!

  • The problem we have with attacking evil is that we attack the people themselves, not necessarily the evil in them.  o/

    God Bless - Dale

  • I think we are closer, too, but I don't think we'll ever really get there until the very end.

  • Brilliantly constructed and executed, as always.    I confess to being less cognoscent of Dr. Martin Luther King's life than, for example, of Nelson Mandela (a man of similar principle under similar travail).  I think true nonviolence is virtually impossible -- and often say so to my Quaker family and friends -- but I strive for it.  I am so very, very far from it, though, despite a life of relative ease, love and support.  Important to think, on days like this one, of the things one cannot ever imagine attaining, as well as those one feels are within sight.

  • I am in agreement with MMike up there... we are a lot closer then we were.. but so far to go in many ways as well.   Terri, you have an incredible way of making some topics so clear with your writing, thanks

  • {v]

  • nice I can't even leave a right... today... perhaps I should go back home and to bed and then wake up and start over

  • Thank you for a very insightful blog today.  You know I agree with you of course.  I read recently of a woman who sought out a young man who'd been convicted of mugging her, took him out to dinner, used her business contacts to find him a job opportunity, and now sees a flourishing young adult who has become a family friend.  Forgiveness in action.  Tom

  • We are closer, but not quite close enough.

  • Great, insightful post. I'm not so sure that we are that much closer than when Dr. King was alive. We've made some superficial advances, but we haven't changed the hearts, and that's where real change occurs. 

  • MLK was a good example of practicing what you preach.  It's easy to say a thing, but much more difficult to do a thing.  Excellent blog and once again, excellent writing. 

  • I've really enjoyed your blogs the past couple of days. Thank you!

  • Amen sister, amen.

  • Who's Steven? (Is that anybody I know?)

    This is really a lesson about non-judgement - which really comes right down to a lesson about karma. If you judge others, then you are going to be judged yourself...but, also, if you allow evil to perpetutate itself, then you are part of the problem. (That is a circular debate that will end up making you very dizzy.)

  • What a wonderful blog...thank you for sharing that with us.

    ~Maria

  • I wish I believed that too, dear.......

    unfortunately I see that this country has allowed racism to become embedded into the interstices of society.  It is often too subtle to see, if you have never been discriminated against because of the color of your skin, or your religious beliefs, or the accent with which you speak English...  I've been sheltered, but I have seen it. 

    Now on the other hand, I see a lot more openness and acceptance of 'the other' among the kids I know personally (and, thankfully, my own children), so I do think there is hope...

  • I love that story that Jared told you ..... it has got to be one of my alltime favorite acocuntings.

  • What Fugitive said.  Exactly.

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