Prayer vs. Protest

"The cry for peace will be a cry in the wilderness, so long as the spirit of non-violence does not dominate millions of men and women." - 'Non-Violence -- The Greatest Force,' The Hindu, 8 Nov. 1926  (from The Essential Writings of Mahatma Gandhi edit by Raghavan Iyer)

In past weeks, the United States saw large protests from teachers, government workers, and concerned Americans about workers rights to organize and bargain and the slashing of government budgets leading to massive lay-offs of government workers.  I participated in one of these protests in my state, Texas, in support of teachers in Wisconsin.

I left this protests, and most of the protests I have ever participated in, feeling empty and sad.  I know that I am not the only one who left feeling this way.  I spoke to friends who were there.  I don't think this is how people should feel when they leave an event like this.  There should be energy and excitement.  There should be community and hope.

When I read the above essay, I began to understand why I feel this way. 

The tactics of non-violence, have become widespread in this country.  The spirit of non-violence abides in almost no one.

I have read a number of Dr. Martin Luther King's speeches.  I have read John Lewis' book "Walking with the Wind."  I have read many more books about non-violence, and yet, I forget that non-violence is not a set of techniques for getting what I want.  It is a way of life.  A way of being.  It is heart and soul and not hand, foot, and tongue.

Prayer is more important than protest.

Libya & Egypt

"Non-violence is the law of our species as violence is the law of the brute.  The spirit lies dormant in the brute and he knows no law but that of physical might.  The dignity of man requires obedience to a higher law - to the strength of the spirit." - 'The Doctrine of the Sword', Young India, 11 Aug. 1920 (from The Essential Writings of Mahatma Gandhi edited by Raghavan Iyer)

It is with sadness but no surprise that I watch the brief civil uprising in Libya crumble.  When the 'protesters' became 'rebels,' the end was in sight.  Gadhafi could claim that he was not killing 'civilians' but 'armed insurgents,' and there is enough truth in that to stymie those who would lend aid. 

In Egypt, the protesters struggled with how to react to violence from the government.  We watched them struggle and we watched them choose non-violence.  This choice opened the heart of the world to the Egyptian people.

The situation in Libya is undoubtedly very different from Egypt.  I am certain that many, many unarmed, peaceful people would have died in Libya before Gadhafi gave up power.  But many people have still died and many more will die.  And which ever side in this civil war wins, my heart will go out to the victims of the fighting on both sides, the women and children caught in the middle, and not the victors.  My spirit does not go out to the armed men on either side.

The spirit of humanity versus the spirit of the brute. 

The Contribution of Non-Violence

"Dr. Mott: 'What do you consider to be the most valuable contribution that India can make to the progress of the world?
Gandhi: Non-Violence."  - Interview with Dr. John Mott, Young India, 21 Mar. 1929

And what a valuable contribution it has been.  Gaddafi condemned and sanctioned for killing peaceful civilians.  The amazing video of the lone man standing up to the tanks in Tiananmen.  Rosa Parks and lunch counters and the Edmund Pettus Bridge.  Draft card burners.  Labor unionists occupying the Wisconsin State Capital.

The list goes on and on.

And in my own life, my wife and I ride our bicycles for ten years and don't own a car.  We decide to become foster parents.  I write scripts and novels and poetry that emphasis non-violent methods for resolving problems.  (They don't sell, but that's a whole different can of worms.) 

I know in these blogs, I have often written about my failings (and they are legion), but there are many, many successes.

And that's why I started and continue this blog.  It is one of my daily disciplines to help me remember what is important in my life today.  I consider it prayer.

What Would Jesus Cut?

"If evolution of form takes aeons, why should we expect wonders in the evolution of thought and conduct?  And yet the age of miracles is not gone.  As with individuals, so with nations.  I hold it to be perfectly possible for the masses to be suddenly converted and uplifted.  Suddenness is only seeming.  No one can say how far the leaven has been working."  Speech at Buddha Jayanti, Bombay, CW 5176

I went to the first protest rally I'd been to in many years yesterday.  I chanted.  I sang.  I talked to friends.  I listened to speeches.  I took pictures.

There were a lot of angry people.  There was a lot of sarcasm and demonization of others.  There was a lot of talk of fighting.

There were also moments of grace.  There were moments of warmth and humor.  There were moments of a spiritual connections with others who struggled and with God.

I've had a theory for many years that the next evolution in Homo sapien would not be spiritual and not physical, Homo anima.  I found the quoted passage in Gandhi's speech reassuring.

The only visible sign of a presence by the forces of authority were a couple of friendly cops on bicycle.  Gandhi's and Dr. King's methods of non-violent protest have become the norm.  The crowds are no longer physically threatening even if they might be politically threatening.

And it's not just here in America as several signs reminded the protesters.  "Walk like an Egyptian."

Perhaps the next evolution is upon us.  Miracles happen.