Post AbKeafO6Ai3394VoBc by DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca
(DIR) More posts by DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca
(DIR) Post #AbKeaUZOONXvauiAlM by DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca
2023-10-31T14:31:21Z
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With all that is happening in the world right now, I am feeling a strong desire to rewatch the 1982 movie “Ghandi”… when I first saw it in the theatre (with an intermission to change reels!) it had a strong effect on 10 year old me, not that I understood it well at the time. 🧵1/
(DIR) Post #AbKeaVekLxQIxoDxkO by DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca
2023-10-31T14:32:11Z
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The line that stuck with me (but Ghandi probably didn’t actually say)“An eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”Without realizing it at the time, I think this line, and the principles behind it planted a seed that I have nurtured - and a times neglected - throughout my life.2/
(DIR) Post #AbKeaWbwnqmJvPvF1U by DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca
2023-10-31T14:33:10Z
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It is (for me) an encapsulation of the principle of Ghandi’s Satyagraha. He taught,“The shreds of individuality cannot be sewed together with a bayonet; nor can democracy be restored according to the Biblical injunction of an “eye for an eye” which, in the end, would make everybody blind.”3/
(DIR) Post #AbKeaXT7c9JSaKnhuC by DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca
2023-10-31T14:34:05Z
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“Satyagraha is peaceful. If words fail to convince the adversary perhaps purity, humility, and honesty will. The opponent must be “weaned from error by patience and sympathy,” weaned, not crushed; converted, not annihilated.Satyagraha is the exact opposite of the policy of an-eye-for-an-eye-for-an-eye-for-an-eye which ends in making everybody blind.”4/
(DIR) Post #AbKeaYQK42fTXwUzBI by DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca
2023-10-31T14:34:54Z
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The idea was picked up by Martin Luther King Jr. “Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than to convert.”5/
(DIR) Post #AbKeaZEf2svy443Bdw by aaronpettman@unbound.social
2023-10-31T14:39:29Z
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@DavidM_yeg ok, well there is a question about nonviolence in a situation of active ground invasion that Gaza experiences now. But setting that aside, even with a commitment to absolute non-violence, it is *crucial* to also recognize that satyagraha waa accompanied by principles of "Fearlessness" and "Economic strategy such as boycotts of imported goods (swadeshi)"
(DIR) Post #AbKeaaIb5jg1MYtqPw by DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca
2023-10-31T14:35:24Z
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I know that many people will scoff that this is dewey-eyed and unrealistic, but I would argue that Satyagraha is the approach that grapples with the difficult reality that violence can only truly achieve peace by annihilating the whole world.“You cannot inject new ideas into a man’s head by chopping it off; neither will you infuse a new spirit into his heart by piercing it with a dagger.”6/
(DIR) Post #AbKeabsnCeDwH6qGTQ by DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca
2023-10-31T14:35:53Z
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Hate begets hate, attack begets attack, violence begets violence. I understand the logic and the imperative to defend your home when attacked. I hope that all the defenders in the world are successful and that their homeland will be free of oppression.7/
(DIR) Post #AbKeadZMvpsJVRlmTY by DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca
2023-10-31T14:36:27Z
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But I also know that violence tears not only at the body of the enemy, but also at the soul of the fighter. I know that engaging in violence even in defence is corrosive to our souls, it eats away at our very humanity. I know that soldiers defending their homes and people around the world are paying the most terrible price: not their lives or limbs, but wounds to their hearts that destroy empathy, love, kindness.8/
(DIR) Post #AbKeafO6Ai3394VoBc by DavidM_yeg@mstdn.ca
2023-10-31T14:36:46Z
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This is not a new idea; 2000 years ago a jewish man walked the very soil that is again being bathed in blood. It was a son of Israel who taught his followers, “If someone slaps you on the right cheek, offer the other cheek also. If […] your shirt is taken from you, give your coat, too. If a soldier demands that you carry his gear for a mile, carry it two miles.” Who said “love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you!”9/
(DIR) Post #AbKecpT1fRbsz9qdTE by aaronpettman@unbound.social
2023-10-31T14:39:57Z
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@DavidM_yeg ok, well there is a question about nonviolence in a situation of active ground invasion that Gaza experiences now. But setting that aside, even with a commitment to absolute non-violence, it is *crucial* to also recognize that satyagraha was accompanied by principles of "Fearlessness" and "Economic strategy such as boycotts of imported goods (swadeshi)"