Archive for the ‘non-violence’ Category

Thoughts On Non-Violence: A Manifesto

Monday, February 26th, 2007

It's July 18, 64 AD and a fire breaks out in the Circus Maximus. Over the course of the next five days much of the city of Rome is devastated by the fire that rages (if the history, specious at best, holds out). For many, the suspicion goes to ...

Thoughts on Non-Violence: Martin Luther King, Jr.

Monday, January 15th, 2007

As a staunch proponent of nonviolence, Martin Luther King, Jr. is one of my heroes of the faith. When so many people doubt the efficacy of nonviolent resistance and extol the virtues of "redemptive violence," King's legacy stands out as the epitome of nonviolent success. In 1955 when E.D. Nixon ...

Thoughts on Non-Violence: Coda

Monday, December 11th, 2006

I am thinking about putting the nonviolence series to rest for a while. I'm not sure I want to abandon it completely. And I know that there are still issues to discuss and, yes, suss out. But in moving toward a discussion of the nonviolence advocate ...

Thoughts on Non-Violence: Just War

Monday, December 4th, 2006

Due to time constraints this will be much more truncated then I would prefer, but hopefully we can explore this further as the comments progressed. In early 2003 I taught a class at church that attempted to legitimatize our preemptive attack on Iraq by virtue of the Just War Theory. ...

Thoughts on Non-Violence: Constantine

Monday, November 27th, 2006

Here is hoping you all had a safe and peaceful thanksgiving. My commitment to nonviolence was threatened only when tempted to cold-cock an LSU fan. But that's a different story. I have ceased numbering my nonviolent entries. The further along we go I fear the rising number of ...

Thoughts on Non-Violence Part 12: The Early Church

Monday, November 13th, 2006

It is undeniable that the early church was unswervingly nonviolent. Their initial interpretation of the words and life of Jesus was such that they bore the brunt of the sword without retaliation. They were less concerned with the practicality of nonviolence and much more concerned with their faithfulness to The ...

Thoughts on Non-Violence Part 11: An Interlude

Thursday, November 9th, 2006

This is not officially an entry in the series but is more of a question open for discussion. I'm still wrestling with the correct way to proceed with this series. Right now I'm mired in a study of the historical examples of the efficacy of nonviolence. My ...

Thoughts on Non-Violence Part 10: THE Scenario

Thursday, November 2nd, 2006

I have three daughters. 5, 3 and 1. It's important that you add 1/2 behind each of those ages. I'm a little bit fond of each of them and find them securely and permanently twisted around my heart. This summer my oldest, Chloe, played basketball in our local ...

Thoughts on Non-Violence Part 9: How Long?

Monday, October 30th, 2006

I've been asked how long I am going to continue this series and why I'm doing it. It's obvious that the amount of discussion that fueled the initial posts has died down considerably. But that is not why I am doing this. Suffice it to say, I may continue a while ...

Thoughts on Non-Violence Part 8: Fear

Thursday, October 26th, 2006

In the mid-morning hours of September 11th, 2001, before the anger welled up within us and took root in the national psyche, we experienced a communal wave of fear. Who did this to us? How could this happen on our soil? Why would anyone want to harm us in this way? The uncertainty was ...