Since the horrific assassination attempt against former President Trump that killed one man and wounded two others, politicians and the media call for us to dial back the heated rhetoric that has characterized our political environment for nearly a decade. It seems that it takes extreme violence before the subject of nonviolence receives any attention. The result is a cycle in which nonviolence is given temporary lip service until things return to “normal,” the heated rhetoric ramps up again, and some kind of extreme violence erupts again. While we cannot predict or prevent periodic violent events, we can choose nonviolence as our primary way of life instead of being a temporary part of the news cycle. For those of us who identify as followers of Jesus, this is especially important. In a recent article in Religious News Service, Shane Claiborne shared the following words about Jesus’ embodiment of and call to nonviolence:
I believe this is precisely why Jesus came — to show us what God is like and what love looks like … with skin on, in the flesh. Jesus is unmistakably nonviolent. Jesus is the greatest champion of life that has ever lived. He enters a world full of violence and exposes, absorbs and subverts it at every turn…There is no place for political violence in America from any quarter, but especially for any of us who choose to follow Jesus. Jesus shows us another way than the sword or the bomb or the gun — a way to interact with evil without becoming evil.
A commitment to nonviolence does not mean the passive acceptance of things as they are. Rather it means resistance and nonviolent direct action that challange and change injustice while also seeking to win over the oppressors rather than dominate or dehumanize them. This may sound idealistic or even unrealistic in our current polarized environment, but history shows otherwise. The modern Civil Rights Movement was a faith based nonviolent movement that challenged the long accepted status quo of legal racial segregation. Throughout that movement, various forms of violence were directed at people of all ages who were committed to changing the “way of life” that separated people by race. Those engaged in nonviolent direct action refused to respond in kind but stayed focused on changing the unjust systems even as they suffered at the hands of their oppressors. Their courage and moral example touched the conscience of the nation and led to major changes including the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and the Fair Housing Act of 1968. Their practice of consistent nonviolence required both spiritual and tactical training. A major example of this comes from the famous Birmingham campaign in 1963. Thousands of Black men, women, and children faced violence directed at them by both the KKK and local authorities. Homes and churches were bombed. Peaceful protestors were met with high power fire hoses and police dogs. Anyone who participated in the nonviolent direct actions received training and made the following commitments that became known as The Birmingham Pledge:
I HEREBY PLEDGE MYSELF – MY PERSON AND BODY – TO THE NON-VIOLENT MOVEMENT. THEREFORE I WILL KEEP THE FOLLOWING TEN COMMANDMENTS:
- MEDITATE daily on the teachings and life of Jesus.
- REMEMBER always that the nonviolent movement in Birmingham seeks justice and reconciliation – not victory.
- WALK and TALK in the manner of love, for God is love.
- PRAY daily to be used by God in order that all men might be free.
- SACRIFICE personal wishes in order that all men might be free.
- OBSERVE with both friend and foe the ordinary rules of courtesy.
- SEEK to perform regular service for others and for the world
- REFRAIN from the violence of fist, tongue, and heart.
- STRIVE to be in good spiritual and bodily health.
- FOLLOW the directions of the movement and of the captain of a demonstration
I sign this pledge, having seriously considered what I do and with the determination and will to persevere.
During this week following another eruption of political violence, may we remember the witnesses of the Civil Rights Movement and recommit ourselves to nonviolence as our primary way of life based on the nonviolent self-sacrificial love of God revealed in Jesus. The first video posted below features Dr. King in 1957 explaining his commitment to nonviolence. The second video features Bernard Lafayette who worked with Dr. King and continued to train people in nonviolence for decades after King’s death. He is an example of the ongoing call to and power of nonviolence today.