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A Path Toward Nonviolence
Nonviolent resistance: following Jesus in a violent world
(edited from “Following Jesus” https://followingjesus.org/nonviolent-resistance/)
Music: Singing for Our Lives Holly Near
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RwBwJ4W2IGs
1. Violence surrounds us. Its presence is everywhere—in the news, in our streets, in our homes, in our schools, in our workplaces, in our sporting events, in our entertainment, and in our nation’s international affairs. In America, we live in a culture of violence which is aided and abetted by a deep and abiding love affair with guns.
2. the radical call of Jesus
The evidence is conclusive. There is no question that we live in a very violent world. Violence is just the way things are and it is the way things have been for untold centuries. But is this the way things are meant to be?
3. nonviolence, not passivity
Nonviolence is a much better term for the way of Jesus than pacifism, which is often confused with “passive-ism.” Nonviolence is active, not passive.
4. the way of Jesus in a violent world
Here is what Jesus would have us do in a violent world:
- Love your enemies
- Do not resist evildoers with violence
- Give food and drink to your enemies
- Do good to those that hate you
- Pray for your persecutors and abusers
- Bless your persecutors and cursers
- Do not avenge yourself
- Do not repay evil for evil
- Overcome evil with good
- Be compassionate and merciful
- Forgive others
- Live in harmony with others
- Live peaceably with all
5. nonviolence actively works for peace and justice
- Nonviolence seeks to change the status quo without the use of coercive force
- Nonviolence uses peaceful and just means
- Nonviolence resists evil without becoming evil
- Nonviolence understands that the ends and the means are one
- Nonviolence rejects hatred
- Nonviolence persistently seeks reconciliation
- Nonviolence is the implementation of “love your enemies”
- Nonviolence seeks the transformation of the enemy
- Nonviolence requires courage anger and outrage
- Nonviolence also requires commitment, hope, and grace
- Nonviolence is a human expression of God’s unconditional love
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