PEACEST 1A03 Lecture Notes - Lecture 9: Henry David Thoreau, Social Change
Document Summary
Violence does not mean emancipation from fear but discovering the means of combating the cases of fear. Nonviolence, on the other hand, has no cause for fear it is nonviolence only when we love those who hate us. I know how dif cult it is to follow this grand law of love. No man can be actively nonviolent and not rise against social injustice no matter where it occurred. How can we achieve change: political change, specially an authoritarian, oppressive dictatorial regime. Peace and social change by peaceful means: an argument for the skeptic. Nonviolence is not passivity or resistance (light, good or peace) Peace is not just non-violent, it is also justice just as light is not just the absence of darkness. Restrictive sense: tactics for overcoming any oppressive system. Wide sense: any attempts to overthrow relationships based on violence, domination and oppression. Nonviolence is a philosophy principled nonviolence it could be religious, but it also can be secular.