Does Nonviolent Direct Action Work? Yes.

Note:  This post was originally published on November 8, 2011, which was during the "occupy" movement.  The linked article became unavailable at the original source, so I reverted it to draft and am now republishing with an updated link to the article, "Why Civil Resistance Works:  The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict."  

I heard a rumor today that the term “occupy” has now been blocked from internet searches in China, thanks to the “occupy Wall Street” movement in the USA.  This, along with all of the protests associated with what is now known as the Arab Spring, seems to have left the Chinese government just a bit concerned.  Is there a reason to be concerned?  Maybe. 

Not every revolution is successful.  However, nonviolent revolutions have about double the success rate of those marked by violent means.   The rates of success were documented in a study by Maria J. Stephan and Erica Chenoweth, "Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict." International Security 33, no. 1 (Summer 2008): 7-44. 

According to Stephan and Chenoweth, of 323 violent and nonviolent movements between 1900 and 2006, 53% of the nonviolent ones succeeded as compared to only 26% of the violent ones. What’s even more telling is that when the movements were repressed, the nonviolent movements were 6 times more likely to succeed.

The article can be accessed at the following link:  

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240678278_Why_Civil_Resistance_Works_The_Strategic_Logic_of_Nonviolent_Conflict

 

The Pink Panzer

 

 

Technorati Tags: nonviolence,nonviolent direct action,arab spring,ows

On Being Missional?

"Strategic planning, never taught as a principle in the Bible, is at the very center of much of the work of today’s churches. Goals, missions, plans, and budgets are set, and all contingencies are avoided. Essentially, there’s nothing wrong with this, but what did we learn from that parable? The Samaritan was not obliged to do good. He permitted himself to be touched by the suffering of a fellow human and responded using what he had at hand. He didn’t ask questions – he loved and acted.
For more from this intriguing article, see:
 "The Unplanned Church: How a Brazilian congregation finds renewal by interruption"

 link: HERE


Juan de Flandes, Christ and the Caananite Woman, c. 1496

What Is Justice?

 “The clear meaning of “justice” is “what is right” or “what is normal” — the way things are supposed to be. The fairness of laws coupled with fair and equal treatment under the law are common biblical concerns. Throughout scripture, God is the defender and protector of the poor, the alien, the debtor, the widow, and the orphan. Justice can also mean “deliverance,” “victory,” “vindication,” or “prosperity” — but for all, not just a few. Justice is part of God’s purpose in redemption.

One of the clearest and most holistic words for justice is the Hebrew shalom, which means both “justice” and “peace.” Shalom includes “wholeness,” or everything that makes for people’s well being, security, and, in particular, the restoration of relationships that have been broken. Justice, therefore, is about repairing broken relationships both with other people and to structures — of courts and punishments, money and economics, land and resources, and kings and rulers.” 

Quote from Wallis,  How the Bible Understands Justice ( https://www.onfaith.co/onfaith/2014/06/06/how-the-bible-understands-justice/32339 )

More on the Meaning of Peace

At the end of his time with the Disciples, Jesus said to them  

Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives.
Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14:27)

Christ Taking Leave of the Apostles, Duccio c. 1308
Courtesy Wikimedia Commons

What does Jesus mean by that?
This morning, I would like to point to the following thought:

Who Is My Neighbor?

A false god 

divides the world

 into 

friends 

(those the god loves) 

and 

foes 

(those the god hates); 

the true God 

loves all, 

and 

loves equally.

(Miroslav Volf)

Van Gogh, The Good Samaritan

On Loving One's Enemies

[W]e know it is possible to love our enemies. Otherwise why would Christ in the Sermon on the Mount ask that we so love? . . . Are we to make Christ a liar? If we do not think it possible to love our enemies, then we should plainly say Jesus is not the Messiah.

 (Quote from Stanley Hauerwas)

Karoly Ferenczy, Sermon on the Mountain (1896)

The Value of Inner Peace

THIS BLOG IS ABOUT PEACE.  
WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?! 

Remind You of Anyone?

This short video illustrates how life is improved and deepened when we view events through a more compassionate lens ... totally worth the three minutes it takes to watch the film

So Live, That When ...

So live, that when thy summons comes to join

The innumerable caravan, which moves

To that mysterious realm, where each shall take 

His chamber in the silent halls of death, 

Thou go not, like the quarry-slave at night, 

Scourged to his dungeon, but, sustained and soothed 

By an unfaltering trust, approach thy grave 

Like one who wraps the drapery of his couch 

About him, and lies down to pleasant dreams. 

William Cullen Bryant

The Redemptive Road

On Sunday, September 16, 1963, during the Sunday School hour, a bomb blast ripped through the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama.  How doeFour little girls were killed: Addie Mae Collins, Cynthia Wesley, Carole Robertson, and Denise McNair.  How does that tragedy speak to us today, nearly fifty years later? 

Demand a Plan!

Lennon. Brady. Gifford. Columbine. Virginia Tech. Ft. Hood. Oak Creek. Aurora. New Town. Sandy Hook.  The statistics are staggering.  When will enough be enough?  DEMAND A PLAN! Sign the petition at the link: 

 http://www.demandaplan.org/

Is He Really the Prince of Peace, or Just a Figurehead?

As I write this post today, it is the fourth Sunday in Advent. We celebrate today, in the birth of an innocent child, the arrival of Emmanuel, which means "God is With Us." In Isaiah Chapter 9 it is written 

For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,Eternal Father, Prince of Peace.

How ironic that just as we celebrate the coming of the Prince of Peace, in my own culture just so recently there has been yet another mass killing by a deranged man who had access to firearms. How ironic that some of the same people who claim to believe in the teachings of the Prince of Peace will still resist efforts to disarm killers and reduce their opportunity to harm others by regulating access to handguns, automatic weapons and high capacity ammunition. How ironic that some people who claim to believe in peace, advocate violence themselves? 

The evil caused by handguns and high capacity firearms is so obvious it cannot be ignored.  

TIPS FOR DEALING WITH FAMILY CONFLICT DURING THE HOLIDAYS

Does the thought of the next family gathering put knots in your stomach?  If so, these practical suggestions are written just for you.  Click here for more ... 

Damned to Hell? A Hellacious Accusation.

Franz Franken, The Damned Being Cast Into Hell, c. 1605, courtesy Wikimedia Commons

Some might say that if a man has no enemies, he has not taken a stand.  But what if the enmity comes from within one's own church?  For more, click here ...

Subversion!

Long haitus.  Been busy.  But here's a worthy thought for the day:  

‎"It is safe to say that Jesus was not crucified because he taught love and forgiveness or because he set about debating legal points with the scribes of his day. Jesus was crucified because he was seen as a threat to the powers-that-be. His brand of non-violent resistance, his manner of stirring the people and empowering the poor, were correctly judged to be challenging the political power structures of his day." -- Gerard Hall

Sunny Day Saints: A Musing for Palm Sunday

Everything is fine and dandy.  Jesus is riding into the capitol on a young colt, with people shouting praises and throwing rushes down on the street in front of him.  Life is good.  He’s at the top of his style.

(image BBC News Palm Sunday in India)

This Is My Commandment

“My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you.”John 15:12
If you are facing conflict in your personal life, your professional life, or in your church congregation, you are not alone! There is division and dissension among Christians and in churches across the United States. The key issue in every dispute is not whether conflict will happen, but how we will respond to it when it does happen.

Forgiveness (a poem by Ann Weems)

FORGIVENESS

a poem by Ann Weems

(from the book Searching for Shalom: Resources for Creative Worship)

I was wrong,

arrogantly

self righteously

wrong.

So interested in being understood,

I didn’t understand.

So anxious to be right,

I didn’t see your pain.

How is it then

that you’re the one

to bring the flowers? 

The Feast of Justice (The Fast of Isaiah 58, Part V)

So far, my personal musings in this series on the Fast of Isaiah 58 have dwelt on the aspect of what we are to do by way of fasting and our proper attitude for purposes of the fast.   But there is another, and I think very comforting, aspect of Isaiah 58.  That is, although we have clear obligations, God also makes promises back to us.   In fact, what God promises to give me, should I keep his word in Isaiah 58, seems bigger than anything I might give up.

Acceptance of Grace (The Fast of Isaiah 58, Part II)

A few days ago, I quoted Isaiah Chapter 58 as suggesting the proper attitude for our fasting during Lent.*  That chapter contrasts fasting with an improper attitude, which God hates, with the proper attitude that one should have for a fast.  Strikingly, the activities mentioned as illustrating proper attitude toward the fast (share food with the hungry, provide shelter for the homeless, clothe the naked) have nothing to do with our own consumption of food.