“Noncooperation means refusal both to help the sinner in his sin and to accept any help or gift from him till he has repented. Non-cooperation is a measure of discipline and sacrifice, and it demands respect for the positive views. Nonviolent Non-cooperation with evil means cooperation with all that is good. Noncooperation is intended to pave the way to real, honorable and voluntary cooperation based on mutual respect and trust. Noncooperation in [the] political field is an extension of the doctrine as it is practiced in the domestic field. The avowed policy of Non-cooperation has been not to make political use of disputes between labor and capital. Real Non-cooperation is Non-cooperation with evil and not with the evil doer. Noncooperation is not a hymn of hate. My Non-cooperation is with methods and systems, never with men. Nonviolence is the rock on which the whole structure of Non-cooperation is built.” –M.K. Gandhi
Since Congress and the Executive branch of our government seem unlikely and unwilling to end the carnage in Iraq I wondered how effective a program of noncooperation would be. Gandhi and hundreds of thousands of his countrymen practiced nonviolent noncooperation and eventually the order was changed. What is most important about all of Gandhi’s work is that he stressed the love of his enemy. His salient point is that noncooperation with evil is just that and not a battle with the evil doer.
Friday evening as I watched Chris Matthews’ program , ‘Hardball’ I saw a segment where the mother of a young marine about to be deployed for the third time to Iraq confront Congressman David Obey about the intransigence of Congress in ending the Iraq War. The mother could see that the Congressmen were more interested in their political futures than they were with the lives of our soldiers. My heart was torn in two watching her speak with Mr. Obey and seeing him scold her. You can watch it here yourself. David Obey is not evil nor are our national leaders, but the policy is evil and it is tearing the fabric of our country and our world.
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nonviolence, iraq war