Thanks to Sister Josita for sharing the following:
Six Principles of Christian Nonviolence
Based on the writings and words of Martin Luther King
1. Nonviolence offers a way of life for courageous people. It is passive physically, but
strongly active spiritually. It is no passive nonresistance to evil; it is active nonviolent
resistance to evil.
2. Nonviolence seeks to win friendship and understanding. Nonviolence uncovers and
builds up the beloved community of humanity. As the way of God, it redeems, reconciles,
and leads us to nonviolent Kindom of God on earth.
3. Nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice, not people. It looks on evildoers as themselves
victims, rather than as evil people. Nonviolence recognizes that every human being sins,
that every human being does evil, that every human being commits violence. Active
nonviolence seeks to halt evil and to heal the human family.
4. Nonviolence holds that suffering can educate and transform. Nonviolence struggles
actively for justice and peace, but instead of inflicting violence and death on others, it
accepts suffering without retaliation. In the nonviolent way of life, we refrain from
violence, no matter how just the cause. We never inflict violence on others or ever
advocate it, but if necessary, we suffer it with redemptive love that seeks to open the
eyes of our opponent to the truth of justice and peace. Redemptive suffering love, which
insists on justice and peace, is the doorway to conversion and transformation.
5. Nonviolence chooses love instead of hate. It resists violence of the spirit as well as of
the body. This love flows spontaneously, unselfishly, creatively, sacrificially and
unconditionally. Active nonviolent love risks a return of hostility. Such active love never
ceases to forgive but continues to insist on the beloved community of humanity.
Nonviolence recognizes that all life is interrelated, that all is one. Love, agape, is the
only cement that can hold the broken community together. When I am commanded to
love, I am commanded to restore community, to resist injustice and to meet the needs of
my brothers and sisters.
6. Nonviolence is a way of live that flows from a deep belief that the universe stands on
the side of justice. One who practices nonviolence knows that God reigns, that God is nonviolent, that God’s reign is a reign of nonviolence, and that God’s way of nonviolence
will eventually transform everyone into God’s Kindom of justice and peace. The universe itself bends toward justice. The deepest meaning in life is to side with God in God’s nonviolent transformation of the world into a Kindom of justice and peace.
Based on the writings and words of Martin Luther King
1. Nonviolence offers a way of life for courageous people. It is passive physically, but
strongly active spiritually. It is no passive nonresistance to evil; it is active nonviolent
resistance to evil.
2. Nonviolence seeks to win friendship and understanding. Nonviolence uncovers and
builds up the beloved community of humanity. As the way of God, it redeems, reconciles,
and leads us to nonviolent Kindom of God on earth.
3. Nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice, not people. It looks on evildoers as themselves
victims, rather than as evil people. Nonviolence recognizes that every human being sins,
that every human being does evil, that every human being commits violence. Active
nonviolence seeks to halt evil and to heal the human family.
4. Nonviolence holds that suffering can educate and transform. Nonviolence struggles
actively for justice and peace, but instead of inflicting violence and death on others, it
accepts suffering without retaliation. In the nonviolent way of life, we refrain from
violence, no matter how just the cause. We never inflict violence on others or ever
advocate it, but if necessary, we suffer it with redemptive love that seeks to open the
eyes of our opponent to the truth of justice and peace. Redemptive suffering love, which
insists on justice and peace, is the doorway to conversion and transformation.
5. Nonviolence chooses love instead of hate. It resists violence of the spirit as well as of
the body. This love flows spontaneously, unselfishly, creatively, sacrificially and
unconditionally. Active nonviolent love risks a return of hostility. Such active love never
ceases to forgive but continues to insist on the beloved community of humanity.
Nonviolence recognizes that all life is interrelated, that all is one. Love, agape, is the
only cement that can hold the broken community together. When I am commanded to
love, I am commanded to restore community, to resist injustice and to meet the needs of
my brothers and sisters.
6. Nonviolence is a way of live that flows from a deep belief that the universe stands on
the side of justice. One who practices nonviolence knows that God reigns, that God is nonviolent, that God’s reign is a reign of nonviolence, and that God’s way of nonviolence
will eventually transform everyone into God’s Kindom of justice and peace. The universe itself bends toward justice. The deepest meaning in life is to side with God in God’s nonviolent transformation of the world into a Kindom of justice and peace.
“Nonviolence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man.” -Mohandas K. Gandhi
“We must learn to live together as brothers and sisters or perish together as fools."
- Martin Luther King
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