“When a church that has not lived out a costly identification with the oppressed offers to mediate between hostile parties, it merely adds to the total impression that it wants to stay above the conflict and not take sides. The church says to the lion and the lamb, ‘Here, let me negotiate a truce,’ to which the lion replies, ‘Fine, after I finish my lunch.’” (4)
Justice, rather than peace alone, must be Christian goal. (5)
“can people who are engaged in oppressive acts repent unless they are made uncomfortable with their actions?” (25-6)
“It is important to repeat such stories in order to extend our imaginations for creative nonviolence. Since it is not a natural response, we need to be schooled in it.” (33)
“Both sides must win. We are summoned to pray for our enemies’ transformation, and to respond to ill-treatment with a love that not only is godly but also, I am convince,d can only be found in God.” (46)
“Never adopt a strategy that you would not want your opponents to use against you.” (46)
Jesus’ “teaching reads like a practical manual for empowering the powerless to seize the initiative even in situations impervious to change.” (48)
Jesus’ way is “a creative struggle to restore the humanity of all parties in a dispute.” (51)”
MLK quote: “One day we shall win freedom, but not only for ourselves. We shall so appeal to your heart and conscience that we shall win you in the process, and our victory will be a double victory.” (58)
“It cannot be stressed too much: love of enemies has, for our time, become the litmus test of authentic Christian faith.” (58-9)
“When we dominos our enemies, calling them names and identifying them with absolute evil, we deny that they have that of God within them that makes transformation possible.” (59)
“I submit that the ultimate religious question today is . . . How can I find God in my enemy?”
“And no one can show others the error that is within them, as Thomas Merton wisely remarked, unless the others are convinced that their critic first sees and loves the good that is within them.” (62)
“Love of enemies is, in the broadest sense, behaving out of one’s own deepest self-interest . . . they need to be reassured continually that there will be a place for them int he new society being born.” (62-3)
James Bevel: “We cannot win by hating our oppressors. We have to love them into changing.” (65)
Jesus’ teaching “does not presuppose a threshold of decency, but something of God in everyone.” (67)
“The moment we argue that the South African defenders of apartheid are morally inferior beings, we reduce ourselves to their moral level.” (67)
“Jesus’ Third Way uses means commensurate with the new order we desire.” (69)
“it s voluntary submission to the due penalty of the law that discourages frivolous violations.” (74) “We are lawful in our illegality. It is only because we submit to the principle of law that we demand that unjust laws be made just in the first place.” (77)
Abandon “one of the greatest and oldest lies: that the world is made up of good people and bad people.” (79)
“People who engage in nonviolent protest without at least some awareness of this cesspool of violence within them can actually jeopardize the lives of their compatriots.” (80)
Jesus' Way “establishes us in freedom, not necessity. It is something we are not required to do, but enabled to do.” (82)
“We should not strike a neutral pose, says John Swomley, but side with the oppressed, even if they follow the bad example of their oppressors in resorting to violence . . . Violence is . . . the presenting symptom of an unjust society. And peace is not the highest good; it is rather the outcome of a just social order.” (83)
Desmond Tutu: “We have no right to hope to harvest what we have not sown.” (86)
“Nonviolent training needs to become a regular and repetitive component of every change-oriented group’s life.” (88)
“It is precisely because the outcome is in question . . . that we need to choose a way of living that already is a living of the outcome we desire.” (88-89)
“Fear is remarkably responsive to the Holy Spirit. Our anxiety need not remain in our path, blocking our obedience.” (92)
No comments:
Post a Comment