Latter Day Satyagraha

Nonviolence holds that voluntary suffering can educate and transform

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It was in South Africa that Gandhi first used fasting as a tool in “Satyagraha”. In essence for Gandhi, fasts were an expression of “suffering love”, in a deeply Christian sense. Gandhi’s reasons for fasting were essentially fourfold:

1. it was his way of expressing his own deep sense of sorrow at the way those he loved had disappointed him
2. it was his way, as their Leader, for atoning for their misdeeds
3. it was his last attempt to stir deep spiritual feelings in others and to appeal to their moral sense
4. it was his way of bringing the quarreling parties together.

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Martin Luther King’s Nonviolence Step 5: Take Action Peacefully

This step is often used when negotiation fails to produce results, or when people need to draw broader attention to a problem. it can include tactics such as peaceful demonstrations, letter-writing and petition campaign.

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Nonviolence as a Way of Life

I am not patient. People are starving right now. Animals are suffering right now. The planet is struggling to breathe right now. So, how do we move toward a more just and compassionate world… right now!? I’ve spent time picketing in the streets, writing members of congress, challenging unjust laws, helping grassroots groups learn and grow. What I’ve learned is that the power of self-understanding and personal responsibility can sometimes provide a quicker and more successful route to social change. Not only is it quicker, it is necessary.

1. Hope or Terror – Gandhi and the other 9/11 (pdf)
2. To Renounce War and Proclaim Peace (Conor Bayack)

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The Vegenesis Story – Vegan Thought for Food

And the Lord God commanded both Adam and Eve, saying, Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat: But thou shall not kill, neither for food nor for sport and thou shalt not eat of the flesh of animals: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die – and the purpose of my creation will be frustrated. And the Lord God said, With this admonition, I know that it is not good that humans should be alone; I will make loyal and trusting friends for them.

1. What does Mormonism say about Animal Rights? (themormonworker)
2. Give Place that a Seed Be Planted – LDS Environmentalism
3. A Life Connected – Be a Vegan for…
4. Saving the Planet, One Meal at a Time (PeacePower)
5. Quotes on Vegetarianism

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The Kingdom of God or Nothing – Mormon Civil Disobedience

“Are you not afraid of being killed?” you may ask me. No. Great conscience! who cares about being killed? They cannot kill you. They may shoot a ball into you, and your body may fall; but you will live. Who cares about dying? We are associated with eternal principles: they are within us as a well springing up to eternal life. We have begun to live for ever’. Did not Jesus also say: And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matt. 10:28)

1. To the Sound of Guns: LDS Apostle on Civil Rights
2. Seek to Persuade All
3. Early Mormons Exercised Civil Disobedience
4. Violence Threatens LDS Church Efforts in Nigeria

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Mormon Masculinity – A Soldier for Jesus

As we seek the purity and spirituality desired by the gospel, we enter into powerful conflict with our libidos and our sense of manhood, given the way [the American] discourse defines it. Mormonism exacerbates this conflict with its focus on sexuality as the major defining criterion for purity. Sexuality can [therefore] define us further as good Mormon men or cause us to lose our salvation. It represents the degree to which we hold to Church teachings and to which we accept the power of our Church leaders. As a result, we organize anxiety, fear, faith and hope around our penises, our libidos, and our sense of ourselves as gendered and religious beings. read more…

1. Neither Male nor Female – Mormon Masculinity
2. Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell in God’s Army
3. A Child is Born in Bukavu – Christmas Message 2009
4. Mormon Liberals Could Loose the Culture War
5. CNN Reports on Boyd K. Packer’s Conference Address (Oct 2010)