Introduction to Non-Violence

Part 1

Produced by Mark C. Orton, Martin Pettit and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

NON-VIOLENT ACTION IN TENSION AREAS: Series III: Number 1 July 1944.

INTRODUCTION TO NON-VIOLENCE

By THEODORE PAULLIN

THE PACIFIST RESEARCH BUREAU 1201 CHESTNUT STREET PHILADELPHIA 7, PENNSYLVANIA

MEMBERS OF THE PACIFIST RESEARCH BUREAU

Charles Boss, Jr. Isidor B. Hoffman Henry J. Cadbury John Haynes Holmes Allan Knight Chalmers E. Stanley Jones Abraham Cronbach John Howland Lathrop Albert E. Day Frederick J. Libby Dorothy Day A. J. Muste Edward W. Evans Ray Newton Jane Evans Mildred Scott Olmsted F. Burt Farquharson Kirby Page Harry Emerson Fosdick Clarence E. Pickett Harrop A. Freeman Guy W. Solt Elmer A. Fridell Douglas V. Steere Richard Gregg Dan West Harold Hatch Norman Whitney E. Raymond Wilson

FINANCIAL SUPPORT

The Pacifist Research Bureau is financed entirely by the contributions of organizations and individuals who are interested in seeing this type of research carried on. We trust that you may desire to have a part in this positive pacifist endeavor to aid in the formulation of plans for the world order of the future. Please make contributions payable to The Pacifist Research Bureau, 1201 Chestnut Street, Philadelphia 7, Pennsylvania. Contributions are deductible for income tax purposes.

DIRECTOR'S FOREWORD

"When I use a word," Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, "it means just what I choose it to mean--neither more nor less."

"The question is," said Alice, "whether you can make words mean different things."

* * * * *

In the writings of pacifists and non-pacifists concerning theories of and experiences with non-violence, there is a clear lack of uniformity in the use of words.

The present booklet, introducing the Bureau's new series on Non-Violent Action in Tension Areas, distinguished by green covers, critically examines pacifist terminology. But it does more, for it analyzes various types of non-violence, evaluates examples of non-violence referred to in previous literature, and points to new sources of case material.

Dr. Theodore Paullin, Assistant Director of the Bureau, is the author of this study. The manuscript has been submitted to and reviewed by Professor Charles A. Ellwood and Professor Hornell Hart, both of the Department of Sociology, Duke University; and by Richard B. Gregg, author of several works on the philosophy and practice of non-violence. Their criticisms and suggestions have proved most helpful, but for any errors of interpretation the author is responsible.

The Pacifist Research Bureau frankly bases its work upon the philosophy of pacifism: that man should exercise such respect for human personality that he will employ only love and sacrificial good will in opposing evil and that the purpose of all human endeavor should be the creation of a world brotherhood in which cooperative effort contributes to the good of all. A list of pamphlets published or in preparation appears on the back cover.

HARROP A. FREEMAN, Executive Director

Any organization ordering 500 or more copies of any pamphlet published by the Pacifist Research Bureau may have its imprint appear on the title page along with that of the Bureau. The prepublication price for such orders is $75.00 for each 500 copies.

* * * * *

TABLE OF CONTENTS

I. INTRODUCTION: ON TERMS 1 Definition of Terms 5

II. VIOLENCE WITHOUT HATE 9 Revolutionary Anarchism 10 Abraham Lincoln 11 The Church and War 11

III. NON-VIOLENCE BY NECESSITY 12 Non-Violent Resistance to Invaders 13 Chinese Boycotts Against Foreigners 15 Egyptian Opposition to Great Britain 16

IV. NON-VIOLENT COERCION 17 The Labor Strike 19 The Boycott 21 Non-Violent Coercion by the American Colonies 22 Irish Opposition to Great Britain After 1900 23 Strikes with Political Purposes 24 Non-Violence in International Affairs 24

V. SATYAGRAHA OR NON-VIOLENT DIRECT ACTION 25 The Origins of Satyagraha 26 The Process of Satyagraha 27 The Philosophy of Satyagraha 29 The Empirical Origins of Gandhi's Method 31 Non-Cooperation 32 Fasting 33 The American Abolition Movement 34

VI. NON-RESISTANCE 36 The Mennonites 37 The New England Non-Resistants 39 Tolstoy 41

VII. ACTIVE GOODWILL AND RECONCILIATION 43 Action in the Face of Persecution 44 Coercion or Persuasion? 46 Ministering to Groups in Conflict 47 The Power of Example 48 Work for Social Reform 49 Political Action and Compromise 50 The Third Alternative 51

Part 2

VIII. CONCLUSIONS 54

* * * * *

PREFACE

The purpose of the present study is to analyze the various positions found within the pacifist movement itself in regard to the use of non-violent techniques of bringing about social change in group relationships. In its attempt to differentiate between them, it makes no pretense of determining which of the several pacifist positions is ethically most valid. Hence it is concerned with the application of non-violent principles in practice and their effectiveness in achieving group purposes, rather than with the philosophical and religious foundations of such principles. It is hoped that the study may help individuals to clarify their thinking within this field, but the author has no brief for one method as against the others. Each person must determine his own principles of action on the basis of his conception of the nature of the universe and his own scale of ethical values.

The examples chosen to illustrate the various positions have been taken largely from historical situations in this country and in Europe, because our traditional education has made us more familiar with the history of these areas than with that of other parts of the world. It also seemed that the possibilities of employing non-violent methods of social change would be more apparent if it was evident that they had been used in the West, and were not only applicable in Oriental societies. It is unfortunate that this deliberate choice has eliminated such valuable illustrative material as the work of Kagawa in Japan. The exception to this general rule in the case of "Satyagraha" has been made because of the wide-spread discussion of this movement in all parts of the world in our day.

I want to acknowledge with great appreciation the suggestions I have obtained from the preliminary work done for the Pacifist Research Bureau in this field by Russell Curtis and Haridas T. Muzumdar.

THEODORE PAULLIN July 1, 1944

* * * * *

INTRODUCTION TO NON-VIOLENCE

* * * * *

I. INTRODUCTION: ON TERMS

"In the storm we found each other." "In the storm we clung together." These words are found in the opening paragraphs of "Hey! Yellowbacks!" The War Diary of a Conscientious Objector. Ernest L Meyer uses them to describe the psychological process by which a handful of men--a few professors and a lone student--at the University of Wisconsin grew into unity because they opposed the First World War, when everyone around them was being carried away in the enthusiasm which marked the first days of American participation. If there had been no storm, they might not have discovered their affinity, but as it was, despite the disparity of their interests and backgrounds, they found themselves in agreement on the most fundamental of their values, when all the rest chose to go another way. By standing together they all gained strength for the ordeals through which each must go, and they were filled with the spirit of others before them and far removed from them, who had understood life in the same way.

The incident may be taken as symbolic of the experience through which pacifists have gone in this Second World War, too. Men and women of many creeds, of diverse economic backgrounds, of greatly divergent philosophies, with wide variations in education, have come together in the desire to sustain one another and aid one another in making their protest against war. Each in his own way has refused to participate in the mass destruction of human life which war involves, and by that refusal has been united by the strongest bonds of sympathy with those of his fellows who have done likewise. But it is the storm that has brought unity. When the skies clear, there will be a memory of fellowship together, but there will also be a realization that in the half light we have seen only one aspect of each other's being, and that there are enormous differences between us. Our future hope of achieving the type of world we want will demand a continuation of our sense of unity, despite our diversities.

At present pacifism is no completely integrated philosophy of life. Most of us would be hard pressed to define the term "pacifist" itself. Despite the fact that according to the Latin origins of the word it means "peace maker," it is small wonder that our non-pacifist friends think of the pacifist as a negative obstructionist, because until the time came to make a negative protest against the evil of war we ourselves all too often forgot that we were pacifists. In other times, if we have been peace-makers at all, we have thought of ourselves merely as doing the duty of citizens, and, in attempting to overcome some of the causes of conflict both within our domestic society and in the relations between nations, we have willingly merged ourselves with other men of goodwill whose aims and practices were almost identical to ours.

Continue reading Introduction to Non-Violence free in the Wunder reader →