Cultural Conversations: Nonviolence Of The Past

Imagine gathering in a city with thousands of others protesting the government when all of a sudden tanks come rolling through the city and open firing on the crowd of protesters. These people were using Gandhi’s practice of nonviolence in order to achieve a higher goal. Gandhi believes that passive resistance is the way to better ourselves and our government. Passive resistance though has many rules to it in order to fully work, but sometimes you need violence and force, not Passive Resistance to attain your goal.

Gandhi teaches us that Satyagraha means Truth Force. The main point of Satyagraha is that it admits no violence whatsoever, and it is ever insistent on the truth. Passive Resistance is seen as conscious suffering“ Nonviolence in its dynamic condition means
“The Doctrine of the Sword I.” Cultural Conversations: Presence of the Past. eds: Stephen Dilks, Regina Hansen, and Matthew Parfitt. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2001. print. 453-6.

Gandhi. “The Law of Suffering.” Cultural Conversations: Presence of the Past. eds: Stephen Dilks, Regina Hansen, and Matthew Parfitt. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2001. print. 451-3.

Gandhi. “The Theory and Practice of Passive Resistance.” Cultural Conversations: Presence of the Past. eds: Stephen Dilks, Regina Hansen, and Matthew Parfitt. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2001. print. 445-7.

Gandhi. “The Doctrine of the Sword II.” Cultural Conversations: Presence of the Past. eds: Stephen Dilks, Regina Hansen, and Matthew Parfitt. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2001. print. 456-9.

Leo Tolstoy. “Letter to Gandhi” Cultural Conversations: Presence of the Past. eds: Stephen Dilks, Regina Hansen, and Matthew Parfitt. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2001. print. 464-6.

Rabindranath Tagore. “Letter the Gandhi and Accompanying Poems.” Cultural Conversations: Presence of the Past. eds: Stephen Dilks, Regina Hansen, and Matthew Parfitt. Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 2001. print.