Some Quotes From Peace Activists:
Regarding St. Thereses's Little
Way of Nonviolence, John Dear said: "Given our culture of
violence and the world's wars, I prefer to translate Thérèse's spirituality as
"the little way of nonviolence." Through these small acts of great
love, we root out every trace of violence within us, allow God to disarm our
hearts, and share in God's disarmament of the world. As more and more people
practice this little way of nonviolence, love becomes contagious, wars end, and
weapons are dismantled. As we organize our nonviolent love into direct public
action, as Dorothy Day did, we can end nuclear air raid drills--and someday,
nuclear weapons themselves. This little way of nonviolence is
revolutionary for it demands steadfast inner determination to confront the
selfishness and violence within us, to open our hearts to be consumed by God's
love, and to overwhelm those we do not like with good deeds, kindness, and
loving service. Her example of taking the tough Sister St. Peter around in her
wheelchair, preparing her food, and responding to her snappy remarks with a
pleasant smile models interpersonal nonviolence for us." (John Dear-
National Catholic Reporter- Sept 29, 2009)
Arun Gandhi said: "You can quote me as
saying Mahatma Gandhi would disagree with the Plowshares actions because they
employ tactics of secrecy and destruction of property. I also think locking up
the most courageous and devoted peace leaders for long prison terms is a way of
weakening the peace movement. Those leaders could do much more for peace
outside of jail than in it." ( The Jesus Journal - Summer
1995 - No. 77 - page 44 )
"Common people who are not directly
involved in social debates and political conflicts have their lives to live,
they become angry at those who are disturbing their lives or damaging property
that has to be repaired using public funds. Thus the average person, whose
support is often necessary for lasting success, is alienated. Rather than
leading to a resolution, they escalate the conflict and create more deeply
entrenched opponents." (Legacy of Love by Arun Gandhi – page
132)
"No secret organization, however big,
could do any good. Secrecy aims at building a wall of protection around you.
Ahimsa disdains all such protection. It functions in the open in the face of
odds, the heaviest conceivable. We have to organize for action a vast people
that have been crushed under the heel of unspeakable tyranny for centuries.
They cannot be organized by other than open, truthful means. I have grown up
from youth to seventy-six years in abhorrence of secrecy. There must be no
watering down of the ideal." (Mahatma Gandhi – quoted by Thomas Merton in
his book: Gandhi on Non-Violence – page 40)
"Most activists do not go in for naked
violence yet, but they will. In other words, there are ways and means to force
people to go in a certain direction. That is okay, that is politics, you might
say. If you are a politician you need to know about it and deal with it, but we
have to stay out of it." (Thomas Merton – Thomas Merton in Alaska
– page 108)
"Non-violence has become all fouled-up
and is turning into a sort of semi-violence." (Thomas Merton – Thomas
Merton in Alaska– page109)
"We can no more save
ourselves from our enemies than we can save ourselves from sin, but God's
amazing grace offers to save us from both. There is, in fact, no other way to
God for our time but through the enemy, for loving the enemy has become the key
both to human survival in
the age of terror and to personal transformation. Either we find the God who
causes the sun to rise on evil and on the good, or we may have no more
sunrises." (John Stoner)
"A servant church must have as its
priority solidarity with the poor," he said. "The faith must express
itself in charity and in solidarity, which is the civil form of charity,"
Hummes said.
"Today more than ever, the church faces
this challenge. In fact, effective solidarity with the poor, both individual
persons and entire nations, is indispensable for the construction of peace.
Solidarity corrects injustices, reestablishes the fundamental rights of persons
and of nations, overcomes poverty and even resists the revolt that injustice
provokes, eliminating the violence that is born with revolt and constructing
peace." (Cardinal Claudio Hummes)
"In the Pax Christi Vow of Nonviolence,
There is a fatal flaw. No Christian can carry out in his life, the love
and example of Jesus "by actively
resisting evil". Our Lord did not set the example of "actively
resisting evil". Rather, He tolerated evil to the point of being
"led like a Lamb to the slaughter". Yet, He smothered evil with
good by an assault on the flank. The flank assault, as any good soldier
knows, is an attempt to strike the enemy at an advantageous angle - not
directly. Such an angle, Our Lord has demonstrated, is most effective in
dealing with the powers of evil. This angle implies not "actively
resisting evil", even though that resistance may be nonviolent. Rather, It
suggests the gracious embrace of love on the side.
Concretely, this means that Christians should get rid of the tactics of
blocking entrances to missile bases or otherwise harassing the Pentagon. On the
side however, we should be supporting the work of Arun Gandhi for he has found
that Christlike angle from which to assault the evil of war."
(William Horan 2008)
"Both Dorothy and Merton were firm
believers in patient efforts simply to communicate to others what the Gospel is
all about, what the Church teaches, and the value of paying attention to saints
who in various ways set a timely example. This is not so much carrying out what
are sometimes called “prophetic actions” as engaging in ordinary acts of
communication. While being patient and even supportive of me and others who
engaged in such dramatic acts of civil disobedience as breaking into draft
offices and burning draft files, neither Dorothy nor Merton recommended such
tactics as a method of protest." (Jim Forest at the Catholic Peace Fellowship
Conference in South
Bend, Indiana, on 24 March 2007)
Applying
Jesus' Approach to Catholic Schools:
A
“preferential option for the poor" should be maintained in our Catholic Schools.
If we find that we cannot afford to keep our schools open to the poor, the
schools should be closed and the resources used for something else which can be
kept open to the poor.We cannot allow our Church to become a church primarily
for the middle-class and rich while throwing a bone to the poor. The priority
should be given to the poor even if we have to let the middle-class and rich
fend for themselves.
Practically speaking, the Catholic Schools must close and
the resources used for “Confraternity of Christian Doctrine” and other programs
which can be kept open to the poor. Remember, the Church managed without
Catholic Schools for centuries. We can get along without them today. The
essential factor is to cultivate enough Faith to act in the Gospel Tradition,
namely, THE POOR GET PRIORITY. The
rich and middle-class are welcome too. But the poor come first. (William
Horan 2008)