What has drawn me most strongly to nonviolence
is its capacity for encompassing a complexity
Necessarily denied by violent strategies.
By complexity I mean the sort faced by feminists
Who rage against the system of male supremacy but,
At the same time, love their fathers, sons, husbands,
brothers, and male friends,
I mean the complexity which requires us
to name an underpaid working man who beats his wife
both as someone who is oppressed and as an oppressor.
Violent tactics and strategies rely on polarization and dualistic thinking and
require us to divide ourselves into the good and bad, assume neat, rigid
little categories easily answered from the barrel of a gun.
Nonviolence allows for the complexity inherent in our struggles
And requires a reasonable acceptance of diversity
And an appreciation for our common ground.
From You Cant Kill the Spirit: Women
and Nonviolent Action,1988 Pam McAllister
begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy.
Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.
Through violence you may murder the liar,
but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth.
Through violence you may murder the hater,
but you do not murder hate.
In fact, violence merely increases hate.
So it goes.
Returning violence for violence multiplies violence,
adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness:
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
From Strength To Love, 1963 Martin Luther King, Jr.
Why use the term "nonviolence" at K-State?
We use "nonviolence" in our work at Kansas State University's Women's Center/Campaign for Nonviolence/SafeZone as a way to say the citizens of this community want to live in a safe, fair environment; that we realize "if we want a safe community, we need to work for fair relationships at all levels; and, furthermore, that we are willing to step up to "be the change" we wish to see here... more...
