Quote:
Originally Posted by Peter Debelak
What happened in Russia is a good example of the sort of thing that I'm arguing against. I have long argued this about Communism in particular. Theoretically, the theory can be defended. The problem comes in when you impose a "religion" on a diverse population. All sorts of unintended negative consequences flow from it.
Ghandi and MLK are very good examples of "seeking justice" in politics. And I would agree that they tood their stands because of their faith. I would argue, though, that their public presentation did not need to invoke "God's will" in order to have a powerful moral force. Both of their arguments could be made by invoking premises that everyone in their audience could engage with, regardless of faith. Indeed, Ghandi was very careful when it came to attaching his arguments to a faith. As soon as he died, the coalition of diverse faiths (at least of Hindu and Muslim) fell apart.
Thoughts on this?
Peter
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A second source that greatly influenced Gandhi is the “New Testament” in the Bible. A particular Bible verse that greatly inspired Gandhi is in the book of “Matthew,” “‘Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also’”(NIV Bible 1540). Gandhi, although a devout Hindu, was tolerant of all religions and continuously studied the Bible along with other religious books. Gandhi believed that if one “turned the other cheek,” then overtime the enemy would have no other choice but to respect that person for their self-control. Gandhi adopted and expanded his belief in peaceful, non-violent resistance or satyagraha from the Bible, for “Jesus suggested a new, radical response to injustice: instead of demanding rights, give them up freely! According to Jesus, it is more important to give justice and mercy than to receive it” (NIV Bible 1541). Even though Gandhi advocated satyagraha, he did not support passive resistance. (Taken from
http://mgandhi.weebly.com/influences.html)
The first source of influence was David Thoreau who probably follows your model of not “invoking God or the Bible”.
You might not realize that Ghandi once published an article called “Crime of reading the Bible” because he was being accused of being a secret Christian. He saw this as a sign that religious intolerance was sweeping through India. But the influence of the Bible on Ghandi and that he read the Bible for his entire life is undeniable.
Obviously Martin Luther King Jr used the Bible extensively in his speeches and essentially codified passive resistance as a narrow way to take to get justice. But what I find much more important is the integral part that the church played in that battle. It wasn’t merely a speech that convinced people, all the hard work was done by the church. The little girls martyred in the basement of the church were probably the single most important event of the movement.
As for Malcolm X he said “I believe in a religion that believes in freedom. Any time I have to accept a religion that won't let me fight a battle for my people, I say to hell with that religion.” I think that sums up my position.
(PS Igzy, I read your Mom's advice and I anticipated that. I have made a copy of the post in question, just in case. Also, sorry for all of these posts, I felt I had to respond and did not originally intend all of this.)