Quote:
Originally Posted by aron
The sermon on the mount says "resist not" and then you use it as a foundation of your argument on resistance. I don't get it. Passive resistance is still resistance. Jesus didn't say "resist passively"; He said, "resist not."
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Ghandi's insight was that instead of demanding rights, give them up freely. For example, in Alabama blacks didn't have the right to sit in the front of the bus, therefore they gave up the right to ride the bus altogether. The bus boycott was extremely difficult on the blacks since most depended on the bus. But it was equally difficult on the bus company since they depended on the revenue from blacks to be solvent. I think this is a good example of "turning the other cheek". The law took away the front of the bus, the blacks willingly gave up the back of the bus.
This concept is the cornerstone of the civil rights movement and highlights the wisdom of the Lord Jesus.
Whenever you look at institutional abuse, genocide of course being the most extreme example, but slavery, Jim Crowe laws, KKK, etc are all examples. You learn that the "bully" has all the cards. They control the police, the courts and the media. You could be defending yourself while being attacked by two people, yet it will be portrayed as an assault, you will be tried, convicted and spend 10 years in jail. Look at the story of the Hurricane, that is a prime example. So then being provoked into fighting back, resisting, is playing straight into their hands. The fact that you were righteous is irrelevant, you will be portrayed as just one more angry black, no one will care, and your conviction will strengthen the feeling that blacks are dangerous which in turn gives support to the institutional abuse.
But the flip side of this is that the entire house of cards is built on the backs of the poor. If the poor willingly give up their rights the house collapses, as it did in Montgomery. Reasonable people realize that we want our poorest members of society to be gainfully employed so that they can support themselves and their families. We also want everyone to have hope of a better future as a deterrent to choosing crime or some other anti social path. We also want everyone to have a certain minimum of healthcare so that we don't worry on the bus or in the movie theater that we are going to get TB or some other communicable disease. We want these things because they are in our best interests and the best interests of our family. Also, "economy of scale" is the basis on which many public works are done. We build things anticipating a certain demand for these services. If you remove 20% of your demand it could cause basic public services to collapse. So rather than viewing themselves as poor blacks, they now see themselves as integral parts of society without which the entire system collapses.
They shall know the truth and the truth shall set them free.