Meidung: effective nonviolent activism

Comment

Comment by Anabaptist Quaker on May 20, 2009 at 6:54pm

Strings inside your head. How appropriate. What good is it to trade one tyranny for another?

Free men are uncontrollable. Like the mother and son who ran away from chemo. When/if they catch them will they sedate and restrain the boy forcing the chemo in his arm?

JR Moore tells a story of the ornery folk who live in the Ozarks on the Missouri/Arkansas border. The state
wanted to reintroduce an animal - I don't remember what it was, perhaps Elk. The hill folk informed the state
they wanted no part of it and would shoot them as fast as they were released....no strings attached. The state
backed down.

Comment by Forrest Curo on May 20, 2009 at 6:13pm

This is still... living under Caesar's power, while making strategies by which you hope to overcome that power.

Not violent, not at all wrong. But still about the mice getting together to tie up that pesky cat. They ain't coming. They've watched their propaganda, and learned to think of themselves as Honorary Cats. "If only we had more Purring Talent & Paw-licking Classes, we too could be lapping up the milk!"

The trouble with the widespread Quaker notion: of "Speaking Truth to Power"-- is twofold. One, a person who has political power wants it. He wouldn't have sought it if he didn't want it. He doesn't have nearly as much use for Truth, which is often-enough going to be the inconvenient sort, will not enhance his image, is sure to be as unappetising as a pearl in the trough.

Two, as this post says, that isn't where the power is! People think we're going to transform our country into The Kingdom by persuading the right people and getting the right laws passed; but the laws we've got suit our rulers just fine; big thieves lock up little thieves and everyone (who counts) is content.

So what answer was Jesus offering? None. The coin was going back to Caesar, not because that was the way to overthrow him... but because a good Jew had no use for it. Someday, people will cut the strings that Caesar uses to control them? I do hope so! But the strings inside our heads are the toughest.

Comment by Anabaptist Quaker on May 19, 2009 at 4:37pm

I agree with what you say whole heartedly. The place to start is at home at your dining room table. It can be as simple as realizing that you are part of the problem and chart a course to fix it. This might involve resolving to
get out of debt, making plans to grow a tomato plant on your balcony, or finding out if your banker is helping the tape worm or his local community. It took generations to get where we are, and it won't be undone overnight. So begin where ever you are with the premise that decentralization is empowering. It begins with baby steps.

One invaluable lesson I have learned from studying the Amish is their ability to take the long view. Americans
can barely think into next month, let alone a decade down the road. When Amish clergy made the decision
to avoid the telephone they were thinking generations into the future. You might not see the fruit of your labor.
But your grandchildren might.

So, it begins at your kitchen table by deciding to change the world one heart at a time. This is where the Solari
circle is born. Teaching by example. Your spouse, your children, your neighbor, your community, your district,
your nation. The pollies are easy. Once they realize there is a parade they will jump in front of it. The king makers can fall in behind or be left behind. Decentralization is key, and is the antithesis to where we are going.

A free man is a responsible man. If your electricity went down tomorrow and stayed down, would your Amish
neighbor notice? How long would it be before you were crying uncle? We have been working at this for three
years now. If our power went down we would be inconvenienced, we would notice, and it would be a pain. But
we could do it for a week (we have), a month, a year, or even more. Begin where you are and resolve to make
a difference. Then God's light shines through you and you become a light to the world pointing the way.

Comment by Alice M Yaxley on May 19, 2009 at 7:35am

Actually this is where I see the key difference between Anabaptist and Quaker faiths, so not surprising to find you writing about it! Apologies this is a bit hurried I have baby at my feet and have to keep half an eye on her.

I think there is a lot in what you say; nonresistance, building the alternative order and so on are the foundation of living the kingdom under Christ's guidance in this world.

But we as christians are also commanded to make disciples of all nations right? And another way of reading the injunction to let someone who won't follow the church's guidance be like a pagan or a tax collector would be to explain the basis for the actions, as if they were someone who had only just wandered into the church, instead of chunning them?

Quakers have felt inspired to go and preach to governors of the world lots of times; my sense of it at present is we can't just go away and build the alternative order, we are invited to take part on god's revolution, the reordering of the world. We have to be out in the world in order to communicate and invite reform, repentance, metanoia. I think peace is built on us keeping the lines of communication open.

Lots of people don't yet have the skills and resources to survive if they don't turn up to work for a week - we need the cultural change that teaches us how to live in the New world under Christ; everyone needs to be invited to this Feast in their own language? That's my understanding - there is a harvest standing in the fields and God's labourers are needed to gather it in.