What is the goal of this conference?
By John Lohac, Philadelphia, via peace@friendsjournal.org
I wonder what the goal of this conference is?
Is it to convince believers of the supremacy of nonviolence?
Is it to spread the notion of the supremacy of nonviolence over violence?
Is it to unite people who understand the supremacy of non violence into common action?
People who are in opposition to the use of violence are a minority in all faiths. A very large percentage of humans still agree with the use of violence to solve problems. Nonviolence is superior to violence, but few people know it and fewer are convinced of it. Of course it is good for pacifists of all faiths to unite. Of course it is a valuable goal to unite pacifists. They are minority in our time. It is a valuable goal to increase their numbers among believers and non believers alike.
If the goal is to create a strong peace movement, then pacifists should welcome non-believers with open arms. We do not need to agree on belief in order to act together.
People who are in favor of non-violent management practices, which include sustainable management of natural resources as well as nonviolent management of human resources, should not insist on faith to develop action.
Because of the very small percentage of believers who are for peace
and non-violence, compared to the large number of believers who feel at ease with the use of violence as a way to resolve problems, it would be a very useful goal to make large portions of believers question their assurance that violence is a way to go.
As a practical matter, and because of the large number of people who strongly claim having faith in Jesus’ divinity and are not disturbed by even the most forceful violent actions, I feel that in our present time and circumstance it is more important to unite people who do not want violence to be used at all, whether they believe in God or not. Pacifism need not be rooted in faith to be strongly anchored in a person.
For action, there is no need to distinguish between believers and non believers. Why split people on belief when action requires unity?
However, if the goal of this conference is to reach out to the very large number of believers of the Christian faiths who are in agreement with the use of violence as a method to solve problems, then this peace conference should say so boldly and clearly. It should use slogans saying just that. In this case, then, this conference should attempt to convince people of faith of the superiority and ancientness of non-violence. It should say boldly that Jesus was a pacifist and would be opposed to any violent action for any purpose what so ever. In this case, then, believers who are pacifist should go to churches where there is support for war, death penalty, etc. to propagate that good news publicly.
If Christians for peace want to be of service to the Gospel and to the cause of nonviolence and pacifism, they should attempt visibly, boldly, and squarely to confront believers who agree with war and violence, to make them doubt their righteousness. That would spread the notion of peace among believers through the media, through culture and songs, and by all nonviolent means necessary. Considering the very large number of people who are believers and are in favor of violence, it would be a good service to the cause of nonviolence and peace to make believers question the use of violence.
People claiming a Christian faith who are in agreement with the use of violence usually point out to the example found in the gospel of Jesus overturning the tables of merchants and especially money changers in the Temple. It should be explained that this is no justification or approval of Jesus for violence but that this event is more likely to fit Jesus’ teaching if it is understood as a nonviolent direct action than a violent one. Overturning the money changers set up is not really violence. It really is a disturbance and cannot be equated with fighting with people without bloodshed and even less with taking arms against people with the intent to wound or kill. Other examples of nonviolent direct action found in the Old and the New testaments should be taught in order to explain how old and how successful a method it has been recorded to be. And, of course, more modern examples of nonviolent direct action should be taught as well.
What is the goal of this conference? Is it to oppose violence? Is it to unite in action for pacifism? Is it to convince the faithful that faith and violence are irreconcilable?
Goal of this gathering.
Hi John and all.
First let me say that anything I write is simply my own perception, not an official statement of goal.
I was a part of this gathering, and I believe that ultimately the intention is to include a broader community of all people of conscience. Spirit-led opposition to violence is not at all the exclusive moral grounding of people with particular faith traditions and beliefs and I did not hear anybody claim that. I can see that the title of this gathering might lead you to believe something 'exclusive' was intended. I do think the intent for this first gathering was to see how we could talk to other people of faith initially as an ecumenical gathering with the inclusion of some from Jewish and Muslim traditions. That, ecumenical conversation with radically different vocabularies of faith restricted to Christians of different denominations, might have been far more challenging than it turned out to be, at least for me.
As to the goal of this gathering, I guess the explicit goal is stated on the website, but each of us came to this gathering with our own agendas, sometimes only partly articulated. I know I was a little murky on 'goal' at the outset, myself, and only arrived at some understanding of what I wanted to 'take home' from this as the gathering progressed from day to day.
I am already working for peace as I am led by my conscience to do. I did not plan to take on any new responsibilities. I am probably not alone in this. But often I spend most of my time working in front of a computer screen, reading, writing. The infrequent times that I go to a gathering to see people I've been working with and to meet people who might be working on similar issues but whom I didn't know -- those occasions nurture me, and remind me that I am not working alone after all. We form a community whether we know one another or not, and it is a joy to meet for the first time and to meet again the people in this dispersed community. That was one of my personal goals, and it was accomplished.
I'd like to suggest Robert Frost's 'The Tuft of Flowers,' a poem which occurred and recurred to me throughout the gathering.
The Tuft of Flowers
I went to turn the grass once after one
Who mowed it in the dew before the sun.
The dew was gone that made his blade so keen
Before I came to view the leveled scene.
I looked for him behind an isle of trees;
I listened for his whetstone on the breeze.
But he had gone his way, the grass all mown,
And I must be, as he had been -- alone,
'As all must be,' I said within my heart,
'Whether they work together or apart.'
But as I said it, swift there passed me by
On noiseless wing a bewildered butterfly,
Seeking with memories grown dim o'er night
Some resting flower of yesterday's delight.
And once I marked his flight go round and round,
As where some flower lay withering on the ground.
And then he flew as far as eye could see,
And then on tremulous wing came back to me.
I thought of questions that have no reply,
And would have turned to toss the grass to dry;
But he turned first, and led my eye to look
At a tall tuft of flowers beside a brook,
A leaping tongue of bloom the scythe had spared
Beside a reedy brook the scythe had bared.
The mower in the dew had loved them thus,
By leaving them to flourish, not for us,
Nor yet to draw one thought of ours to him.
But from sheer morning gladness at the brim.
The butterfly and I had lit upon,
Nevertheless, a message from the dawn,
That made me hear the wakening birds around,
And hear his long scythe whispering to the ground,
And feel a spirit kindred to my own;
So that henceforth I worked no more alone;
But glad with him, I worked as with his aid,
And weary, sought at noon with him the shade;
And dreaming, as it were, held brotherly speech
With one whose thought I had not hoped to reach.
'Men work together,' I told him from the heart,
'Whether they work together or apart.'
or you can use this link:
http://www.portitude.org/literature/frost/pt-tuft_of_flowers.php
Another of my personal goals was to reach across the division created by our different faith traditions, which can result in widely varying vocabularies of faith, and vocabularies in which even the same word can have different meanings to different traditions. Since my background is Jewish and I joined my Quaker Meeting as a Jewish Quaker, I have only a limited understanding of other Christian thinking. Until now, words like proclamation and lamentation have not before been a part of any discourse on peace that I've taken part in. That goal is a long term goal which cannot be accomplished in one gathering, but I think to the extent possible, some deepening of my understanding and some stretching of my ability to really hear others was accomplished.
Another of my personal goals was to talk about conscientious war tax resistance, since that is something I have committed to and it seems to be such a difficult subject for many to discuss that I did want to suggest this as a difficult but valid witness opportunity. I was given many opportunities to discuss this. I also know that other people had the goal of raising up their own particular witnesses and concerns for each of us to consider. That too was accomplished.
The only thing I hope will change immediately in my life is that I will remain in loose contact with some of the people I met at this gathering so that we are reminded again and again that we are a community. Whether we do this remains to be seen.
Naomi.
Purpose of Gathering
I agree the purpose of the Gathering was not terribly clear. I think one purpose of these gatherings is to inspire and reinvigorate those already committed, and there was one reference during the Gathering from the podium that "preaching to the choir" is important. I think another was to broaden the peace witness in the Christian community beyond the HPC. The original hope was for half the delegates to be non-HPC, a hope that didn't come anywhere close to being realized.
Bill Samuel, Silver Spring, MD USA
Coordinator, Friends in Christ
Goal of the Conference
I would like to hear what you all got from the conference. What were YOUR goals and reasons for attending?
It seemed to me that things were set up to define what our interests were and create groups for those interests (last days "Task Force") -- to get us together with those with the same interests and wish to change things in that area. This also gave us time to focus and figure out how to take that back and take action in our local.
On Saturday they created an Action -- modeling for us to help us take back and model for others.
I hope that you will find your space and your focus for you to take action.
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