Examples Of Nonviolence

Martin Luther King Jr.’s Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1965) is important from both historical and sociological points of view. It is an example of self-sacrifice as in idea for the of equality of all people. Formally, King addresses this letter that he wrote while in Birmingham jail at the clergymen who opposed his protests. In fact, he applies it to everyone who approves of racism, and considers the methods of nonviolent struggle to be too radical and far fetched from achieving an actual goal. From a sociological point of view, the “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” shows the way of nonviolent adjustment of the social conflict and stages of this way: “collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist negotiation; self-purification; and direct action” (MLK np.). Martin Luther King was the first person in western history to show that you can achieve change without going into violent measures. While taking a sociological viewpoint and following two of its major theories. It is conceivable to say that King’s method of nonviolent direct action was the leading motive in the civil rights movement, which allowed for change.

    On Martin Luther king's letter that he wrote in Birmingham  jail he told his Fellow Clergymen he made a campaign in where they are going to follow 4 steps in order to get their Civil Rights without violence. Him and his followers are getting tired of waiting in order to get their Civil Right. And the promises that the leaders of the economic community broke. On paragraph 3 it says,” In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps :1) collection of the facts to determine whether injustice are alive;2)negotiation;3)self-purification;and 4) direct ation. In Martin Luther King Jr. campaign instead of using violence they use something else.In order to get their Civil Rights.Because he want his fellow Clergymen to not think that everything has to be dealt with violence. Also on paragraph 7 it says, “We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God Given rights. The nations of Asia and Africa are moving with jet like speed towards the goal of political independent, and we still creep at horse and buggy pace towards the gaining of a cup of coffee at a lunch counter. This quote explains that they

While when discussing the history of the world’s power forces, violence makes for stimulating discussion, other tactics were put to good use, one of these alternatives being non-violence. With the guidance of three worldwide heroes - Mohandas Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., and Nelson Mandela - with contagious optimism and high spirits, it became apparent just how much of a difference could be made carried out through non-violent terms. Mankind was introduced to another way to resolve major problems just as effectively, if not more, than violence could.

Niebuhr believed that the world was full of evils and oppressions that individuals needed to fight against. People should not stand back and allow the horrors around them to continue, but instead fight back in whatever way they can. MLK would take these teachings and apply them to his ideas of Gandhi’s nonviolent protests. Individuals who are in the minority, and thus unable to take drastic action, would benefit from the use of nonviolence. This strategy would allow Black Americans to seek justice and equality without truly disturbing the current relationship with White Americans. King’s plan was to allow his religious and political ideals to run on the same moral edge, something that Reinhold Niebuhr had surely allowed for in his ideology (Branch, 81-7). Martin Luther King, Jr. was able to use this religious and moral idea of nonviolence to unite Black Americans who were tired of their oppression. Violence and drastic action had proven to arguably make their situation worse, meaning that something as different as peaceful civil disobedience could prove to work.

unjust” (Banks 1). “Principle four – accept suffering without retaliation for the sake of the cause to achieve the goal – this characterizes that nonviolent resistance is a willingness to accept suffering without retaliation, to accept blows from the opponent without striking back; accept the violence, if necessary; but to never inflict violence on another” (Banks 2). “Principle five – avoid internal violence of the spirit, as well as, external physical violence – a nonviolent resister not only refuses to fight or shoot his opponent, but he also refuses to hate him; at the center of nonviolence stands the principle of love for one another” (Banks 2). “Principle six – the universe is on the side of justice – this basic fact pertaining to nonviolent resistance is that it is based on the conviction that the universe is on the side of justice which is positive peace, consequently, the believer in nonviolence has a deep faith in the future and therefore, can accept suffering without retaliation. There is a creative force in this universe, that by whatever name we decide to call it, it works to bring the disconnected aspects of reality into a harmonious whole; a universal wholeness for each of us to share with one another and that nonviolence is both the means and the end” (Banks 3). Dr. King also had a couple of

Martin Luther King, Jr. sat in Birmingham jail not because he committed a crime but because he took part in a non-violent demonstration. King received an invite to a nonviolent demonstration by a local church and was later jailed for his actions (King 1). While in jail, King reflected on the injustice in not only Birmingham, but the world as well. King addressed injustice as a universal wrong which can only be undone by people themselves and not by action forced by the government. He quickly announced that keeping the peace and obeying the law are not the same, the people ahead do not simply relinquish their role because of the selfishness of the human nature. Those who are oppressed will seek to leave injustice behind. Martin Luther

Non-violence is a peaceful strategy people used in the 1900’s to revolt against the government. Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, and Mohandas Gandhi had the most success in changing the way we live today. How did they get nonviolence to work? Well they were very disobedient, disciplined, and determined to make a change in society.

All things considered one must devoted to their belief of nonviolence and be willing to suffer without retaliation (Source C), they can not fall victim to anger and fight back, for it would destroy the very principle of the cause. To become a truly successful campaign it should not be run on the basis of humiliating or besting the opponent, rather one should seek friendship and a better understanding of another (Source B). A nonviolent protester should not become bitter of the circumstances the opponent might bestow upon them but rather have open arms and eye for a better future ahead. The central idea of a nonviolent campaign is being able to make changes and spreading peace and love without the use of violence; by pursuing upon this path

Martin Luther King Jr. discusses the advantages and purposes for his theory of nonviolent direct action in his Letter From Birmingham City Jail. He shows four basic steps that must be taken to achieve nonviolent action. They include 1) collection of facts to determine whether injustices are alive; 2) negotiation; 3) self-purification; and 4) direct action. Each of these steps will be explained as part of King's argument later in this essay. The main purpose of a nonviolent campaign is to force any community to confront a problem rather than refuse to negotiate or face a specific issue. In the letter, King discusses his group's reasons for coming to Birmingham.

In his letter to the clergy he justified the use of ‘nonviolent direct action’ as tactical means to bringing parties together to negotiate. He vehemently condemned all forms of violent action but insisted that it was strategic and constructive to employ the nonviolent tension as a powerful alternate to negotiation. Similarly, Dr. King Jr. stressed to his audience in his momentous speech in Washington DC, that the desire to attain set goal must not be tainted by any acts of retaliation and cautioned the crowd to avoid the temptation of being ‘guilty of wrong doing”. He emphasized the importance of adhering to strict discipline and conducting their struggle in the highest form of respect for human dignity.

Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for mankind to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Mankind must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.

“If Martin Luther King thinks nonviolence is really going to work for the south as it did with India, then he is out of his mind.” (Moody, p.

Nonviolent direct action seeks to create such a crisis and foster such a tension just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal.

Martin Luther King Jr discusses in his “Letter from Birmingham” that there are four basic steps to nonviolent campaigning. There is the “collection of facts to determine whether injustices are alive; negotiation; self purification; and direct action.” Dr. King himself exemplified this process while leading other civil rights activists. He was successful on many occasions, especially in his famous march from Selma to Montgomery. Nonviolent campaigning is a form of civil disobedience and can directly help retain, acquire, or reform civil liberties and civil rights.

King commented on nonviolence by saying, “Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral.” This quote shows how Martin Luther King was against nonviolence as he says it is immoral.This philosophy gives advice on how to live nonviolently, similar to how Thoreau would give his readers advice on how to become one with nature. Martin Luther King’s final idea was practicing nonviolent protest in order to achieve a goal or reform. King, with many other people, in the 1950s and 1960s practiced nonviolent protest in order to achieve his goal of ending segregations, and believes equal rights for blacks across the United States. Martin Luther King’s practice of nonviolence is directly borrowed from Thoreau 's work of Civil Disobedience and Nonviolent Resistance, King even commented on the use of nonviolence by saying, “The teachings of Thoreau came alive in our civil rights movement.” In conclusion, Martin Luther King can be considered a transcendental thinker due to the philosophies he created, the Triple Evil philosophy and Six Principles of Nonviolence philosophy, as well as his practice of nonviolence.