Martin Luther King Jr. and Nonviolent Families
On January 16th we celebrate as a nation the
birthday of the great prophet of nonviolence, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He
called our country to repent of the sins of racial segregation and
discrimination, violence and war and to embrace a life of nonviolence and
peace. A meaningful way for you to honor Dr. King is to incorporate his central
message of nonviolence into the day to day life of your family. To do that
effectively it is important to understand his message.
On
“Nonviolence or nonexistence.” That’s the heart of Martin
Luther King, Jr.’s message. He insisted that nonviolence is the highest calling
of humanity. And it’s the critical choice before us today.
For King, nonviolence is a way of life, not a strategy. It
began for him with a vision of what he called “the beloved community,” where
all life is sacred and equal as sisters and brothers, all children of the God
of peace, all one. If we really accepted this vision, which is based on John’s
Gospel, we could never: hurt or kill any other human being; remain silent while
our country wages war, maintains nuclear weapons, executes people; allow
millions to starve to death.
Nonviolence is not passive. It’s a life force. Gandhi called it a force more
powerful than all the weapons of the world. It is love and truth that seeks
justice and peace for the whole human race. It resists systemic evil, and
consistently reconciles with everyone, and insists that there is never a reason
to support the killing of a human being. Instead of inflicting violence of any
kind on others, we are willing to suffer without thought of retaliation to
bring justice and peace to everyone on the planet.
Nonviolence has to begin in our hearts! We start by renouncing the violence
inside ourselves, and then move out with nonviolence toward our families,
communities, churches, cities, nation, world and universe. And as Jesuit
priest, John Dear says, “it can transform the world, as Gandhi demonstrated in
All the major religions of the world are rooted in nonviolence. Islam means
peace. Judaism upholds shalom. Gandhi exemplified Hinduism as active
nonviolence. Buddhism is all about compassion toward all living things. Again,
John Dear, says, “Even Christianity is about nonviolence! Mahatma Gandhi once
said that Jesus was the most active practitioner of nonviolence in the history
of the world, and the only people who don’t know Jesus was nonviolent are
Christians.” Dr. King called us back to the heart of the Gospel, participating
in God’s nonviolent transformation of the world.
Dr. King understood better than most people that violence only begets more
violence. He had a dream of a world of nonviolence, a world without racism,
poverty, hunger, the death penalty, war or nuclear weapons. We can best honor
his legacy by pursuing his daring vision of nonviolence by renouncing violence
once and for all. Our choice today is “nonviolvence or nonexistence.” Talk as a
family about the Family Pledge of
Nonviolence and live it every day in honor of Martin Luther King.
Family Pledge of
Nonviolence
Making peace must start within ourselves and in our
family. Each of us, members of the
____________________________family, commit ourselves as best we can to become
nonviolent and peaceable people.
To Respect Self and
Others
To respect myself, to
affirm others and to avoid uncaring criticism,
hateful words, physical attacks and self-destructive behavior.
To Communicate Better
To share my feelings
honestly, to look for safe ways to express my anger,
and to work at solving problems peacefully.
To Listen
To listen carefully to one
another, especially those who disagree with me,
and to consider others' feelings and needs rather than insist on having my own
way.
To Forgive
To apologize and make
amends when I have hurt another,
to forgive others, and to keep from holding grudges.
To Respect Nature
To treat the environment
and all living things,
including our pets, with respect and care.
To Play Creatively
To select entertainment
and toys that support our family's values and to
avoid entertainment that makes violence look exciting, funny or acceptable.
To Be Courageous
To challenge violence in all its forms whenever I encounter it, whether at
home,
at school, at work, or in the community, and to stand with others
who are treated unfairly.
This is our pledge. These are our goals. We
will check ourselves on what we have pledged once a month on
________________________________ for the next twelve months so that we can help
each other become more peaceable people.
"Eliminating violence, one family at a time, starting
with our own."
Institute for Peace and Justice
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