tHtje p o ttia n i» (©bsertier
Martin Luther King Jr. Special Edition — Jan. 13,1999
CJg
T r u True ITbveerw e r
Sharif M. Abdullah
B y S harif M. A bdullah
There’s a picture on my desk, a
picture of myself and a woman in
front o f a modem glass and steel
building. 1 took that picture last year,
during a visit to Columbo, Sri Lanka.
The interesting thing about that pic­
ture is that two days after 1 took the
picture, that building was blown up
by terrorists.
I was in the Hilton and the adjoin­
ing World Trade Center, taking a
brief respite from my two weeks of
strategic planning and staff devel­
opment work with the Sarvodaya
movement, an organization practic­
ing nonviolence and Gandhian-style
economic and social development
in over 2,000 villages. Had the bomb
attack happened while 1 was eating,
you wouldn’t be reading this.
In Sri Lanka, the World Trade
Center and its adjoining Hilton ho­
tel complex were the latest victims
in a civil/ethnic war that won’t go
away. Ethnic wars cannot be “won”;
they will go on as long as Singhalese
and Tamils are having babies. War is
an obsolete method to resolve con-
flict - it’s just that those with guns
and bombs haven’t figured that out
yet.
What was the goal of the dozen
Tamil Tigers who carried out the
bombing? At the bottom line, it was
a pitiful attempt at projecting power
into a powerless situation. It is piti­
ful in that the display cannot ever
achieve the aims o f the young ter­
rorists.
The futility of their behavior is
evident once one understands what
The Power of
Peacemakers
Paul Von Ward
B y P aul V on W ard
“M ost people do not under­
stand the com plicated m achin­
ery o f the government. They do
not realize every citizen silently
but none the less certainly sus­
tains the governm ent o f the day
in w ays o f w hich he has no
know ledge. Every citizen there­
fore ren d ers h im se lf re sp o n ­
sible for every act o f his gov­
ernm ent. And it is quite proper
to support it so long as the ac­
tions o f the government are bear­
able. But when they hurt him and
his nation it becomes his duty to
withdraw his support.” Gandhi
People who wish to bring out
peaceful change or correct in­
ju stice prom ote the techniques
o f nonviolence by explaining
that it: (1) creates guilt by set­
ting a higher moral example for
the oppressors, (2) indicates a
mode o f noncooperation, p ar­
ticularly in terms o f spending
votes or dollars, (3) follows the
precepts o f this or that religion,
invoking the intervention o f its
own “ god,” and (4) elicits the
support o f the uncommitted.
But the prim ary reason for its
success lies in having truly be­
nevolent intentions, clearly and
strongly expressed by a few in­
dividuals, sending a powerful
wave o f positive energy.
This is why a m inority, or
even a significant m ajority, can­
not co n tin u ally im pose nega­
tive forces on those profoundly
com m itted to the ideal o f peace
and ju stice. The challenge is to
be truly com m itted to the good
o f all, avoiding the desire to
o v erth ro w one p a rtic u la r re ­
gime by another. C ounterrevo­
lutions end up laying the foun­
dations for their own dem ise.
Look at the cases o f Russia,
N icaragua, Iran, and other ex­
am ples o f violent overthrows
o f existing regimes.
The United States has avoided
th is tro u b le s o m e o u tco m e
longer than any other nation be­
cause its birth was based more
on constructive ideals than m ili­
tary might. However, the seeds
o f its own negative forces have
survived and are rearing their
ugly sprouts, feeding American
government institutions that sup­
press individual rights. To avoid
the full flowering of their op­
pressive tendencies, the institu­
tions must now be transformed
through a nonviolent, altruistic
set o f co n sc io u s in ten tio n s.
What is required is not a frontal
assault on currently regressive
leaders and their staffs, but an
effort to redefine the inalien­
able nature o f the rights o f con­
scious beings.
If the crime rate can be re­
duced to its lowest level in 25
years by a significant shift of
the public’s mindset in favor of
“we are all responsible” in lieu
o f ‘i t ’s som eone else’s prob­
lem ,” as I believe it has, then
political institutions will be re­
formed when enough people fa­
vor the concept o f “we govern
ourselves best” in contrast to
that o f "governm ent is by elites,
whether elected or appointed.”
W hen c itiz e n s ’ charge such
ideas o f self responsibility with
em otion, it leads to behavioral
changes. A perceptible reposi­
tioning along these lines by as­
piring leaders is already under­
way. Traditionalists pushing for
m ore a u to c ra tic gov ern m en t
control will not find the ener­
getic support necessary for long
term success.
T hey can have only the c o n ­
trol ceded to them by in d i­
v id u a ls ; one can lead only
w hen o th ers co n sc io u sly d e­
cide ti? follow . The num ber o f
peo p le who give th e ir m ental
and p sy ch o lo g ica l support to
o ffic ia ls is m ore im portant in
a d em o cracy than the m echan­
ic s o f v o te t o t a l s ( a
N ew to n ian p ro ced u re b elied
by co n sc io u sn e ss in a q u an ­
tum u n iv e rse ). W hen people
w ith h o ld in n er support from
those in p o sitio n s o f pow er,
th ro u g h the p ro cess o f d is e n ­
fra n c h isin g , it w ill be im p o s­
s ib le fo r a u th o r ita r ia n s to
p e rp etu ate o p p re ssio n and in ­
ju s tic e .
power is (and is not). True power is
the ability to manifest one’s inten­
tions. It involves the will to move
forward to accomplish one’s objec­
tives.
With this definition, it becomes
obvious that the disaffected young
people in the various militarized
groups throughout the world cannot
wield true power. Like boats with­
out paddles or rudders, they drift
toward the chasm, knowing some­
thing is wrong but not knowing what
to do about it. There is an emptiness
within, and destroying such a blatant
symbol of Western arrogance does
not fill it. Rambo teaches us that an
assault rifle puts one in a position of
power. This is a lie, but unfortu­
nately, we are not learning that les­
son quickly.
What is the answer? What is the
answer to those who feel so disaf­
fected that violence is not only a
solution but the only solution? What
is the answer to those committing
the slow suicide of drugs and casual
violence, those for whom prison or
execution is no deterrent, since it is
not worse than the life in which they
find themselves? (Remember this:
“senseless” acts of violence make
all the sense in the world to those
who perpetrate them.)
The answer is inclusivity. The
answer lies in adopting a simple but
profound statement as a way of life:
all of life forms one seamless, in­
terrelated web. Therefore, anything
I do to anyone 1 am doing to myself.
With inclusivity, I choose to re­
solve all conflicts through negotia­
tion rather than violent confronta­
tion. A person who is whole does
not have the need for violence: they
see other alternatives.
If we ask the IRA or Saddam
Hussein or the Crips or the Bloods
to renounce violence, we must be
prepared to set an example and re­
nounce violence FIRST. If violence
is wrong for Tamil Tigers, it is
wrong for the Sri Lankan govern­
ment. Anything less is asking an
adversary to hold still while you
beat him up.
Ending the violence of power­
lessness means ending military sup­
port. To all sides. Period. It means
being committed to “win-win” situ­
ations. It means recognizing that
parties can differ without killing one
another. It means being committed
to creating a world which works for
all.
A-ZEBRA Reallv Ine
The Dream is Any Home Anywhere.
We serve clients in both
Oregon and
Washington.
You can have the home you
desire Call us at:
503-281-9900
360-690-0281
Martin Luther King’s Six Step Process Toward Social Change
• Information Gathering
• Education
• Personal Commitments
• Negotiation
• Direct Action
• Reconciliation and beginning the healing process
Living the Dvetifji
—Last Celebration of the Century—
14th A nnuaf Tribute to
Martin Luther King, Jr.
M onday , J anuary 18,1999
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