“My study of Gandhi convinced me that true pacifism is not nonresistance to evil, but nonviolent resistance to evil, Between the two positions, there is a world of difference. Gandhi resisted evil with as much vigor and power as the violent resister, but he resisted with love instead of hate. True pacifism is not unrealistic submission to an evil power, as Niebuhr contends. It is rather a courageous confrontation of evil by the power of love, in the faith that it is better to be the recipient of violence than the inflictor of it, since the latter only multiplies the existence of violence and bitterness in the universe, while the former may develop a sense of shame in the opponent, and thereby bring about a transformation and change of heart.”
-Martin Luther King Jr.
“[In Montgomery’s Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Martin Luther King Jr.] concluded the learned discourse that came to be known as the “loving your enemies” sermon this way: “So this morning, as I look into your eyes and into the eyes of all my brothers in Alabama and all over America and over the world, I say to you, ‘I love you. I would rather die than hate you.'”
Go ahead and reread that. This is hands down the most beautiful, strange, impossible, but most of all radical thing a human being can say. And it comes from reading the most beautiful, strange, impossible, but most of all radical civics lesson ever taught, when Jesus of Nazareth went to a hill in Galilee and told his disciples, “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you.””
Vowell, Sarah. The Wordy Shipmates. p.45 (hardcover)
Security services deem environmental, animal-rights groups ‘extremist’ threats
Federal security services have identified Greenpeace and People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals as the kind of “multi-issue extremist†groups that pose a threat to Canadians, documents obtained under Access to Information show.
In a series of documents from 2005 to 2009, the RCMP and CSIS assess “threats from terrorism and extremism†and report growing concerns about environmental and animal-rights groups, as well as militants from first nations.
“Multi-issue extremists and aboriginal extremists may pursue common causes, and both groups have demonstrated the intent and the capability to carry out attacks against critical infrastructure in Canada,†says a November, 2008, assessment prepared by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service.
Critics say the Harper government is blurring the lines of counterterrorism to target legitimate opponents of resource developments such as the Northern Gateway project, which will bring bitumen pipelines and massive oil tankers to British Columbia’s rugged coast. And they worry that new legislation designed to give police access to individual Canadians’ personal Internet information will increase surveillance of environmental groups that support acts of civil disobedience.
…
Greenpeace Canada executive director Bruce Cox said his group is committed to non-violent civil disobedience in the tradition of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King.
“This is part of the government’s attitude that ‘you’re either with us or against us,’†Mr. Cox said. “We do not pose a threat to public safety and we are not a violent threat.â€
A spokeswoman for PETA was unapologetic about the group’s activities, which can include vandalism.
“If it is extreme to oppose bashing in the heads of baby seals, anally electrocuting chinchillas for a coat collar, scalding chickens to death in defeathering tanks, and poisoning cats in cruel lab experiments, then so be it,†said Jane Dollinger, the group’s Washington-based spokeswoman.