Six Principles Of Nonviolence
1. Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous peopleNonviolence is an active force confronting evil. It is aggressive spiritually, mentally and emotionally. It is always persuading the opponent of the righteousness of a just cause. It is only passive in its non-aggression towards its enemy
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2. Nonviolence seeks to win friendship and understandingThe end of nonviolence is redemption and reconciliation. The purpose of nonviolence is the creation of the Beloved Community.
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3. Nonviolence seeks to defeat injustice not peopleNonviolence recognizes that the enemy is ignorance and illness. The nonviolent resister seeks to defeat evil people.
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4. Nonviolence holds that suffering can educate and transformNonviolence accepts suffering without retaliation. Nonviolence accepts violence if necessary, but will never inflict it. Nonviolence willingly accepts the consequences of its thoughts, words and deeds. Unearned suffering is redemptive and has tremendous education and transforming power. Suffering has the power to convert the enemy when reason fails.
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5. Nonviolence chooses love instead of hate
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6. Nonviolence believes that the universe is on the side of justiceThe nonviolent activist has deep faith that justice will eventually win. Nonviolence believes that justice is a universal principal.
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The 8 Beatitudes
Holy Name of Mary April 26, 2017
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Gospel of St. Matthew 5:3-10 |
Truce and Reconciliation Chart
Unsolved murders, which have been notoriously high in Chicago, are often blamed on the lack of trust between the community and the police. At the end of 2019, the City of Chicago reported a reversal of this trend for the first time. They reported solving 53% of murders compared to about 30% for the previous 20 years. No data have yet been reported for 2020. NonviolenceWorks had recommended a series of actions described in the flowchart below to bring the police and community members into a better cooperative relationship so that all crimes can be solved.
Training and workshop resources
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Videos
"The Violence Paradox" a documentary by NOVA
(can be rented or purchased) |
Songs
Documents
"The Heart of a Child" by F.O.R.U.M (Fulling Our Responsibility Unto Mankind)
Nonviolence Position Paper by Phillip Bradley
Religion And Violence In The Urban Context by Dr. Elfriede Wedam and Ryan SC Wong
Vertical Divider
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Nonviolence Pledge
Phillip Bradley, Eirik Berger St. Benedict the African NonviolenceWorks Training October 21, 2017
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I hereby pledge myself - my person and body - to the nonviolent movement (this was taken from the actual pledge used during the Civil Rights Movement). Therefore I will keep the following commandments:
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ARCHDIOCESE OF CHICAGO
NonviolenceWorks has been featured by the Archdiocese of Chicago in their diocesan newspaper, Chicago Catholic, and with many interviews on the twice-weekly Relevant Radio program hosted by Fr. Greg Sakowicz (radiotv.archchicago.org), on which we discuss our commitment to nonviolence.
Letter from Cardinal Blase J. Cupich Archbishop of Chicago October 2, 2017
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OCTOBER 2, 2017 Mr. Larry Campbell Nonviolence Works c/o Ss. Peter and Paul Parish Chicago, IL 60609-2047 Dear Mr. Campbell, Know that I very much appreciate your letter of September 20, 2017 by which you informed me that Nonviolence Works will be starting a pilot program at the juvenile detention center this month and for sending a copy of your letter to Pope Francis. It is good to know that Nonviolence Works is joining in the efforts of many wonderful and helpful programs already in place across the archdiocese. Please convey my gratitude also to Philip Bradley and Elfriede Wedam for your letter on behalf of Nonviolence Works letting me know about the upcoming trainings you will be conducting in some of our parishes. For more than 150 years, our parishes and ministries have been very present in areas marked by poverty and violence. Every day I am both proud and humbled by the commitment of those, like you, who are involved in our parishes and work to make lives matter. As we build this framework for peace. I ask for your continued support and prayers. Assuring you of my best wishes and gratitude for all that you do, I remain. Sincerely yours in Christ, Cardinal Blase J. Cupich Archbishop of Chicago |
Position Paper of Nonviolence by phillip bradley
Historically, Americans have instituted violence, in the form of war, as a necessary tool to establish justice and defend democracy. However, without a clear understanding of what words, such as war, really mean or what they represent, nations will continue to wage war as a perception of peace and people will continue to mistake hate for love.
Solutions to the problem of violence come out of applying principles of reasoning, principles of thought, and principles of the heart. These principles can be found in what has worked historically to liberate a people.
Nonviolence is not what will happen if you step on my foot one more time. Nonviolence is the science of government that addresses violations through the democratic process of discussion, dialogue, and debate.
For the full version of the position paper use download link below.
Solutions to the problem of violence come out of applying principles of reasoning, principles of thought, and principles of the heart. These principles can be found in what has worked historically to liberate a people.
Nonviolence is not what will happen if you step on my foot one more time. Nonviolence is the science of government that addresses violations through the democratic process of discussion, dialogue, and debate.
For the full version of the position paper use download link below.
Phillip Bradley Nonviolence Position Paper (.pdf)
Religion and Violence in the Urban Context By Dr. Elfriede Wedam and Ryan SC Wong
Published in The Routledge Handbook of Religion and Cities, January 2021
Urban violence is high in Chicago. This chapter examines selected congregations, using ethnographic data and other published research, for their impact on violence-prone areas in the city. The chapter reviews the recent history of violence in Chicago and the variety of strategies that address it. The production of violence has interpenetrating structural, cultural, and individual causes that require public health solutions rather than a criminal justice approach. A public health approach potentially mobilizes all social institutions—including congregations— and governing sectors in a comprehensive support system that targets both risk and protective factors.
Public health approaches also avoid moralistic judgments and victim blaming. Most faith groups have been limited by (and limited themselves to) the presumption that they lack the capacity to have a real impact, despite faith communities being especially well-positioned to address violence in its most fundamental form: the absence of peace and lacking the promotion of nonviolence. While all faith traditions abjure violence and promote peace, they do so with different degrees of success. This chapter concludes by challenging urban congregations to examine their beliefs and actions in solving contemporary problems of violence.
For the full version of the position paper use download link below.
Urban violence is high in Chicago. This chapter examines selected congregations, using ethnographic data and other published research, for their impact on violence-prone areas in the city. The chapter reviews the recent history of violence in Chicago and the variety of strategies that address it. The production of violence has interpenetrating structural, cultural, and individual causes that require public health solutions rather than a criminal justice approach. A public health approach potentially mobilizes all social institutions—including congregations— and governing sectors in a comprehensive support system that targets both risk and protective factors.
Public health approaches also avoid moralistic judgments and victim blaming. Most faith groups have been limited by (and limited themselves to) the presumption that they lack the capacity to have a real impact, despite faith communities being especially well-positioned to address violence in its most fundamental form: the absence of peace and lacking the promotion of nonviolence. While all faith traditions abjure violence and promote peace, they do so with different degrees of success. This chapter concludes by challenging urban congregations to examine their beliefs and actions in solving contemporary problems of violence.
For the full version of the position paper use download link below.
Religion And Violence In The Urban Context by Dr. Elfriede Wedam and Ryan SC Wong (.pdf)