I finally got to watch the Gandhi movie with Ben Kinsley in it. Wow! a well-worth seeing film. What struck me most was when someone asked him if he believed it were possible to stop Hitler with these non-violent tactics. He said obviously there would be defeats and pain along the way, but there were these in war also, so he believed it would be possible to stop Hitler through non-violent means.
The Chronicles of Narnia, however, made me see a different side. In this movie the children fought to destroy evil with swords etc. I know it's probably not a good comparison, but it made me think about how the witch was absolutely merciless in her killing and destruction. There was no reasoning with her. To be honest, I wanted her to die a violent death and my friends will tell you I am an extremely merciful, pacifist kind of person.
Could it be possible that Gandhi's strategies as well as Martin Luther King's worked, because their enemies did have a moral law code that they knew they were supposed to live up to and were not? This is why Gandhi and Martin Luther King were so brilliantly able to take the higher road and therefore attain freedom for their people through non-violent means. Many Christians (White Caucasians in both cases) had not been following their Bible's instructions to love.
What happens though when one's enemy has no law except destroy, when they no longer seem to have a conscience no matter how brutally non-violence believers are treated? This is a question that bothers me as a Christian who thoroughly believes in peacemaking, forgiveness, and grace. Where do I take my active stance and "fight" (and be ok with my country's army fighting) and where do I let God take His vengeance on his enemies ie. hate, racism, and unforgiveness, which he surely will.
So there's some of my thoughts. Hope they're not too out there.
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