MUTED SNAKE, lastlight around Winter Solstice

THE WAY OF NON-VIOLENCE

We shape the world and the world shapes us.

The way of non-violence is not merely the deeply held intention to live
a life without conflict and the use of force; it of necessity actively seeks
to make explicit the contradictions of thought, culture and convention
that lead to violence (and waste) of any kind, against oneself, against
one’s fellow human beings, or against the Earth. The voice of frustration
of the current era, amplified a thousand fold by the populist rhetoric of ad
hominem Attack Radio and TV, flirts with violence of the most insidious
kind as a misleading means of releasing equally misguided rage. This is
a profound mistake. The way of non-violence, as an alternative, takes the
rule of law and civil stability as its point of departure, and seeks by means
of argument, dialogue, or, when necessary, civil disobedience, to widen the
circle of ethical awareness and discourse to include in a radical and un-
compromising way the whole of the human community and the
living Earth.

Follow @cliffcrego

Camp Lost & Found,
Eagle Cap Wilderness,
Oregon, VIII.17.2008

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to the present crisis of perception, culture and consciousness,
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