Clarion: Journal of Spirituality and Justice

Tolstoy on Non-resistance

Q.  But if that is the true meaning of the rule of non-resistance, can it always be put into practice?

A.  It can be put into practice like every virtue enjoined by the law of God.  A virtue cannot be practiced in all circumstances without self-sacrifice, privation, suffering, and in extreme cases loss of life itself.  But he who esteems life more than fulfilling the will of God is already dead to the only true life.  Trying to save his life he loses it.  Besides, generally speaking, where non-resistance costs the sacrifice of a single life of some material welfare, resistance costs a thousand such sacrifices.

Non-resistance is salvation; Resistance is ruin."

Q.  But so long as only a few act thus, what will happen to them?

A.  If only one man acted thus, and all the rest agreed to crucify him, would it not be nobler for him to die in the glory of non-resisting love, praying for his enemies, than to live to wear the crown of Caesar stained with the blood of the slain?

(Leo Tolstoy, The Kingdom of God is Within You, Translated by Constance Garnett [Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press, 1984], 14-15).

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Holy Books: Is Religion the Problem? by David Goa

The philosopher Hans-Georg Gadamer (1900–2002), in his last essays when he was close to 100 years old, said that what will save us is a conversation between religions and that it will focus on transcendence, on the ineffable. That is the only way of peace. Being part of a tradition we are both circumscribed and open at the same time. Religious tradition brings finitude and the eternal together. Tradition is reiterative. It is not repeated, but the very event again, and again, the inaction again. 

The organizers of “Building World Peace: The Role of Religions and Human Rights” have suggested that the theme “Holy Books: Is Religion the Problem?” “serves to highlight the differences between sacred religious texts and the political practice of their teaching. Since September 11^th, 2001, especially, there has been great debate about the role of religious texts in acts of social and political violence. In order to preserve respect for the diverse religions, cultures, races, and ethnicities throughout the world, we ought to focus on the message of peace shared by a majority of peoples.”

The Prophetic Word: Shelf Ornament or Treasure? by Eric H. Janzen

I was having coffee with a friend recently and he asked me the following question: “So, what do you do with ‘Big Words’?”

I began formulating an answer and said, “Well first...,”

“You put it on the shelf,” he interrupted.

Ah. There it was. A phrase so common to those familiar with the prophetic that it has become a part of that language known as Christianese. This phrase embodies a deeply engrained attitude towards the prophetic word that assumes an appearance of wisdom. But what is this wisdom? And is it wise?

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Thus Quoth Napoleon

Well then, I will tell you. Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne and I myself have founded great empires; but upon what did these creations of our genius depend? Upon force. Jesus alone founded His empire upon love, and to this very day millions will die for Him. I think I understand something of human nature; and I tell you, all these were men, and I am a man; none else is like Him: Jesus Christ was more than a man.