by Fr. John Dear, S.J.
Pax Christi USA Ambassador of Peace
“We have to make truth and nonviolence not matters for mere individual practice but for practice by groups and communities and nations,” Gandhi once said. “That at any rate is my dream. I shall live and die in trying to realize it.”
Like many of you, I, too, share Gandhi’s dream. I’ve traveled the nation and the world speaking about the wisdom of nonviolence, inviting people to practice it, teach it and proclaim it, in the hope it will become a new way of operating for the world. For me, nonviolence is the message of Jesus, the world’s greatest need, a way out of our madness, and a way forward into hope and peace.
This week, my friends and colleagues at Pace e Bene are proud to launch a new national movement to practice and promote nonviolence. We call it: “Campaign Nonviolence.” Our slogan: “Unleashing the power of nonviolent change for a world that works for us all!”
I invite everyone in the nation and the world to sign on with Campaign Nonviolence and join us as we redouble our efforts to bring nonviolence into the mainstream. We want to spread the way of nonviolence far and wide over the next year; to prepare for sustained nonviolent direct action in fall 2014 in every Congressional district in the nation; to demand an end to drone warfare, extreme poverty and environmental destruction. This program is something every peace group, church group, youth group and student group can be part of.
Here’s the mission statement of Campaign Nonviolence.…