Nonviolent Struggle - Theory and Practice

Submitted by John Amidon on Thu, 12/05/2013 - 09:35

On Monday, December 2, 2013, we completed our first four week class at Albany Friends Meeting. Everyone seemed to enjoy the materials presented and learned a great deal about both the laws concerning  Civil Resistance and considered deeply the issue of obedience. As has been said by Howard Zinn and others, the problem in our country is not civil disobedience, it is civil obedience.

Inside you will find a course outline divided into 4 sessions. The two texts,  “Power and Struggle” by Gene Sharp and  “Jesus and Nonviolence,  A Third Way” by Walter Wink are essential for a complete understanding of this course also.

I hope you will find this material useful. I hope also to see you on the front lines, working to right the course of our nation. Nonviolent civil resistance is absolutely necessary and long over due on a massive scale as an antidote to the violence and corruption of our government.  "If we do not end war, war will end us", whether it be  one of the numerous corporate wars manfuactured to sell arms or the continued war on our ecological systems which have rendered significant portions of the enviornment toxic to human life and is dramatically altering and killing many life forms.

John Amidon
25 Melrose Avenue
Albany, NY 12203