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Dr. Martin Luther King's Pledge of Nonviolence

Below is the Pledge of Nonviolence that Martin Luther King, Jr. asked those who believed in his message to abide by
as well as his core principles of nonviolence.

Pledge of Nonviolence

1. As you prepare to march meditate on the life and teachings of Jesus

2. Remember the nonviolent movement seeks justice and reconciliation - not victory.

3. Walk and talk in the manner of love; for God is love.

4. Pray daily to be used by God that all men and women might be free.

5. Sacrifice personal wishes that all might be free.

6. Observe with friend and foes the ordinary rules of courtesy.

7. Perform regular service for others and the world.

8. Refrain from violence of fist, tongue and heart.

9. Strive to be in good spiritual and bodily health.

10. Follow the directions of the movement leaders and of the captains on demonstrations.

The Five Principles of Nonviolence

1. Non-violent resistance is not a method for cowards. It does resist. The nonviolent resister is just as strongly
opposed to the evil against which he protests, as is the person who uses violence.His method is passive or nonaggressive in the sense that he is not physically aggressive toward his opponent, but his mind and emotions are always active, constantly seeking to persuade the opponent that he is mistaken. This method is
passive physically but strongly active spiritually; it is nonaggressive physically but dynamically aggressive spiritually.

2. Nonviolent resistance does not seek to defeat or humiliate the opponent, but to win his friendship and understanding. The nonviolent resister must often express his protest through noncooperation but he realizes that noncooperation is not the ends itself; it is merely means to awaken a sense of moral shame in the opponent.

3. The attack is directed against forces of evil rather than against persons who are caught in those forces. It is a
struggle between justice and injustice, between the forces of light and the forces of darkness.

4. Nonviolent resistance avoids not only external physical violence, but also internal violence of spirit. At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love.

5. Nonviolence is based on the conviction that the universe is on the side of justice. It is the deep faith in the
future that allows a nonviolent resister to accept suffering without retaliation. The nonviolent resister knows that in his struggle for justice, he has a cosmic companionship.

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Comment by Jon Watts on January 25, 2011 at 11:22am: AP,

I can't deny the truth of those examples. The illusion is that the hard-core opposition (despots) must inevitably be resisted with violence, and that there is no other successful strategy. Granted, that has been effective in many cases, but I'm placing my bet now that we are smarter than that.

There is a sea of citizens in this country (world) who are duped, ignorant, apathetic, or indifferent to their own plight of servitude that is being slowly fed to them like grains of Arsenic. I am hoping that we can convert enough of them to the understanding of their own freedom. I seek enough to cause our current bunch of despots to lose all credibility and the influence that goes with it.

If this faithful confidence is proven wrong in the end, there is no dishonor in having made a hopeful, but incorrect judgement that is later discredited by events.

Should such a world come to be, and my approach lose all effect, I think we are in agreement.

The last thing a man can do is die well, which is impossible from a kneeling position.

IFFTR!,

Jon

Comment by Arctic Patriot on January 24, 2011 at 11:43pm: King's non violent movement was backed, or at least shadowed/paralleled by an armed movement that forcibly defended blacks in the South, and the Black Panthers who threatened violence as well.

Ghandi's non-violence did not win Indian independence. It was the violent movement running in tandem with his that sealed the deal.

If King or Ghandi would have nonviolently resisted in 1930s/40s Japan, or the Soviet Union, their tortured, disfigured, headless, bayoneted corpses would have never been found.

Nonviolent action is an essential part of a resistance / freedom movement, but it cannot effect change without the threat or application of violence, in my opinion. It's not a matter of personal strength or discipline, but of utility and using one's talents.

At this time, in this place, non-violent resistance is all that is called for. That is not to say that it will always be so. I cannot tie my hands in the future by taking such a pledge. Already the government is denying 1st Amendment liberties and taking 2nd Amendment ones as punishment. See here, and embedded links.

I can agree with nonviolence for now, but I cannot in integrity bind myself to such a pledge forever. I am glad Washington and the original American patriots did not.

There can be no shaking hands with people who believe their best and highest calling is to control you.

AP

Comment by Danny B Smith on May 9, 2010 at 11:05am: I am in total agreement, I've been down that "clenched fist" road Jon, it's too hard on the hide and clothing! That's one reason I took an early retirment!

Comment by Jon Watts on May 8, 2010 at 11:49pm: A challenge indeed. Still, an offered hand trumps a clenched fist.

Comment by Danny B Smith on May 8, 2010 at 7:00pm: To be honest in answering your question "strong enough for that?"...no! Not that I don't believe any of it, it is just that some items in the pledge and five principles are difficult to do for many people. A result of a lack of self discipline, I must admit, in myself also!