Violence
Violence is not only hitting someone or verbally abusing them. It is any physical or emotional harm, but also every form of injustice, experienced at all levels of our wounded world: personal, interpersonal, social, systemic, and worldwide. Violence destroys, dehumanizes, diminishes, and dominates billions of people and our fragile planet. It includes the violence of racism, poverty, colonialism, gender inequality, environmental destruction, and many other forms of systemic injustice.
Nonviolence
“Nonviolence” was a word coined in English by Gandhi a century ago. Though this term was new to English ears, it was already an ancient word in Gandhi’s own language and a primordial part of humanity’s way of being in the world. Gandhi translated the 5,000-year-old Sanskrit word, ahimsa (meaning “non-tearing,” “non-harming,” “non-violence”), into the English word “nonviolence.”
“‘Ahimsa,’ a kind of double negative, actually stands for something so original that we cannot quite capture it with our weak words.” -Michael Nagler.
The term “nonviolence” has the added advantage of clearly “taking a standing against violence” even as it suggests the fullness of a life “free from violence.”
