Posted on 03/22/2009 8:38:33 AM PDT by Homer_J_Simpson
Nonviolence works best when your opponent observes traditional morality. Not so well when your opponent is a Nazi or a communist.
Nonviolence works best when your opponent observes traditional morality.
Traditional morality. A concept unattainable in the world as created by GOD. Man is able to choose between good and evil, ergo disarmament or nonviolence are impossible until conditions are such that nonviolence can be a concept that is possible. This will only be possible under two conditions.
The choice between good and evil has been removed, meaning the remover has used violent methods to achieve the result, ergo back to square one.
The people who would choose evil have been removed, in which case the creator has returned, and nonviolence is actually possible.
Screw Gandhi. Really, I don’t believe any more needs to be said.
“Isn’t that enough for one morning?” he responded when asked to say more.
"In accordance with these views, in 1940, when invasion of the British Isles by Nazi Germany looked imminent, Gandhi offered the following advice to the British people (Non-Violence in Peace and War):[30]
"I would like you to lay down the arms you have as being useless for saving you or humanity. You will invite Herr Hitler and Signor Mussolini to take what they want of the countries you call your possessions...If these gentlemen choose to occupy your homes, you will vacate them. If they do not give you free passage out, you will allow yourselves, man, woman, and child, to be slaughtered, but you will refuse to owe allegiance to them."
"In a post-war interview in 1946, he offered a view at an even further extreme:
"The Jews should have offered themselves to the butcher's knife. They should have thrown themselves into the sea from cliffs." "
Nonviolent resistance does not fare well when the oppressor thinks the oppressed are subhumans...
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Is the story contained in an anthology available from Amazon? I checked out Harry Turtledove there and he looks intriguing, but I could not find "The Last Article." I did not realize there was a whole genre of alternate history.
Found it. It looks like it is available used in "Kaleidoscope." I think I will add it to my next Amazon order. At $1.99 it is not much of a risk.
Alternate History is what got me interested in Science Fiction. I picked up Robert Silverberg’s anthology “Worlds of Maybe” at the local library when I was twelve. I was already a history buff and that book got me hooked on SF.
I got a used version of the "Kaleidoscope" anthology through Amazon. I enjoyed the story and look forward to the other stories in the book. Thanks for the referral.
My personal "what if" scenarios for the allies losing the war have Japan occupying India, but it also works that the Germans continued south-east after taking the Soviet Union. Either way, Ghandi would have been a bug on the windshield of the conqueror's command vehicle. Too bad today's "nonviolent," anti-war types don't appreciate that.
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