TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

An article from Tamera

We’re living in times in which things are happening we didn’t think were possible up until recently. We see the worrying developments towards totalitarian societies. We see communities and societies across the globe experiencing losses of loved ones in great and growing numbers, as well as widespread chaos, the disruption of support networks and a shortage of necessities. We see that this disproportionately impacts elders and historically marginalized populations. We see misery, fear and loneliness as so many are restricted to isolation and quarantine. We see health systems overwhelmed, and support staff overworked and underpaid.

But we also see many examples of courage and solidarity. And we experience nature taking a deep breath of relief. What will all this lead to? Will we return to everyday normality in any foreseeable future? Or will we as humanity seize this opportunity for a deep system change? Will we make a fresh start and build a culture aligned with life? Many friends have asked us what we think about the coronavirus crisis and how we are dealing with it. There are many answers on different levels. In the following, we summarize some of our thought-lines and suggestions for action.

For all those who love life and this Earth, the crisis represents a great opportunity, in addition to all its challenges: now, we have the opportunity to join forces worldwide to achieve a shared goal, develop social cohesion, set up decentralized structures, a solidarity economy – a genuine reboot. In times of such upheaval, it can be easy to become distracted by differing opinions. We invite the consideration that what we do, think and imagine now will help to shape the future.

We believe that a likely outcome of this crisis will be an economic collapse and thus significant restrictions to supply systems. In addition, there’s the danger the crisis will be used to attack democracy and civil rights and to impose totalitarian structures and mass surveillance with the help of modern technology. In some countries (such as China, India, Israel, and the Philippines) we are already observing such developments and the great suffering of those affected. In this scenario, a climate of fear and the avoidance of contact will make social cohesion increasingly difficult – therefore aggravating people’s attempts to organize, offer mutual support and resist human rights violations.

It’s right to act in solidarity now, also regarding the instructions of governments. But when we witness lies, injustice and human rights violations, we cannot remain silent.
In this situation, it’s imperative we work in a constructive direction. Now our global collective intelligence is needed. The situation challenges us all to understand and thoroughly transform the structures of society and our own inner patterns. Some suggestions from our perspective of system change:

1. Understand and disarm fear

The most dangerous and infectious virus is the virus of fear. Undetected and unconscious fears have always triggered defensive behaviors that become solidified in aggression, wars, fascism and the persecution of historically oppressed populations. If we are privileged enough to be able to stop our busyness for a while, let’s use it to understand our fears and disarm them.

This also includes a critical approach to information. We know the mechanisms of mainstream mass media and the pressure to think alike, especially in crisis situations. However, it would not be the first time in history that the one single story explaining the situation turned out to be wrong. That is why we must maintain our critical perspective, remain open to other sources of information, and have the courage to say what we believe to be true – while remaining open to hear the views of others.

2. Solidarity

As a community, Tamera is guided by the ethical principles of responsibility, truth and mutual support. We believe these values to be essential, especially during such times. Now is the moment to ensure that connections and relationships developing in the worldwide community are strengthened, rather than eroded.

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Above all, let’s not forget those who are suffering most under the crisis. This includes refugees at closed borders and in large camps; all people in tight conditions such as slums; the homeless, street children, and undocumented people, especially in countries with totalitarian tendencies.

We invite you to consider how you can act in solidarity from where you are, leveraging your privileges and your voice. Let’s speak out against the restrictions of human and civil rights being imposed in the name of health and safety, and especially to resist any kind of divisive propaganda that blames “others” (especially people of color) for this crisis.
Tamera is currently closed for visitors and so we’re unable to meet our network partners in the region, but we’re committed to keeping in close touch and staying alert for where support and solidarity are needed.

3. Decentralization

Let’s make ourselves more independent from a collapsing globalized system! Now is the time to strengthen our regional networks and organize our food, water and energy supply as far as possible in a regional and decentralized way. Let’s support the farmers and producers in our region. Let’s grow our own food – always in cooperation with nature. Let’s share the surplus with those who can’t do that. Let’s save seeds. Let’s get to know and care for our water sources. Let’s collect rainwater in local retention structures and swales and use it wisely. Let’s strengthen decentralized energy production through solar and wind power – let’s share information and construct alternative energy technologies together, such as solar cookers and biogas systems for cooking.

Decentralization also includes taking responsibility for health, education and communications: we also need independence from global suppliers by establishing reliable regional cooperation in these areas.

4. Envisioning

The power of the dominant capitalist system is partly based on people’s inability to imagine functioning alternatives. Buckminster Fuller said, “The world is now too dangerous for anything less than utopia.” For those who have access to outdoor spaces, this situation is a special opportunity to rediscover our contact with nature and with life itself. In this time where normality is interrupted, we have the chance to truly ask ourselves: How do we want to live? What does a world look like in which people live together in solidarity and contact with nature and each other? What opportunity do we have to build functioning decision-making and supply structures in food, water and energy? How can we regain lost power to think, to love, to be there for each other? Let’s allow ourselves to connect with these visions, for they are so much more than individual fantasies. They are actually possibilities aligned with an evolutionary direction inherent to life.

5. A global direction

Now that old systems are failing, our prayer is that more people will gain a deeper understanding of a possible, shared direction for which we can join forces: a fundamental system change towards a culture of partnership. We believe this includes building communities that dissolve mistrust and historical trauma among themselves and become capable of trust, truth, and autonomous thinking; regions that produce their own food and energy on the basis of cooperation with nature; a deep understanding of the sacred matrix and the Earth as a living being; healing love and reconciliation of the sexes; and cooperation with universal powers – the indefinable mystery to which we all belong. This also includes overcoming old pictures of what an “enemy” is. Even viruses don’t need to be seen as enemies, but parts of the shared body of life, bringing corrections to light that are necessary for healing.

All this encompasses what is meant by the Healing Biotopes Plan. We’re now taking the time to study its basic ideas anew and to deepen them. (From May 11 to 31, we will offer an online course on this topic!)

To conclude, we would like to give you some inspiration from the unpublished essay, “Future Vision” by Sabine Lichtenfels. It was written in 2008 and is very relevant for today. It is a description of a possible future, looking back on the essential changes that were part of the construction of a new nonviolent world. She writes:

“We had no other choice left. The external pressure increased enormously and compelled us to awaken our inner awareness and power for change. The external circumstances forced us to become impeccable. They forced us to discover and develop the place within us where we were truly unassailable. The decisive event, which was even now able to initiate a new future, was the return to the certainty of God’s existence. The luminous quality that we habitually projected into the afterlife is in reality already present in our bodies. A great certainty and joy of being suddenly awoke and motivated us to renew our actions. We knew: If we are able to live a life in which we understand how to end war fully, then this will bring about a new reality.”

TOLERANCE & SOLIDARITY .

An article by Ken Butigan in Common Dreams (licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 License)

The COVID-19 pandemic has ground the world to a halt.  While Hubei province in China has begun to recover, it has done so by locking down sixty-million people and severely disrupting the patterns of life and work there.  The rest of the world is generally behind the curve in its response, with the number of cases skyrocketing and a few countries courageously taking the same drastic measures that the Chinese did toward containment and mitigation.  The United States has declared a national emergency, but the pivotal strategy of testing is severely lagging. Quite likely, the next weeks will see a dramatic increase in cases and deaths.. .

How, then, does this crisis sharpen our choice for a culture of active and life-giving nonviolence?  Doesn’t it, instead, point to a future of epidemics, social disruption, economic chaos, and an increase in the politics of fear?

There is no question that the current catastrophe could worsen an already grim trajectory of climate change, poverty, racial injustice and militarism. It could feed the flames of authoritarianism and regimes of surveillance, even as it could drive long-term economic dislocation, with harsh impacts in the lives of people everywhere.

At the same time, however, this crisis is so global, so encompassing, so pervasively universal—touching virtually every person on the planet—that it not only begs for an immediate and comprehensive response, it cracks open the possibility for a long-term cultural and planetary shift toward a more just, peaceful and sustainable order.

It is the magnitude of this cataclysmic predicament that directly confronts us, willingly or not, with the choice Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. specified for humanity half a century ago—nonviolence or nonexistence—and prompts us urgently to discover a way forward drawing on nonviolent methods toward a more nonviolent world.

While combating this pandemic with xenophobia and “us versus them” nationalism has been the reaction of some, the reality is that, if we are to survive this crisis effectively, it will require comprehensively nonviolent cooperation and approaches.  We are already seeing these in action.  When the people of Wuhan and Italy—and now Spain—join in the radical social-distancing of staying home for weeks, they are not only protecting themselves, they are engaging in a powerful, nonviolent action of social responsibility and solidarity. When societies take rapid, extraordinary steps to mitigate the shock of job loss or the expense of testing, they are pursuing nonviolent strategies—nonviolent because they resist the violence of exclusion or indifference while fostering healing and unity.  Even as we find ourselves in the midst of this disorienting and surreal disaster, we are often responding instinctively with empathy and compassion.  No doubt, this nonviolent energy, extended to the entire world, will be increasingly needed as the scale of this catastrophe becomes clearer over the next weeks and months.

Nonviolence is organized love.  A constructive force, an active method, and a powerful way of life, active nonviolence is the power of creative love unleashed to relieve suffering, to struggle for justice, and to nurture a world where everyone counts.  Now more than ever this energy is urgently required to respond to the world of hurt that the COVID-19 tsunami is leaving in its wake—the growing number of people struck down with the virus; the keen grief of those who have suddenly lost loved ones; the overwhelmed health-care systems and providers; but also those caught in its financial wreckage, including minimum wage workers who suddenly have no income; small business owners with raser-thin margins forced to shut down; and, most palpable of all, millions at the margins who have no safety net, no resources, no health care, no recourse.

The present world of pain not only presents an emergency requiring an immediate response, it throws in sharp relief the need for dramatic social change.  We have not built a world that is up to effectively dealing with this challenge. This moment of what we might call “pan-suffering”—agony reaching deeply into the lives and societies across the globe—is revealing the need for societies and systems capable of handling such transnational emergencies while providing for those most impacted by them.

From “War Footing” to “Nonviolent Mobilization”

While the metaphor of “going to war against the virus” crops up in many media reports—“Every college and university is on a war footing about this and are trying to assemble as much information as possible” (LA Times); “New York adopts war footing to ready hospitals for virus surge” (Bloomberg News); “Trump’s national emergency declaration, corporate partnership put U.S. on war footing vs. coronavirus” (Boston Herald)—the strategies in place, and the ones that will succeed, are anything but those of war-fighting.  When the media reach for a term like “war footing,” they are falling lazily into a traditional groove for describing a concerted, society-wide strategy for mobilizing people and resources to solve a monumental problem confronting the nation or the world. 

If, in fact, defeating COVID-19 will most effectively happen through nonviolent strategies, it is best to reach for a metaphor that both implies this and minimizes the possibility of violent counter-measures (as in the “war in Iraq” or even policies that have taken on this signifier, like “the war on drugs” or “the war on poverty”).  Rather than the metaphor of war, it is better to take on a metaphor from the world of nonviolence, for example, “nonviolent mobilization”: inviting people across our societies to tap their power for love, mercy, peace and nonviolent change in a comprehensive and collaborative way.  Truly ending this epidemic will require a common vision of, and policies supporting and fostering, unity, cooperation and healing.

The more we take steps now in the spirit of nonviolent transformation, healing and connectedness, the more we will glean lessons for going forward as a society and a planet.

These lessons—for example, that health-care for all lessens the spread of epidemics; that an economic safety-net for all buffers the shocks of such catastrophes; that our limited resources should be poured into meeting the human needs of all instead of military systems that buttress “us versus them” geo-politics—will point us toward and serve as a foundation of a nonviolent shift that our nation and our world desperately needs.

Pace e Bene

While many of us may have long been thinking along these lines, it is in these moments of shock and peril that we can find the gumption to take the concrete steps for making this shift a reality.

In addition to teaching at DePaul University, I work with Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service, a thirty-year-old organization spreading the power of nonviolence. Pace e Bene (“Peace and Good,” a greeting used by St. Francis of Assisi) has long been working for what Joanna Macy calls “the great turning.”  Since 2014, we have been collaborating with a growing community of sisters and brothers in the US and around the world to take steps toward building and nurturing a culture of active nonviolence free from war, poverty, racism and environmental destruction. 

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Each year since then Campaign Nonviolence has been growing—by organizing Nonviolent Cities, by facilitating trainings and workshops, by publishing books on nonviolence, by encouraging the Catholic Church to spread nonviolence (in our work with Pax Christi International’s Catholic Nonviolence Initiative), and by mobilizing nonviolent actions for a week each September, anchored by the International Day of Peace. (This year, the Campaign Action Week will take place September 19-27.)

In all of this, we have been preparing for a turning point.  Maybe it is here.

This all depends on our choice.

On the Threshold?

We can’t predict what the long-term impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic will be.  Perhaps, after it passes, we will resume the life we have always known.  There is some evidence that this is what’s happening in China, where the lessening of the coronavirus spread has seen a return to pre-COVID-19 fossil fuel consumption levels.

At the same time, there is the potential for a long-term shift.  In spite of rampant nationalistic tendencies, this disease underscores the inextricable interconnectedness of planet earth. We are all literally in this together, and that togetherness does not stop at national borders.  The healing the earth’s population in the face of this global infection ultimately will hinge on the care for all, not for some. Just as humanity began to reset its self-understanding after Apollo 8’s “earthrise” photo was beamed home in 1968—a startling image that helped us “get” that we are one borderless planet, suspended in the darkness, together—so COVID-19 shocks us into an even deeper awareness: whatever threatens one threatens all.  Our survival depends on one another.  Or, to put it positively, we are being beckoned to, once and for all, outgrow our limiting conceptions of self and nation.  Our full flourishing hinges on transcending the confining cultural and social operating systems that exclude, demonize, and reject. 

COVID-19 has deepened our understanding of the Apollo 8 image: we see a planet wounded and needy, one community of communities in need of healing, compassion, and transformation, a sacred reality calling us to the nonviolent turn. Violence will not heal this brokenness and pain. Only nonviolence—purified of violence at its very roots, as Sr, Nancy Shreck, OSF has put it—can relieve this suffering in its comprehensiveness.

Whatever the outcome, the experience of this current pandemic is likely a rehearsal for the summoning of global resolve to, once and for all, tackle the series of grave “epidemics” that are mutating and growing all around us: the epidemic of economic inequality; the epidemic of racism, sexism and homophobia; the epidemic of nationalism and xenophobia; the epidemic of militarist systems and solutions; and the existential epidemic of planetary collapse.  Our current struggle offers us the gift of both seeing the “big picture” in a new way and the invitation to shift our way of life and being in foundational ways in light of that “big picture.”

It is a vivid and compelling invitation to see anew the indivisible reality of life and, consequently, to join and contribute to the global movement for this cultural and planetary shift.

Steps Forward

The immediate question is: How can we make this choice for a nonviolent shift in the midst of the current chaos?

First, within our own lives.  As one nation after another goes into lockdown in order to interrupt the transmission of COVID-19, more and more of us will be staying put at home.  This is an opportunity to prepare ourselves for taking part in this shift. How? Instead of regarding it as a kind of involuntary imprisonment, perhaps we can envision it as a space for transformation.  In the fourth century, the first monks headed to the deserts of Egypt and Palestine to, as Thomas Merton imagined it, jump ship from the Roman Empire, which had begun to co-opt the Church.  Their life of contemplation and self-confinement was a process of being freed from empire, physically but also spiritually.  They sparked a revolution of consciousness that has rippled down to our own day. 

Similarly, let us use these coming days and weeks to take steps toward a liberation from the domination system and toward a culture of peace and nonviolence.  With intentionality, reflection, prayer and community offline and online, we can take steps to challenge scripts of fear and division and to experience healing and transformation in our lives, our relationships and in the global movement for a world where everyone counts.

In this time of anxiety, let us renew our relationship with our loved ones, even if we are in close quarters.

In this time of dislocation, let us nurture the bonds of connection and solidarity.

In this time of disruption, let us find ways to commit our lives to the healing and well-being of all.

In this time of instability, let us imagine what nonviolent practice we can take up and deepen.

A New Movement is Coming

The greatest social movement in human history is coming.  Each of us is called to join it.  It is a global movement, a movement of movements.  It is learning from the history of movements that has been accelerating over the past century.  It is rooted in the blood and tears of millions who have spent their lives throughout history clamoring for justice, working for peace, laboring for a world that works for everyone.

This movement will not appear by magic.  It requires hard work and “acting our way into thinking.”  It will be deeply nonviolent—saying No to injustice and Yes to the humanity of all, including the humanity of our opponents.

In a curious way, COVID-19 is a strange messenger.  It is calling us resolutely to join this planetary movement that is emerging.

Let us join this all-embracing movement.  We can fill our knapsack for the journey ahead by taking nonviolence trainings online, planning for action in September, imagining how your locality could become a nonviolent city—and entering the mystery of nonviolent healing and transformation.  We can ready for humanity’s next step by finding—online, or off—a small group of 4 or 5 people to reflect, study and plan together, supporting one another as catalysts for transformation, as agents of nonviolent change, as advocates for a renewed and revitalized world.

Let us commit ourselves to the dramatic, systemic transformation needed now more than ever.  The vision, principles and strategies of nonviolent movement-building will strengthen our ability and capacity as agents of nonviolent change for a renewed and revitalized world.

We do not know, yet, how the change which is needed will come about. In these days of darkness and decision, let us open ourselves to the new direction to which we are being called.

Let us choose the way of nonviolent love in this time of coronavirus.

Ken Butigan is director of Pace e Bene, a nonprofit organization fostering nonviolent change through education, community and action. He also teaches peace studies at DePaul University and Loyola University in Chicago.