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Peace and Non-Violence In the past the Justice and Peace Commission has held a series of workshop on Britain ’s role in the arms trade, and also supports the work of Pax Christi. In 2007 it will begin working on the Pace e Bene Programme ‘From Violence to Wholeness’, which is a ten session course exploring active non-violence. From Violence to Wholeness Is a ten part spirituality, study and action programme that explores non-violence as a creative, powerful and effective process for addressing and resolving the conflicts in our lives and the life of the world. Drawing on the vision of Jesus, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr. Dorothy Day and many others this programme will offer group resources to deepen the journey from fear to freedom, from despair to hope, from violence to wholeness. We grow up in a world where we receive certain messages that are all around us – the media with it violent flow of images and messages. Our society’s values of consumerism, rugged individualism and superiority. Added to that sometimes we also receive messages from our families, friends and co-workers. We are affected when our country goes to war or when violence erupts on the streets. Consciously or not we are constantly being schooled in the logic and practice of emotional, verbal, physical or structural violence. The world is a dangerous place and that human beings are intrinsically violent. This is especially true of our enemies, who are the most violent and are beyond redemption and change. Faced with this fact we learn that the only way to deal with violence is to accommodate it, avoid it, or use violence ourselves. Television, our families and the policies of the government teach us these methods, which we then try out in real life. With every conflict we rehearse these ‘three scripts’ by going along with violence, by running from it, or by throwing a physical or verbal punch. The great illusion of violence is that it will solve our problems decisively. Unfortunately conflict often do not end when violence is used; they generally continue to smoulder or escalate. The ultimate lesson is that violence feeds on itself and cannot be extinguished. There is always residual resentment and injustice. What is our society’s answer to this spiral of violence? More violence. From this point of view being human means becoming chronically suspicious of a world populated with real and potential enemies where unresolved hurt and anger are forever mounting. The world can be dangerous, and we face conflicts our whole lives. But are we condemned to and endless cycle of retaliation and domination? The traditional responses to violence often make matters worse because they fail to address root causes and they loose sight of the integrity of those in conflict. They are fundamentally unreliable and ineffective. They also keep us from seeing what violence truly is: emotional, verbal or physical behaviour that dominates, diminishes or destroys ourselves and others. Violence crosses boundaries without permission. Violence disrupts authentic relationships. Violence separates us from others. It defiles the human person and desecrates the image of God. It is a process of economic, gender, racial, social or cultural domination. To become truly human and to faithfully worship the God of love means challenging this violence. Transforming these patterns of destructiveness is a sacred journey from fear to freedom, from despair to hope, from violence to wholeness. Join us on this journey from violence to wholeness. The Justice and Peace Commission will be running the ten session programme in 2007 as part of the Leeds Diocesan Five year Renewal Programme ‘Come and See’ Further details will be added to this page as they come available. For more information see:
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