The National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance is a national network, however, and to respect the different attitudes and practices of participating local groups we only ask that those participating observe the more basic nonviolence guidelines below.

Our attitude will be one of openness and respect toward all we encounter in our actions.

We will use no violence, verbal or physical, toward any person.

We will not destroy or damage any property. We do nonetheless recognize that certain objects, such as nuclear weapons or other instruments of mass killing, cannot be considered property, and we fully support nonviolent actions of Ploughshares activists and others offered in resistance to such instruments or war.

We will carry no weapons.

We will not bring any drugs or alcohol.

If participating in a nonviolent direct action, such as civil disobedience, we will not run or resist arrest; we will remain accountable for our actions as a means of furthering our witness to the injustice of this war.

Additionally, we require that all individuals considering participation in a nonviolent direct action take appropriate nonviolence training. Please let us know if you would like help setting up such a training, or finding someone in your area who can do one for you.

It is important to know that the basic guidelines we follow do spring from the teachings on nonviolence that have been received over the centuries. Below, for your interest and reflection, are the thoughts of one of the most famous teachers of nonviolence, Dr. Martin Luther King.

Dr. Martin Luther King on the Philosophy and Practice of Nonviolence

These key points are excerpted from his book Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Circle, but are also repeated in numerous essays and articles that he wrote throughout his life. (A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr. is an excellent source book.)

It should be noted that Dr. King explicitly credits Mahatma Gandhi with having taught us the method of nonviolence, and the points below are largely the same as were taught, in one form or another, by Gandhi, Dorothy Day, Jesus, the Berrigan brothers, Barbara Deming, Tolstoy and most other well-known practitioners of nonviolence.

Nonviolence is resistance to evil and oppression. It is a human (and humane) way to fight.

Nonviolence does not seek to defeat or humiliate the opponent, but to win his/her friendship and understanding.

The nonviolent method is an attack on the forces of evil rather than against persons doing the evil. It seeks to defeat the evil and not the persons doing the evil and injustice.

Nonviolence means willingness to accept suffering without retaliation.

The nonviolent resister avoids both external physical and internal spiritual violence - not only refusing to shoot or strike, but also to hate, an opponent. The ethic of real love is at the center of nonviolence. (Dr. King went to some length to describe this love, which he noted is not reciprocal in nature, meaning that this is not the love given to someone because they love you in return. He identified this love most accurately with the Greek word “agape,” meaning an understanding, redeeming good will towards all people, a love in which the individual seeks not his own good, but the good of his neighbor and all fellow beings, making no distinction between friend and enemy.)

The nonviolent resister has a deep faith in the future, and believes that the forces in the universe are ultimately on the side of justice. To quote Dr. King, the moral arc of the universe is long, but it bends toward justice.

National Campaign for Nonviolent Resistance