Introduction to Non-Violence by Theodore Paullin
page 81 of 109 (74%)
page 81 of 109 (74%)
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[110] J. F. C. Wright, _Slava Bohu: The Story of the Dukhobors_ (New
York: Farrar and Rinehart, 1940), 99. [111] Hershberger says of him: "He identified the kingdom of God with human society after the manner of the social gospel. But since he believed in an absolute renunciation of violence for all men, Tolstoy was an anarchist, repudiating the state altogether. Biblical nonresistance declines to participate in the coercive activities of the state, but nevertheless regards those as necessary for the maintenance of order in a sinful society, and is not anarchistic. But Tolstoy found no place for the state in human society at all; and due to his faith in the goodness of man he believed that eventually all coercion, including domestic police, would be done away." _Mennonite Qu. Rev._, XVII, 129-130. VII. ACTIVE GOODWILL AND RECONCILIATION The term "resistance" has occurred frequently in this study. As has been pointed out, this word has a negative quality, and implies opposition to the will of another, rather than an attempt to realize a positive policy. The preceding section dealt with its counterpart, "non-resistance," which has a neutral connotation, and implies that the non-resister is not involved in the immediate struggle, and that for him the refusal to inflict injury upon anyone is a higher value than the achievement of any policy of his own, either positive or negative. |
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