Nonviolent Action: What Christian Ethics Demands but Most Christians Have Never Really Tried

by Ronald J. Sider

There are numerous examples throughout history of effective nonviolent action. Nonviolent protesters defied the Soviet Empire's communist rulers, Gandhi's nonviolent revolution defeated the British Empire, and Martin Luther King Jr.'s peaceful civil-rights crusade changed American history. Recent scholarship shows that nonviolent revolutions against injustice and dictatorship are actually more successful than violent campaigns. In this book, noted theologian and bestselling author Ron Sider argues that the search for peaceful alternatives to violence is not only a practical necessity in the wake of the twentieth century--the most bloody in human history--but also a moral demand of the Christian faith. He presents compelling examples of how nonviolent action has been practiced in history and in current social-political situations to promote peace and oppose injustice, showing that this path is a successful and viable alternative to violence.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Religion, Christian, Christianity, Theology, Politics

208 pages, Paperback

First published February 10, 2015

About the author

Ronald J. Sider (PhD, Yale University) is the founder and president emeritus of Evangelicals for Social Action and distinguished professor of theology, holistic ministry, and public policy at Palmer Theological Seminary in Wynnewood, Pennsylvania. He is the author of numerous books, including The Early Church on Killing, the bestselling Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, and The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience.

Reviews

[Laney Dugan · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was unique among the few books I’ve read on nonviolent resistance, and I found it to be a solid, thought-provoking resource that, in a lot of ways, felt like a gateway into other books on the topic. Unlike Nonviolence by Preston Sprinkle, this book wasn’t building a scriptural case for nonviolence; that was assumed. This book was instead addressing Christians in both the Pacifist and Just War traditions, calling them both to more radically commit to the funding of and training for Peacemaking efforts globally.

The honest assessment Sider makes of various movements of “People Power” worldwide was eye-opening and insightful, and I really appreciated his boldness to challenge Christians to practice what they preach — fully counting the cost, because there is a cost in choosing nonviolent resistance. His realism about the time, resources, training and sacrifice it would take to have teams of Peacemakers ready to deploy in the same way the military is prioritized was well-received along with his honesty about the cyclical nature of violence, and how Jesus steps in to break that and invites us to do the same. Overall, I really valued this book and definitely have some other books to look into now (curtesy of the footnotes!)!

[Honeypie · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 Stars

It had potential.

That was the reason I bought the book.

But I think it focused too much on the history, and not so much on the application. However, its minor title was What Christian Ethics Demands But Most Christians Have Never Really Tried, so that's why it was a bit disappointing.

The historical events were also told in the perspective of a Christian. So if people complain that there might seem to be a bit of a bias while reading it, it's because the data was skewed in the first place.

As with any non-fiction read, I think there were a lot of repetitive statements. Is that a requirement for non-fiction? So that the writers can ensure that the message is really ingrained into the readers' thoughts? Because saying it once oftentimes doesn't work.

Anyway, a lot of historical events (outside of the People Power Revolution in the Philippines) was a new knowledge for me. So that is good. I just think that RS took a lot more pages for these. I also did not get much on the application or conclusion, tbh.

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"People were willing to die but not to kill. And I thought that even if some soldiers were willing to shoot the people, they were not willing to shoot the crucifixes. Many of them come from provinces where they were raised to fear God. They could never shoot at people who were praying. They could have shot people who were throwing stones, as they did during the rallies. But this was the first time that they were confronted with prayers. They did not know how to react. I think this was crucial to the whole nonviolence stance."


Can the killers of today be the leaders of tomorrow? Must we destroy in order to build? I refuse to believe that it is necessary for a nation to build its foundation on the bones of its you.
Benigno Aquino Jr.

[Chris Woznicki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Erin Dufault-Hunter, professor at Fuller Theological Seminary, recently wrote:

Many Mennonites shirk the label “evangelical,” especially as it often associates us with US Christians who narrate their relationship to the nation-state quite differently than we do. But most recently my tiny adopted tradition has become cool; nonviolence has become fashionable (and God help us if we so depreciate the cost of waging peace).

Though I am not drawn to the Mennonite tradition (and I certainly love my evangelical tradition/label), I can definitely agree with her that among evangelicalism – nonviolence and Anabaptism has become quite cool. Its probably for good reasons though – the Anabaptists are on to something when it comes to their ethics. But its not just the Anabaptists – you can find some reformed (lower case “r”) writers writing about non-violence (see Preston Sprinkle’s Fight – I wrote a review here). So being reformed myself and committed to non-violent action, I’m glad to see more resources come out that are accessible to evangelicals. Ron Sider has a history of writing books that have pushed evangelicals to be more socially Nonviolent Actionaware and engaged. He has pushed them (us) to think through issues that we might have ignored i.e. the legitimate use of violence as Christians. His latest book: Nonviolent Action: What Christian Ethics Demands But Most Christians Have Never Really Tried is one such book.

On the back of the book – Richard Mouw writes that Sider has written a “wise, balanced, and inspiring book” that is “a richly instructive guide for all who have pledged their allegiance to the Savior who is also the prince of peace.” Whether you agree with non-violence or believe in just war – the fact is that as Christians we are called to follow the Prince of Peace and we are called to be peacemakers. So at the very least non-violence is an issue that all Christians have to deal with. We have to ask ourselves – is this the best way to live as disciples of Jesus Christ or is there some other way?

Alright – lets actually get to the book…

Non-Violent Action

The structure of the book is pretty straightforward; there are four parts. Each of the first three parts is intended to inspire people to nonviolence and to show people that unlike what many opponents say, nonviolence actually works. Part 1 covers the early days of nonviolence by looking at non-violence in the early church and nonviolence through leaders like MLK and Gandhi. Part 2 show us how non-violence helped topple the soviet empire. Part three takes a look at non-violent movement in the last decade or so. Let it be known that all of the cases he examines are not necessarily Christian movements (i.e. Ghandi & the Arab Spring) however a majority of the cases he follows are Christian an Sider’s call to non-violence is ultimately grounded in Christianity.

For me, the fourth part was the most interesting. It consisted of Sider’s constructive argument for non-violence. His first argument is that non-violent movements contrary to popular opinion, actually work. They accomplish their goals with far less loss and they tend to lead to stronger democratic societies. The reason for this latter accomplishment is that “those who win by the gun tend to rule by the gun.” His other argument for non-violence is that non-violence as a strategic systematized method has not really been tried yet. Regarding this, Sider makes a great point,

Pacifists have long claimed that they have an alternative to war. But that claim remains empty unless they are willing to risk death, as soldiers do to stop injustice and bring peace. (158)

If pacifists think that they have an alternative to war, then they must have the guts and integrity to prove it in the brutal world in which dictators such as Hitler, Somoza, Stalin, and Marcos kill and destroy. If pacifists are not ready to run the same risk as soldiers in nonviolent struggle against evil, then they have no moral right to pretend they know a better way. (167)

Those are powerful words! Sider’s other point is that According to the just war tradition (which most Christians find themselves in) lethal violence must always be the last resort. He calls into question the notion that just war theorists have been consistent with this position. He points to the fact that just war theorists have not spent the amount of time and money to explore the possibilities of nonviolent action.

Sider’s book however ignores the most important argument for nonviolence (although the title does imply it) – namely that it is what Christianity demands. When I hear most people argue against nonviolence (usually for loving reasons and to protect the weak) the argument almost always goes something like this…

Non-violence would be great. But we live in a sinful broken world. Non-violence just doesn’t work because we don’t live in an ideal world.

Arguments around non-violence almost always center around the idea that “it doesn’t work.” Sider here set out to argue that it does in fact work, and history has proved that it can and it does! However that misses the point of Christian non-violence. The call to Christian non-violence isn’t a call to pragmatism. Even if nonviolence didn’t work and Jesus called us to it then we would have to do it! (Whether God calls for it is up to debate; I certainly believe he did call us to peace.)

What I’m trying to point out – and what Sider so unhelpfully forgot to address – is that: The call to nonviolence isn’t grounded on what does or does not work. The call to nonviolence is grounded on whether or not this is what Jesus calls his followers to do.

(Note: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for an impartial review.)

[Bob · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nonviolent Action by Ron Sider. Grand Rapids: Brazos Press, 2015.

Summary: Ron Sider argues from a number of instances over the past seventy-five years that nonviolent action can work and bring about political change.

"I ain't gonna study war no more"

Ronald J. Sider thinks we have spent far too long and far too much studying war. It is time, particularly for persons of faith, to devote ourselves and our money and our lives to study peace: the use of nonviolent means of protest and resistance in the pursuit of peace and a just order. He argues that both pacifists and just war advocates actually have much in common in advocating the use of nonviolent efforts as much as possible, with the only difference being between war never being a resort and war being a last resort.

Sider builds his case by recounting the numerous instances of nonviolent resistance over the past seventy-five years beginning with Ghandhi's effort to secure Indian independence from the British empire. The first part of the book recounts Ghandhi's, and India's, long road to freedom and Ghandhi's persistent and principled decision to renounce violence. Following chapters recount Martin Luther King, Jr's leadership of the civil rights movement and commitment to loving, nonviolent resistance, seen most vividly at the Edmund Pettus Bridge as chronicled in the recent Selma. He tells the story of his own involvement with Witness for Peace's work in Nicaragua standing between invading Contras backed by the U.S. and the Nicaraguan people. And he tells the story of the peaceful People Power resistance to the Marcos regime in the Phillipines including the instance when a wheelchair was more powerful than a tank:

Cardinal Sin tells the story of bedridden, eighty-one year-old Mrs. Monzon, owner of Arrelano University. Everywhere she went, she used a wheelchair. But Mrs. Monzon insisted on joining the people in the streets in front of the camps. When the tanks came, she wheeled in front of the advancing war vehicles. Armed with a crucifix, she called out to the soldiers, "Stop. I am an old woman. You can kill me, but you shouldn't kill your fellow Filipinos." Overcome, a soldier jumped off the tank, and embraced the bold nonviolent resister. "I cannot kill you," he told her, "you are just like my mother." She stayed in the street in her wheelchair.

The marines finally withdrew without firing a shot.

Part Two of the book focuses on two instances of nonviolent resistance in the defeat of the Soviet empire. First he tells the story of a Polish pope and a ship yard worker, Lech Walesa, who led the Solidarity Movement, which over ten years, brought an end to the Communist leadership in Poland. Then he turns to the Revolution of Candles in East Germany and the fall of the Berlin Wall and eventual reunification of Germany.

Recent developments are the focus of Part Three. He begins by describing how Leymah Gbowee led a movement of prayer among Liberian women pursuing peace and justice for the women and children of Liberia during the dictatorship of Charles Taylor. He recounts the nonviolent efforts in the Arab Spring, including the wonderful shalom moment of a ring of Christians forming a protective circle around Muslims at prayer. He ends this section by talking of the work of Peacemaker Teams and similar groups in many parts of the world including in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

He concludes the book with the contention that it is time to devote serious attention to nonviolent action. We spend billions on military defense and military academies but virtually nothing for nonviolent resistance and peace academies. He argues that pacifism that engages in nonviolent action is in fact as courageous as armed resistance because it also is willing to die in the pursuit of just and peaceful conflict resolution. He further contends the following:

1. Nonviolence often accomplishes its aims with far less loss of life.

2. Nonviolence accomplishes its aims more often than violence.

3. Nonviolence is more likely to lead to democratic institutions.

One of the sobering implications of all this is the willingness to die without killing. One of the questions Sider left unanswered for me was whether there are circumstances where one should not pursue nonviolent resistance, where force must be met with force. I think particularly of instances when a regime has determined a course of genocide. Here, the evidence seems to be that armed peacekeeping forces have been both necessary and successful in places like Kosovo and South Sudan in stopping genocidal regimes.

Perhaps what this points up is the necessity of what Sider argues. Many nonviolent efforts have been spontaneous and sometimes undisciplined. It is time for rigorous studies and the devotion of resources that inform and make possible disciplined and strategic action. War calls for these things as well as courage. It just makes sense that the pursuit of peace requires no less.

_____________________________________

Disclosure of Material Connection: I received this book free from the publisher. I was not required to write a positive review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 : “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

In Nonviolent Action, Ronald Sider provides a brief but highly informative history of the last century of nonviolent efforts to bring about social justice and to fight tyranny. He traces the history of nonviolence from the most recognizable efforts of men like Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr., and through to the nonviolent resistance movements seen in places like Bulgaria during World War II, Nicaragua during the 1980s with the rebellion of the Contras, the massive peaceful revolt of the citizens in the Philippines against Ferdinand Marcos, Solidarity in Poland, the East German transition from Communism, the women's movement for peace in Liberia, and the Arab spring revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt.

Nonviolent Action is primarily a work of history but is infused with a great deal of Christian theology, emphasizing the call of the disciples of Christ to live out Christ's teachings on being peacemakers and loving one's enemies. Sider even appeals to his opponents, those who adhere to the more traditional Christian position of the just war, arguing that even those in that tradition recognize that war is to be only used as a last resort, and granted the success of numerous nonviolent resistance movements of the last century, even just war proponents should be advocates for nonviolent resistance as they must first show that nonviolent resistance will not work before endorsing violence.

Nonviolent Action is a great introduction to pacifism and nonviolent resistance, and despite its overtly Christian approach, it will appeal to people of all religions and no religion as Sider embraces an interfaith approach to overcoming injustice and tyranny through nonviolent resistance.

[Tanya Marlow · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a fascinating, inspiring and engaging book by the author of ‘Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger’ on the history of non-violent action in the twentieth century onwards. Rather than ‘peaceful protest’, Sider chooses the term ‘non-violent action’, because he is making the point that non-violent confrontation of governments and regimes involves more than simply protesting – it is about effecting change through non-violent means. Sider gives a potted history of how individuals and countries have achieved this, with chapters on Ghandi, Martin Luther King, right through to the Arab Spring. I was really surprised by how many dictators and despots have been overthrown through the power of non-violent action. His analysis is thoughtful rather than sensational – he’s not afraid to outline the limitations of nonviolent action – but its his ability to tell a story so well that makes this book so readable. At the end, he makes a case for Christians – both pacifists and Just War Christians – to engage seriously with non-violent action, and I found myself wanting to discuss this book with everyone I saw. Highly recommended.
(I received this book from the publisher for review purposes. This is my honest review.)

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

great stories, easy read--the history/story of people using nonviolent action and how it was effective. The point is that we need the same commitment to training for non-violent action as people are wiling to use for violent action. The stories here need to be told a great deal more and I'm ordering lots of the books they reference, but for one easy read in one spot, this is a good choice.

[Kristine · Rating 4 out of 5]

A basic primer for the history of nonviolence, written by academic/activist-ish. (<200 pages). A lot of historical details and nonviolent protest victories I was not aware of. As a Christian the author ends w a call to arms for both Just War and Pacifist Christians to both live their theology through non-violent activism.

[Glesnertod · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nonviolent Action hasn't been given the opportunity to succeed. And yet, it is more successful than it's violent counterpart, violent action.

[Luke Wagner · Rating 4 out of 5]

This work by Ron Sider is an incredible resource, not only for the historic peace churches and Christians committed to nonviolence, but for all Christians, the majority of whom would consider themselves Just War adherents. Sider presents a detailed and insightful look into successful nonviolent movements in the 20th century especially, all of which stand in stark contrast to the bloodbaths of the two World Wars and many other violent revolutions, genocides, etc. Not only does he draw attention to the popular nonviolent movements of Gandhi in India and King in the U.S., but he also focuses on lesser known successful nonviolent movements and revolutions, even in some places where it would be deemed unlikely that nonviolent action could hold any true power, such as in the Soviet Union, Egypt, Liberia, Philippines, and Nicaragua.

Perhaps most helpful is Sider's final section of the book in which he details and lays out what would be required to truly test the far-reaching potential of nonviolent action. While much effort, time, and money has been poured into military campaigns and violent power, the amount of effort, time, and money that has been poured into international and domestic peacemaking pales in comparison. If Christians, and countries and nations worldwide, truly desire world peace, justice, and equity among all peoples, we must be committed to peacemaking whatever the cost. Even within the Just War Tradition, the hope is that war would be the last resort, only after other negotiations and peace-making agreements have been tried and tested. That being said, it is important to make peace-making, seeking of justice by nonviolent means, and even nonviolent revolutions a top priority. This is especially the case, because of the fact that we live in an age of nuclear warfare, which could and would have ramifications that would be deadly not only to combatants, but to non-combatants as well.

Reading this book in the midst of state-wide, national, and even global protests against racism and white supremacy casts it in a totally different light, as well. At the end of May, 2020, I had the opportunity to join in a peaceful protest against racism and in support of Black lives, in Tulsa, OK. On that Saturday, as I was joined by hundreds of other peaceful protesters, we were able to travel throughout the city on foot, even blocking one of the main highways in the city, stopping traffic for well over half an hour. Ultimately, this led to a timely meeting with the mayor of the city, in hopes of having our demands heard and met. On that day, I witnessed firsthand the tip of the iceberg of nonviolent and peaceful protesting, which can and will and has led to powerful change in cities and nations worldwide.

[Hamid · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a great introductory overview of the concept of nonviolent direct action and the necessity of Christians to practice it as the modus operandi of Kingdom-building. Sider discusses multiple case studies of nonviolent direct action at work and its role in creating the change the practitioners sought (e.g. Poland, West Germany, Philippines etc.). This book also serves as a "call to action" for Christians who seek to take the Gospel and leverage it for positive change. As I mentioned, this is an introductory overview and not an in depth academic study on the practice of nonviolence. Thankfully, the bibliography section provides the reader with an extensive list of sources and suggestions for further study.

[Danny Vaden · Rating 5 out of 5]

convicting and helpful

[Drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

The most hopeful and powerful way forward in this time that poses grave dangers against the environment and every living thing.

[Joshua · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm convinced--nonviolent action is the best and only way forward!

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subtitle is misleading: the book doesn't make much of an argument for nonviolent action from the standpoint of Christian ethics, and it certainly takes a more hopeful tack than its cover claim that most Christians haven't really tried nonviolence.

But what it does is give an inspiring Cliff's notes version of a few recent nonviolent political action campaigns and evaluate the successes and failures of those instances. Sider also cites examples of organizations that exist for the purpose of training and deploying volunteers for nonviolent accompaniment.

It's an informative read for anyone - not just Christians - who are interested in learning more about the recent past and the potential future of nonviolence as a political tool.

[John Lussier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sider looks at a number of nonviolent actions through history arguing for their morally superior status, pragmatic nature, and the necessity of nonviolent action today. Nonviolent approaches to change work, are morally required of just war and pacifist theorists, and have never been tried on a large organized global scale.

[Jonny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sider provides many instances when nonviolence proves to be more effective for reform than violence. It is a call to disarm and a call to a new way of thinking. The theory is rooted in the teachings of Jesus, but can sometimes move toward Social Democratic pacifism.

[Bryan Neuschwander · Rating 4 out of 5]

A worthy read.