Ghandi was Wrong

I have been thinking about the concept of Ahimsa recently. As a Christian, it rings true to me that a person should avoid violence in order to accomplish what matters most.

Yet … yet …

I keep thinking about Jesus’ command to His disciples to obtain swords, after His resurrection. I am reminded that God Himself commanded the Israelites to make war, and that some of the angels worse and used swords. Violence, it seems, has a place in the will of God, though it’s a perilous thing for any man to take it upon himself to decide how and when to take up arms.

Also, I find it interesting to consider how nonviolence pops up over and over in History. Does it do this because the concept is right, or because it is partly wrong, it inevitably fails?

Heresy, I know, to think that peace can be wrong. Of course I don’t mean that, but in fact I mean that nonviolence is not the same thing as peace. Peace is all things being as they should be, which requires Justice to be so. Nonviolence may lead to peace, but it is no sure thing. In fact, chewing on the idea leads me to think that there is a certain threshold for nonviolence to be effective. A nonviolent world may be a paradise, but one nonviolent man may well fail.

Also, nonviolence is unnatural. Nature is full of violence. Predators, chaos, death and destruction all the time.
More to think on …