I could quote Thomas Merton every day of the year, ... there is so much there for the picking, the following quote was on the "God's Politics" blog ... and I am very aware of how much we need to re-examine and lift up some theologies of nonviolence, of peacemaking, and reconciliation as it seems war is becoming more and more entrenched. We seem to be reaching a point of nearly perpetual war in the Middle East and elsewhere. Merely singing, "ain't goin' to study war no more" will not be enough, and church people need to grapple with the complexities of war in this 21st century. I commend Rowan Williams' book, "The Truce of God" which takes a thoughtful, full, deep and complex approach to war, peacemaking, and issues today. I will write on Williams' book in a later post, but until then, here is Thomas Merton's quote:
Very often people object that nonviolence seems to imply passive acceptance of injustice and evil and therefore that it is a kind of cooperation with evil. Not at all. The genuine concept of nonviolence implies not only active and effective resistance to evil but in fact a more effective resistance... But the resistance which is taught in the Gospel is aimed not at the evil-doer but at evil in its source.
- Thomas Merton
from Passion For Peace
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