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Why might Gandhi's political theory appeal to those with strong religious beliefs? Type here

Why might Gandhi's political theory appeal to those with strong religious beliefs? Type here

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3. Why might Gandhi's political theory appeal to those with strong religious beliefs? Type here
Transcribed Image Text:3. Why might Gandhi's political theory appeal to those with strong religious beliefs? Type here
Mohandas K. Gandhi assumed leadership of the Indian independence móvement in the years following World War I. His doctrine of nonviolent resistance became an ideal of the independence movement. The selection below consists of quotations from Gandhi compiled by a friend. Read it and answer the questions that follow. For me the law of Satyagraha, the law of love, is an eternal principle. For the past thirty years I have been preaching and practicing Satyagraha. The principles of Satyagraha, as I know it today, constitute a gradual evolution.... The term Satyagraha was coined by me in South Africa to express the force that the Indians there used for full eight years. . . . Its root meaning is holding on to truth. Hence truth-force. I have also called it Love-force, or Soul-force. In the application of Satyagraha I dis- covered in the earliest stages that pursuit of truth did not admit of violence being inflicted on one's opponent; but that he must be weaned from error by patience and sympathy... . And patience means self-suffering. So the doctrine came to mean vindication of truth not by infliction of suf- fering on the opponent, but on one's self. Carried out to its utmost limit, this force is independent... of physical force or violence. Indeed, violence is the negation of this great spiri- tual force, which can only be cultivated or wield- ed by those who will entirely eschew violence. It is a force that may be used by individuals as well as by communities. It may be used as well in political as in domestic affairs. Its universal appli- cability is a demonstration of its permanence and invincibility. It can be used alike by men, women, and children. It is totally untrue to say that it is a force to be used only by the weak so long as they are not capable of meeting violence by violence. It is impossible for those who consider themselves to be weak to apply this force. Only those who realize that there is something in man which is superior to the brute nature in him, and that the latter always yields to it, can effectively be Satyagrahis. This force is to violence, and there- fore to all tyranny, all injustice, what light is to darkness. In politics, its use is based upon the immutable maxim that government of the people is possible only so long as they consent either consciously or unconsciously to be governed. And therefore the struggle on behalf of the peo- ple mostly consists in opposing error in the shape of unjust laws. When you have failed to bring the error home to the law-giver by way of petitions and the like, the only remedies open to you, if you do not wish to submit to error, are to compel him to yield to you either by physical force or by suffering in your own person, by invit ing the penalty for the breach of his laws. Hence Satyagraha largely appears to the public as Civil Disobedience or Civil Resistance. Adapted from Satyagraha in Gandhiji's Own Words by M. K. Gandhi.
Transcribed Image Text:Mohandas K. Gandhi assumed leadership of the Indian independence móvement in the years following World War I. His doctrine of nonviolent resistance became an ideal of the independence movement. The selection below consists of quotations from Gandhi compiled by a friend. Read it and answer the questions that follow. For me the law of Satyagraha, the law of love, is an eternal principle. For the past thirty years I have been preaching and practicing Satyagraha. The principles of Satyagraha, as I know it today, constitute a gradual evolution.... The term Satyagraha was coined by me in South Africa to express the force that the Indians there used for full eight years. . . . Its root meaning is holding on to truth. Hence truth-force. I have also called it Love-force, or Soul-force. In the application of Satyagraha I dis- covered in the earliest stages that pursuit of truth did not admit of violence being inflicted on one's opponent; but that he must be weaned from error by patience and sympathy... . And patience means self-suffering. So the doctrine came to mean vindication of truth not by infliction of suf- fering on the opponent, but on one's self. Carried out to its utmost limit, this force is independent... of physical force or violence. Indeed, violence is the negation of this great spiri- tual force, which can only be cultivated or wield- ed by those who will entirely eschew violence. It is a force that may be used by individuals as well as by communities. It may be used as well in political as in domestic affairs. Its universal appli- cability is a demonstration of its permanence and invincibility. It can be used alike by men, women, and children. It is totally untrue to say that it is a force to be used only by the weak so long as they are not capable of meeting violence by violence. It is impossible for those who consider themselves to be weak to apply this force. Only those who realize that there is something in man which is superior to the brute nature in him, and that the latter always yields to it, can effectively be Satyagrahis. This force is to violence, and there- fore to all tyranny, all injustice, what light is to darkness. In politics, its use is based upon the immutable maxim that government of the people is possible only so long as they consent either consciously or unconsciously to be governed. And therefore the struggle on behalf of the peo- ple mostly consists in opposing error in the shape of unjust laws. When you have failed to bring the error home to the law-giver by way of petitions and the like, the only remedies open to you, if you do not wish to submit to error, are to compel him to yield to you either by physical force or by suffering in your own person, by invit ing the penalty for the breach of his laws. Hence Satyagraha largely appears to the public as Civil Disobedience or Civil Resistance. Adapted from Satyagraha in Gandhiji's Own Words by M. K. Gandhi.
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