1. Hill, Lance Edward. “The Deacons for ... - Freedom Archives

Thomas was eager to work with CORE, but he had serious reservations about
the nonviolent terms imposed by the young activists . He admired their devotion and
energy, but the college students seemed dangerously deluded about the potential for
terrorist violence . And CORE made it clear to Thomas that they were unwilling to
compromise their stand on nonviolence .
If the CORE activists sounded like missionaries, there was a good reason .
CORE was permeated with a religious style of organizing, characterized by an
evangelical faith in doctrine and an unswerving belief in a bipolar world ofgood and evil .
For the young CORE activists, nonviolence was more religion than strategy . And
religious doctrine, as immutable truth, could not be compromised to suit the sinner. One
either accepted or rejected the divinely inspired word . One was either saint or sinner.
Rather than negotiate a strategy with the black community, CORE's support was
contingent on local people accepting the nonviolent creed . The creed could never fail the
people; only the people could fail the creed . Faith was a pillar of CORE's organizing
strategy . The idea that Klansmen could be converted contradicted all reason and
experience and required an act offaith comparable to a belief in the divinity ofJesus . If
black men resisted these nonviolent teachings, it was no cause to reconsider doctrine .
Indeed, the resistance ofthe damned only confirmed the fallen state of mankind and the
urgency ofa new dispensation--one that would appear as enigmatic and paradoxical to
mere mortals as did the teachings ofChrist in his own time. Failure was a sure sign of
success. 2'
2'This uncompromising stance, in some measure, derived from nonviolence's
categorical religious roots . Gandhi had cloaked his strategy in religious garb, imbuing it
with moral authority that resonated with Judeo-Christian beliefs . CORE activists'