smash-pacifism-zine

through which human misery, and especially violence,
would end. It was not only an Indian concern but, for
Gandhi, one of global importance which he approached as a
spiritual crusade. Whether or not his followers of today
grasp these underlying religious motives, they have
certainly adopted his moralistic and authoritarian methods
as a means of converting the masses to their belief.
As noted, satyagraha was Gandhi's term meaning
“truth-struggle”, or “soul-force”. Derived from Sanskrit, an
archaic Hindu language, the term invoked religious imagery
and purpose. In the Gandhian context, religious faith was
fused with concepts of social progress and upliftment.
According to some of his modern day followers,
“The genius of Gandhi and the basis for his
remarkable success lay in his insistence that religion and
politics could not be separated.”
(Revolutionary Nonviolence, p. 251)
“The Gandhian method
introduced a revolutionary new
form of fighting against injustice
without resorting to violence... It
combined the quest for religious
truth with the struggle for social
justice.”
(Gandhi and Beyond, pp.
19-20)
Gandhi blended a mishmash
of Hindu and Christian
concepts to arrive at his version of a
“universal truth,” which was
embodied in non-violence as a way
of life. He drew heavily from Henry
David Thoreau's Civil Disobedience
and other writings, whom he
credited as “the chief cause of the
abolition of slavery in America” (in classic pacifist style,
Gandhi swept aside the widespread violence of the US
Civil War and ongoing Black resistance, both of which
contributed far more to abolishing slavery than Thoreau's
writing).
Gandhi was especially influenced by Leo Tolstoy's
Christian pacifist writings, and the two began a brief
correspondence before Tolstoy's death in 1910. That same
year, Gandhi established the Tolstoy Farm commune, and
included Tolstoy's The Kingdom of Heaven is Within You as
mandatory reading (as well as the Bible and other religious
texts).
Along with these Christian influences, there was
Gandhi's own religious upbringing under Hinduism, which
he had gained a renewed interest in after his stay in London
and his association with the Theosophists. He was
especially influenced by Jainism (a branch of Hinduism
that preached strict nonviolence and not harming other life
forms) and maintained correspondence with a Jainist priest,
Gandhi directing his disciples in India.
who answered many of Gandhi's questions on religious
matters.
Some commentators note that it was Gandhi's
Hinduism that formed his views around class. According to
the mainstream of Hindu belief, society was divided into
four basic classes which were spiritually divined (the
concept of varnashramadharma): priests, warriors,
merchants, and workers. Gandhi's efforts to help the poor
was not to liberate them from this class system, but to uplift
them and to persuade the upper classes to assist him in this
(a paternalistic idea termed 'trusteeship').
In addition, the Hindu concept of Dharma, a
religious or moral duty, was a main motivator for Gandhi,
who often cloaked his activities as a religious crusade, and
at times claimed his actions were ordained by God.
In 1906, Gandhi further developed his philosophy
of “passive resistance,” the use of non-violent civil
disobedience to achieve legal and political changes. This
was based on his studies as
well as his experience in civil
rights campaigns in S. Africa
at the time. He could not have
been ignorant, however, to
the widespread use of
boycotts and swadeshi, as
well as the promotion of
noncooperation and passive
resistance, then underway in
Bengal and other parts of
India (led largely by
Extremists).
That same year, Gandhi
began his practise of celibacy
(although he still had a wife),
part of his Hindu beliefs that
sex deprived an individual of
vital energy. Gandhi became
celibate in order to devote more of his time and energy to
his religious mission.
Later, in 1908, disliking the weak and negative
tone of the term “passive resistance,” he began using
satyagraha to describe it. The term assisted Gandhi in
attaching a religious veneer to the movement, which for
him was as important as the campaigns for civil rights since
it represented his entire philosophy. All this was shaped by
his interpretations of Hinduism along with the Christian
pacifist writings of Thoreau and Tolstoy, and his
experiences in the S. African civil rights campaign.
At the core of this doctrine was non-violence, not
just as a protest tactic but as a way of life. It also included a
vegetarian diet, no alcohol or drugs, celibacy, and other
codes of moral conduct. By following these dictates, the
practitioner would achieve the spiritual power necessary to
promote peaceful social change. Gandhi promoted it as an
inherently superior tactic for social change:
“The satyagrahi's love, dignity, self-suffering, and
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