Resistance

GERMAR RUDOLF, RESISTANCE IS OBLIGATORYchael Blume arrived at the following conclusion after having thoroughlystudied the literature pertaining to resistance: 215“All authors used for this study agree that satyagraha serves animportant function in a democracy as well. Satyagraha as a birthrightof each human being cannot be relinquished to any politicalsystem.”III. Resistance in the FR GermanySo far three events in the history of the Federal Republic of Germanyhave lead to a public discussion about the citizen’s right to resist itsgovernment as it is laid down in article 20, paragraph 4, of the GermanBasic Law.The first event was the fear triggered by the Cuba missile crisis in1962 that a nuclear war could ensue, resulting in the annihilation ofhuman civilization. The famous German-American Psychologist ErichFromm wrote the following on this background: 216“Man has continued to evolve by acts of disobedience. Not onlywas his spiritual development possible only because there were menwho dared to say no to the powers that be in the name of their conscienceor their faith, but also his intellectual development was dependenton the capacity for being disobedient – disobedient to authoritieswho tried to muzzle new thoughts and to the authorities oflong-established opinions which declared a change to be nonsense.”“All martyrs of religious faiths, of freedom and of science havehad to disobey those who wanted to muzzle them in order to obeytheir own conscience, the laws of humanity and of reason. If a mancan only obey and not disobey, he is a slave;” (p. 3)“Indeed, freedom and the capacity for disobedience are inseparable;hence any social, political, and religious system which proclaimsfreedom, yet stamps out disobedience, cannot speak thetruth.” (p. 6)215 Michael Blume, Satyagraha. Wahrheit und Gewaltfreiheit, Yoga und Widerstand bei Gandhi,Dissertation, Hinder + Deelmann, Gladenbach 1987, p. 299.216 Erich Fromm, On Disobedience, and Other Essays, Routledge & Kegan, London 1984, p. 2.185