1. The Path of Non-Violence

World Scripture

Then they came up and laid hands upon Jesus and seized him. And behold, one of those who were with Jesus stretched out his hand, and drew his sword, and struck the slave of the high priest, and cut off his ear. Then Jesus said to him, “Put your sword back into its place; for all who take the sword will perish by the sword.”
Matthew 26.51-52

Do not resist one who is evil. But if any one strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also; and if any one would sue you and take your coat, let him have your cloak as well; and if any one forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles.
Matthew 5.39-41

Victory breeds hatred, for the defeated live in pain. Happily live the peaceful, giving up victory and defeat.
Dhammapada 201 (Buddhism)

For behold, they had rather sacrifice their lives than even to take the life of their enemy; and they have buried their weapons of war deep in the earth, because of their love towards their brethren.
Book of Mormon, Alma 26.32 (Latter-day Saints)

How do you pray that sinners die? Rather pray that they should repent, and thus there will be no more wickedness.
Talmud, Berakot 10a (Judaism)

The force of arms cannot do what peace does. If you can gain your desired end with sugar, why use poison?
Somadeva, Nitivaktyamrita 344 (Jainism)

Abruptly King Hsiang asked me, “Through
what can the Empire be settled?”
“Through unity,” I said.
“Who can unite it?”
“One who is not fond of killing can unite it,” I said.
Mencius I.A.6 (Confucianism)

Through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can’t murder murder. Through violence you may murder a liar, but you can’t establish truth. Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can’t murder hate. Darkness cannot put out darkness. Only light can do that.
Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (Christianity)

Some children were playing beside a river. They made castles of sand, and each child defended his castle and said, “This one is mine.” They kept their castles separate and would not allow any mistakes about which was whose. When the castles were all finished, one child kicked over someone else’s castle and completely destroyed it. The owner of the castle flew into a rage, pulled the other child’s hair, struck him with his fist and bawled out, “He has spoiled my castle! Come along all of you and help me to punish him as he deserves.” The others all came to his help. They beat the child with a stick and then stamped on him as he lay on the ground… Then they went on playing in their sand castles, each saying, “This is mine; no one else may have it. Keep away! Don’t touch my castle!” But evening came, it was getting dark and they all thought they ought to be going home. No one now cared what became of his castle. One child stamped on his, another pushed his over with both hands. Then they turned away and went back, each to his home.¹⁴
Yogacara Bhumi Sutra 4 (Buddhism)

They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; Nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.
Isaiah 2.4

Anger and hatred cannot bring harmony. The noble task of arms control and disarmament cannot be accomplished by confrontation and condemnation.
Tenzin Gyatso, The Fourteenth Dalai Lama (Buddhism)

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

God certainly does not want to unite the world with weapons, and neither do I. Weapons are instruments of power, but God is thinking how to unite the world with love.
(103:184, February 25, 1979)

Among the historical great figures of the past…those who met opposition by defending themselves as being in the right cannot join the ranks of the saints. The people of Jesus’ day condemned him to death. Although it grieved him, he endured his path in silence. Even so, he re-emerged as an historical victor. Why? Because he did not fight with those who condemned him.
(80:34, October 4, 1975)

Why don’t religious believers fight back when they are attacked? Why don’t we teach people to fight with those in power? If humanity could find hope through violence, our way would be foolish. The original way of life in the Garden of Eden has nothing to do with violence or revenge. God’s ideal of creation is not like that.
We cannot realize the ideal world by the sword. The original Garden of Eden is not a place of conflict. Its inhabitants are humble and full of love; they do not compete to exalt themselves. Yet up to the present, God had no choice but to coach with believers who were accustomed to fighting and struggling for power.
Now that we know how it is to live in the original world, we can clearly see that people who are self-centered and arrogant have nothing to do with God. True religion does not teach people to fight, exploit others and dominate others. We should live with “love” as our motto…
We cannot fight, because we have to live as we would in the original world. There we would be humble, and being humble, we would live for the sake of others and love others. We who pursue the heavenly nation should live by these three values. Then, although we may face all manner of opposition, we will gradually expand the realm where people practice this way of life.
(98:33, April 8, 1978)