This was originally requested by and posted to the Council for a Parliament of the World Religions website: CPWR About Enemies and Debates by Arun Gandhi
About Enemies and Debates
By Arun Gandhi
Lately there has been a lot of talk about “enemies” and how to deal with them. Inevitably, this leads to a heated “debate” and I find both these concepts repugnant since they form the foundation of what I call the Culture of Violence.
If there is anything I have learned from Gandhi’s writings and the lessons he taught me as a young boy entering his teens is that humankind is inexorably dominated by a Culture of Violence. Over generations the roots of this culture have run deep dominating every aspect of human life — from parenting at home to governing nations. The salvation, according to Gandhi, lies in each of us “becoming the change we wish to see in the world.”
During the struggle for India’s freedom from British Colonialism one rule that was observed strictly was never to dehumanize the British as “enemies”. Even when someone made a joke Grandfather would admonish the person and insist that we root out all words from our vocabulary that dehumanize people. Dehumanization is the first step in justifying violence and war. When we learn to respect everyone as human beings — even those with whom we may have differences of opinion — we will reduce violence.
Whenever possible Gandhi entered into a “discussion” with the British, never a “debate”. A discussion implies an openness to understand the other’s point of view and arrive at an amicable understanding whereas a debate implies there is only one Truth and the person with the gift of the gab can overwhelm the other.
A very potent example of this is religion. There are endless debates about which religion is the best and everyone claims they have the whole Truth. This attitude has led to wars, violence, massacres and genocides in the name of God. Yet, unfortunately, we are unwilling to accept that there are many aspects to one Truth. If we continue to debate this point we will never arrive at any understanding.
Religion, my Grandfather used to say, is the spiritual Mount Everest. All of us are trying to scale this peak and we choose different paths to get to the top. Since all the paths are equal why should it be a matter of contention which path one chooses to take? The important objective is for every individual to get to the top by making a sincere and committed effort. It needs no organization — just individual commitment and dedication. Incidentally, I am offering these thoughts for a discussion, not a debate!
For generations human beings around the world worked hard to attain peace but their efforts ended mostly in heart-breaking futility leading to pessimism and worse. There is a wide-spread belief now that peace is unattainable and that civilization is doomed to perish by violence. When peace appears to be won through violence it is very temporary because violence subjugates the opponent. When we seek to control someone through fear of punishment or violence or superior force that control remains only as long as the dominant force is able to exert fear. Since human beings realized in pre-historic times that they could survive in jungles only by using force they developed a whole “culture of violence” that gradually came to dominate every aspect of human life. Our language, our behavior, our relationships, our attitudes, in short almost everything about the human being is now conditioned by the “culture of violence.” Generations have now come to believe that violence is human nature and one just has to live with it. I hope by the time you finish reading this chapter you will be convinced that violence is not human nature.
Aurora Batman Violence: My heart goes out today to the people of Aurora who have suffered this immense and mindless tragedy. To those who have lost their loved ones and to those who escaped with injuries this incident will never make any sense.