Searching for Peace

Conflict arises in many areas.

Competitive or opposing action of incompatibles is one. On April 29, 1992, a mostly white jury acquits four police officers accused of beating a black motorist in Los Angeles. In response, thousands of people in the city — mostly black or Latino — begin riots, including looting, arson and murder.

War is another. September 11, 2001: Two hijacked planes slam into the Twin Towers, another crashes into the Pentagon and a fourth goes down into a Pennsylvania field. Troops are sent to Iraq, beginning an endless hunt for terrorist ghosts an ocean away.

Conflict also arises to show antagonism. On March 9, 2006 the body of peace activist and former Eastern Mennonite University student Tom Fox is found on a road in Western Baghdad. He has been shot in the chest and head. Fox had gone to Iraq as a member of Christian Peacemaker Teams to document the abuse of Iraqi captives and promote peace.

More than 6.5 billion people are packed into this world — six and one half billion people who speak a combined 2,700 languages with more than 7,000 dialects. Within Harrisonburg City Public Schools alone, more than 35 percent of the 4,000 students enrolled are learning English as a second language, making the school system one of the most diverse in Virginia. Just driving through the Shenandoah Valley reveals a variety of church spires, including Baptist, Catholic, Mennonite, Nazarene and Russian.

Different languages, religions, ideas — but not everyone accepts different. It’s no wonder conflict exists.

September 11, 1906: 95 years before hate and violence brought down the Twin Towers, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi stood in the Empire Theater in Johannesburg, South Africa, during his first peaceful campaign and named his philosophy of nonviolence “satyagraha,” literally meaning “holding to the truth.” This began Gandhi’s lifelong search for peace — not only for his Indian community, but for the rest of the world. He worked to set an example of peace to all religions, and all communities.

Others, including Martin Luther King Jr., who adapted Gandhi’s peace principles during the Civil Rights Movement, and Oscar Arias, who used nonviolent methods in his efforts to end civil wars in Central American countries, have carried on Gandhi’s nonviolent techniques. Gandhi’s message has spread to the corners of the Shenandoah Valley, where an organization at James Madison University is continuing the search for peace.

The Mahatma Gandhi Center for Global Nonviolence was established at JMU in March 2005 by Sushil Mittal a JMU associate professor of religion. The Gandhi Center is a nonprofit organization that promotes a culture of nonviolence and peace.

According to Mittal, “Peace needs to be understood in its broadest sense. Peace is more than an absence of war,” he says. “It means justice, equality, freedom, mutual respect among human beings, human respect for the environment.”

The placement of the Gandhi Center in a college setting — a place where people learn, change, and establish values — is significant.

“Change has to come from the bottom,” Mittal says. “If it doesn’t involve 17-, 18-, 19-year-olds, how will we evoke change? Lasting peace must begin with our children. Now, more than ever, our children need to be taught that nonviolence is an active, life-affirming, and positive force.”

The development of youth-focused programs within the center has given fresh, young voices to Gandhi’s message. The Student Global Nonviolence Conference held April 12, 2006, was planned entirely by JMU undergraduate students. The Global Nonviolence Club was established at JMU in the fall of 2005 to supplement the Gandhi Center’s goal. An annual essay competition was established to challenge college students to analyze important societal issues.

It is significant that the Gandhi Center is located on a campus ranked as one of the most politically active in the United States. Maureen Shanahan, interim director of the Honors Program, is a faculty fellow for the Gandhi Center. “JMU has a lot of students dedicated to community action and public service,” Shanahan says. “Dr. Mittal is tapping into an energy that already exists at JMU.”

William Hawk, head of the university’s religion department and a Gandhi Center faculty fellow, claims the center is vital to the university because “it is a 21st century manifestation of the 18th century ideals of James Madison.”

But are Madison’s ideals outdated? In today’s society, it may seem as if nonviolence has no place. We are obsessed with quickness, efficiency and strength, and the fastest way to get things done seems to be with guns and bombs. “Nonviolence and peace may have become unfashionable, but that does not make them any less relevant,” Mittal says. “The most powerful force is the force that exerts the least effort. Gandhi saw the power of the weak and the soft. Water is soft, pliable, always seeking the lowest points. Yet water can also carve canyons and change shorelines. Its power is in its apparent weakness.”

But how do you change tradition, break barriers, fight prejudice and stereotypes?

“How do you change core beliefs? How do you change the hearts of others,” Mittal asks. “Nonviolent struggle requires the greatest personal courage. It is about self-sacrifice. It is about self-discipline. It is about self-suffering.”

But it can’t be done alone. “Change begins with individuals, but merely proving that change is possible is not sufficient to mobilize others,” Mittal says. “One must also motivate them to act by inspiring them with a vision of how life could be better. No political structures can maintain itself for long when the masses refuse to give it support.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. once said we ignore Gandhi’s philosophy at our own risk. “Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness,” King said. “Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation. And I want to thank God for allowing me to be here with you.”