Jesus and Nonviolent Conflict. What can the church do?

This week, friend and colleague Heap called and invited me to give a sermon at his church on Sunday, the Philadelphia Cambodian Evangelical Church. I thought I'd post it...

Good morning, my name is Chris, and my family Samantha, Patrick and Isaac and I lived and worked in Cambodia for 7 years with Heap and Jennifer as part of InnerChange. As an Australian I experienced what it is like to be a foreigner – someone who looks different to most other people – very white and very tall, who doesn't speak the language on the street and who never seems to understand what is really going on around me. As a foreigner I felt less in control of my life. I had to rely on others to tell me how to do very small things, like where the market is and how to bargain when I get there, where the post office is, how to ride a moto dope without falling off, and how to speak a new language.

While this experience was difficult at times, it really was a wonderful blessing. It gave me insight into the concerns that Jesus had for the people around him, living under a military occupation, and in a time when there were huge differences between the rich and poor, those who own land and those who work the land, and those who were considered worthy worshipers of God and those who were considered as unimportant.

So I want to speak humbly this morning. This is a topic that I'm very passionate about. And perhaps we can consider this the beginning of a conversation. I don't know where this conversation will lead, but I offer this to your community for prayer and consideration.

1. Understanding Power

I train people in nonviolent action. I help them to see the world through the eyes of nonviolence.

The basic idea of nonviolence is that there is a special kind of power that resides within people that can stand up to guns, police, tanks and dictators simply because all these things require people for their power to be effective.

When people give their consent, and accept the legitimacy of a person, or a company or government, then that person, company or government has power over them. But if they don't, then they have no power.

Now, power can be used for good things. To provide education, hospitals, roads, transportation, access to food and drink, electricity, for communities to work together and support one another.

Power can also be used for oppression, injustice and discrimination.

We've all experienced the good use of power and the oppressive use of power. In fact, each one of us uses power every day. Sometimes for good purposes. Sometimes in ways that don't take into account that our actions will hurt others.

Evictions and Nonviolent Resistance

Dara is a 16 year-old young man. His family are members of InnerChange and serve on the Cambodia team in Kampot city. Our families were team together for 7 years.

Dara contacted me on Facebook a week or so ago saying that their English class is reading The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck and it's theme of structural injustice was related to my work with Cambodian activists. Would I come and speak to his class about my work?

I decided that I wanted to make use of my emerging pedagogy of experiental training.

The Mattress Game

My main concern was that I didn't know the participants at all and what their familiarity with nonviolence might be. I guessed that being young they would be more likely to be drawn to exciting political events and have some knowledge of the recent and ongoing Arab Spring, but I didn't want to risk relying on that assumption.

After connecting my laptop to the large screen TV and a short introduction by Dara, I mentioned my work with Cambodian activists who were trying to resist injustice and oppression and that, just as in the Grapes of Wrath, knowing where to identify the source of injustice can be quite difficult.

I briefly introduced the 3 main forms of nonviolent action: protest and persuasion, noncooperation and nonviolent intervention, giving several examples of each. I then asked the group, 14 students, to number off (remember, if you want 6 groups have them count off to 6) and arrange themselves in their groups. I handed out the descriptions of sources of power from The Mattress Game and went through each one. Then asked them to watch the following video on Cambodia 101 East Cambodia Land Grab part 1 with their particular pillar in mind.

At this point I was feeling nervous. I felt I'd given a whole lot of information and wasn't sure if they were with me or not. I started the documentary and sat down to watch it. I watched the students throughout the video and as far as I could see they were engaged.

Afterwards I asked each group to report back what they observed from each pillar perspective (Authority, Human Resources, Skills and Knowledge, Material Resources, Intagible Factors and Sanctions). Each group shared what they saw and demonstrated a good grasp on the various pillars. Few! I hadn't raced beyond their capacity, and infact, they were proving to be insightful young teenagers.

I invited everyone into the large space where the mattress was waiting for us. I asked each group to think for a moment, if you were to counter your source of power with a nonviolent action what kinds of actions can you think of? We spent a moment then I asked if anyone was having trouble. One group put up their hands and we brainstormed possible actions for this. I think I ended up suggesting one. I think next time I could open this up to the whole group for suggestions. I wasn't sure how this part would go, either, and is why I did the opening introduction to the 3 forms of nonviolence and give everyone a chance to think about different actions they'd come across.

One person from each group lifted up the mattress above their heads. And one-by-one each group announced the action they would use to counter their source of power and removed the pillar. “A prayer vigil”, “sitting in front of a bulldozer”, “blocking a road” … . As each pillar was removed the pillars left had to move around as the balance shifted. Finally, the last pillar was left balancing the mattress (a stiff spring mattress) on top of her head. As she left, the mattress fell to the floor.

We stood in a semi-circle around the fallen mattress and began debriefing the exercise. I asked people what they noticed about the excerice? “Small actions add up to a big effect” was one reply, “power really does rest on people's consent to an authority,” was another. What did people holding the mattress notice? “As pillars were removed we had to shift around a lot to keep the balance.” As the reflection came I spent time affirming them and at times expanding on them, giving some examples of how I saw that in Cambodia or a reference to The Grapes of Wrath. What did you feel in the exercise? One tall youth said, “I felt like a traitor! But when the mattress fell I felt so happy.” Wow. What an incredible insight into the psychology of unjust power.

At that point time was up. I thanked everyone for their participation and they thanked me with a surprising (and pleasing!) amount of applause.

Why I Joined the Green Walk for Jobs and Justice