Saturday, December 7, 2013

Can you recommend me two wonderful examples of pacifist speeches? I need arguments in favor of a more pacifist and neutral world.

Here are two speeches advocating pacifism and nonviolence: On Mind and Thought, by J. Krishnamurti, and the Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech, by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. 
In On Mind and Thought, Krishnamurti argues that, in order to solve the problem of violence in society, we must look within ourselves as individuals. According to Krishnamurti, the violence of the outside world is merely a reflection, or projection, of the inner-turmoil and violence each of us faces internally. 
For Krishnamurti, pacifism requires first the courage and honesty to take a look within:

So having looked at the world... the suffering, the brutality, the violence... [i]f you can put away all that, then we can look at ourselves. And to look at ourselves requires seriousness, because what you have denied outwardly is what you are inwardly.

On Mind and Thought emphasizes the personal and psychological dimensions of societal violence: "[W]e are very violent," Krishnamurti claims, "we are deceptive. We have various kinds of masks that we put on." Until we begin to address these psychological forms of violence and deception, we are hopeless in the face of societal greed, violence, and brutality. 
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech argues for pacifism and nonviolence as tools for progressive social change: "Civilization and violence are antithetical concepts." He also states,

Negroes of the United States... have demonstrated that nonviolence is not sterile passivity, but a moral force which makes for social transformation.

In his acceptance speech, Dr. King argues that true and lasting fundamental social change can only be reached via nonviolent means, because violence is necessarily alienating and divisive. The goal of social change, according to Dr. King, is to progressively move toward a beloved community in which all people are accepted, nurtured, and granted full human dignity.
http://www.drmartinlutherkingjr.com/nobelpeaceprize.htm

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