Last week Lois and I watched the film Suffragette: an extremely powerful portrayal of one woman’s part in the non-violent struggle for women’s rights; and, interestingly, a pertinent exploration of the parallel processes of alienation and grooming that accompany any form of radicalisation. The main (fictional) character, Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan), gradually finds the courage to speak out and act against the violence, abuse and oppression that she and so many of her contemporaries were suffering in early 20th century Britain.
Alongside the grim reality of gross injustice, and the moving, personal story of one family, what struck me most in all of this was the powerful testimony to the courage required of a non-violent struggle against oppression. While the suffragettes may have gone beyond non-violent resistence in some of their methods, the testimony of many of them stands strong. This is a testimony mirrored in the lives of people like Mahatma Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King, Oscar Romero, Aung San Suu Kyi, Malala Yousafzai, or the unknown man who, on June 5th, 1989, stood in front of a column of tanks in Tian an Men square.
Continue reading “Satyagraha – A forgotten stream of true spirituality”