Thousands of Iran citizens have arrived in Tehran to protest what they believe was an unfair election. Incumbent President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad won the presidential election in a landslide, but many in Iran who voted for Mir Hossein Moussavi believe that the election was rigged. The protests seemed to have started peacefully, but have now turned violent as the government is using brutal tactics to subdue the protesters.
I wonder if the protester's use of violence will impact the world's perception of their cause.
Recently, I've been reading a lot of books on nonviolence. Books by Wink, Roth, Kurlansky, Brimlow, Yoder, and MLK. One of the key insights I gained in MLK's autobiography was the issue of moral high ground in the practice of nonviolence (an issue Kurlansky touched on as well.) Basically, it's the idea that once the aggressor can provoke or bait the protesters into violence, they've already won. At that point, the moral cause of the protestor is lost in the sea of violence. If the world sees videos of protestors attacking riot police, rioting stores, or beating each other, the world will see the brutality of police as somewhat justified, regardless of the justness of their cause. Simply put: if the protestors are violent, when the world looks on Tehran, it sees a fight. If the protesters remain peaceful in spite of the violence done to them, when the world looks on Tehran, it sees a violent government trampling the rights of it's citizens.
This is what I believe is one of the greatest strengths of nonviolence. It keeps the moral/justice issue at the forefront.
In a global culture, world pressure and world perception is a major motivator. When the world looks on a situation in which an oppressor is violent against peaceful people seeking justice, it looks on the cause favorably. No government, including the one in Iran, wants to be viewed as unjust or backwards. If the protesters in Tehran can remain nonviolent, as the world watches, Iran will be pressured into 1) not using violence against peaceful protestors because it looks awful, and 2) giving its citizens the justice they seek. Of course, not that they necessarily WANT to give them justice, but what else can you do with hundreds and thousands of protestors if you're not violent with them?
I don't know if the election was a fraud. Many people in Iran seem to think it was. Either way, the best way for the protesters to get the justice they seek is to remain nonviolent.
I've recently come to the conclusion that nonviolence is the way of Christ. But the more I see situations like this, I'm convinced that it also works. Maybe Jesus knew what he was talking about after all.
