Nevada Desert Experience :: Programs

Page Contents
Commitment to Nonviolence
Non-Violence Covenant
Celebrating Nonviolence
Living Examples and Analyses of Nonviolenct Campaigns
Nonviolence Resources

- Commitment to Nonviolence -

While visiting the Nevada Test Site in 1991, Dom Helder Camara said, "This is the scene of the greatest violence on Earth. It should therefore be the place of the greatest acts of nonviolence."

Nevada Desert Experience is committed to a nonviolent campaign of change. Our work seeks to connect issues and humanize the many victims of nuclear testing and war-making. A peaceful paradigm will only come into its fullness when we make love our first motion.

Nonviolence trainings are a traditional part of our organizing of actions. NDE Coordinator, Jim Haber, has been facilitating nonviolence trainings and workshops for nearly 30 years. Many Nevada Desert Experience staff and Board members are nonviolence training facilitators including Janet Chisholm (jgchisholm@aol.com) and the organization she helped found, Creating a Culture of Peace.

We most often utilize the curriculum developed by Pace e Bene Nonviolence Service, known as From Violence to Wholeness. We encourage you to visit their website if you are interested in nonviolence trainings. They coordinate regular trainings and may be able to organize a specific training in your community upon request.
Of particular note are:
Starting Points for Nonviolence (pdf)
Responses to Violence (pdf)
The Decalogue for a Spirituality of Nonviolence (pdf)
Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Principles of Nonviolence (pdf)

At each of our witness actions our participants agree to a nonviolence covenant of engagement, so that our action may be carried out in a communal vision.

Download this document in [ WORD //////// PDF ]

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- Nonviolence Covenant -

As a participant, I agree to abide by the following nonviolent discipline, and as part of the preparation for this NDE witness, I will reflect on these commitments:

• We will harbor no anger but suffer the anger of the opponent.
The term" opponent" is borrowed from Gandhi and is meant to indicate one with whom we are in opposition but whom we do not consider to be an enemy.
• We will refuse to return the assaults of the opponent.
• We will refrain from insults and swearing.
• We will protect opponents from insults or attack.
• Plans for our activities are shared with the "authorities."
The term "authorities" is meant to indicate those who feel they have rights to enforce their ideology of "business-as-usual" and/or laws that enable corporate and government violence and mischief. They are folks whom we do not consider to be an enemies, and they stand in the way of our reaching out to our opponents in love..
• If arrested, we will not resist.
• If arrested, we will behave in an exemplary manner. We will not evade the legal consequences of our actions.
• As members of the nonviolent demonstration, we will follow the directions of the designated coordinators. In the event of a serious disagreement, one should remove oneself from the action.
• Our attitude as conveyed through words, symbols and actions will be one of openness, friendliness, and respect toward all people we encounter, including police officers and Nevada Test Site workers.
• We will not damage any property.
• We will not bring or use any drugs or alcohol.
• We will not run or use any threatening motions.
• We will carry no weapons.
• We will not engage in symbolic blood pouring.

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- Celebrating Nonviolence -

• The Ediger Memorial Celebration of Active Nonviolence (2012)
• Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial Events (see events archive)

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- Living Examples and Analyses of Nonviolent Campaigns -

• Waging Nonviolence: People-Powered News and Analysis

• Why Civil Resistance Works: The Strategic Logic of Nonviolent Conflict by Erica Chenoweth and Maria J. Stephan

• A Force More Powerful: Bringing Down a Dictator, A Force More Powerful, The Orange Revolution and other films and resources.

• 2008 War Resisters League Peace Calendar: Salaam, Shalom, Solh: Nonviolence & Resistance in the Middle East & Beyond edited by Jim Haber

• How Terrorist Groups End: Lessons for Countering al Qa'ida by Seth G. Jones, Martin C. Libicki (RAND Corporation, 2008)

• Civilian Jihad: Nonviolent Struggle, Democratization, and Governance in the Middle East edited by Maria J. Stephan (Palgrave Macmillan, December 2009)

• Unarmed Insurrections: People Power Movements in Nondemocracies by Kurt Schock (University of Minnesota Press, 2004)

Cultures of Peace: The Hidden Side of History by Elise Boulding (Syracuse University Press, 2000)

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- Nonviolence Resources -

Here are some nonviolence resources collected to aid in trainings during the Occupy Movement of Fall, 2011. They were used by NDE during nonviolence trainings and discussions as part of Occupy Las Vegas. While less philosophical than several of NDE's nonviolence codes and resources, these ideas are very helpful for people to stay grounded in tense situations, and to be prepared when speaking out publicly for our causes. - Jim Haber, Coordinator

howtooccupy.org
An outstanding site with a host of training suggestions and agendas, commentaries and other resources which will be invaluable for people power movements to come.

ACLU Guides for Demonstrators (2 page - Wisconsin) (3 page - Michigan)

Staying Safe & Sensible in Action
by Scott Weinstein
A piece from 2003, but still timely and thought-provoking, as well as illuninating with different scenarios people might want to think about before coming to a street demonstration that may or may not involve conflict with police:
Rant Trainers Collective (archive)

Throwing Out the Master’s Tools and Building a Better House:
No Room for Violence in the Occupy Revolution
by Rebecca Solnit
A thoughtful and well-referenced piece by MacArthur Foundation "Genius" awardee, and author of Savage Dreams (A Journey into the Hidden Wars of the American West). Especially useful for people who are interested in a "diversity of tactics."
Read it at commondreams.org

Open Letter to the Occupy Movement: Why We Need Agreements
Alliance of Community Trainers, ACT
by Starhawk, Lisa Fithian and Lauren Ross (Juniper)
These three long-standing, front-line organizers and activists have been in numerous situations where police and demonstrators clashed and were able to help shift the dynamic at times to deescalate situations and create powerful and safer actions. Advice from wise women.
Read it at trainersalliance.org

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