Nonviolence

Nonviolence is the personal practice of being harmless to self and others under every condition. It comes from the belief that hurting people, animals or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and refers to a general philosophy of abstention from violence based on moral, religious or spiritual principles.

Mahavira (599 BCE–527 BCE), the twenty-fourth tirthankara of the Jain religion, was the torch-bearer of "ahimsa" and introduced the word to the world and applied the concept in his own life. He taught that to attain nirvana, one must abstain from violence.

Nonviolence also has 'active' or 'activist' elements, in that believers accept the need for nonviolence as a means to achieve political and social change. Thus, for example, the Tolstoy and Gandhian non violence is a philosophy and strategy for social change that rejects the use of violence, but at the same time sees nonviolent action (also called civil resistance) as an alternative to passive acceptance of oppression or armed struggle against it. In general, advocates of an activist philosophy of nonviolence use diverse methods in their campaigns for social change, including critical forms of education and persuasion, mass noncooperation, civil disobedience, nonviolent direct action, and social, political, cultural and economic forms of intervention.

Non-Violence (sculpture)

Non-Violence is a bronze sculpture by Swedish artist Carl Fredrik Reuterswärd of an oversized Colt Python .357 Magnum revolver with a knotted barrel and the muzzle pointing upwards. Carl made this sculpture after singer, songwriter and peace activist John Lennon was murdered.

There are currently 17 copies of the sculpture around the world, ten of them in Sweden. They are placed in:

Located in The Museum of Sketches in Lund, Sweden, is a sketch of the firearm where Reuterswärd has written that the grieving after Lennon and Bob Crane were murdered inspired him to design this artwork.

Since 1993, the sculpture is the symbol of The Non-Violence Project, a nonprofit organization, promoting social change with violence prevention education programs.

Gallery

Malmö

Malmö

Täby

Täby

Borås. A M1911 pistol, rather than a revolver

Borås. A M1911 pistol, rather than a revolver

Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm

Stockholm

Halmstad

Halmstad

Caen