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by Renee Soulie

Satyagraha
Truth and Persuasion
Taking the moral stance over the political rules that govern can be traced back further than Christ, who professed one should turn the other cheek rather than do violence. We can look back to the Greek dramatists to find earlier examples of personal conflicts between moral laws and the laws of man. To do what is right and be willing to pay the price in order to adhere to a higher truth has many examples, of which Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi and Dr. Martin Luther King are best known to more recent generations. Sophocles gave us Antigone who chooses to disobey the mandate of Creon, the king, who dictates that her brother may not be buried. Knowing the heavy price she will pay, nonetheless she disobeys, stating, "The time in which I must please those that are dead is longer than I must please those of this world. For there I shall lie forever." (Sophocles, "Antigone" 86-88). The culmination and downfall of Creon presents us with the truth that moral law will eventually supersede human law.

Two thousand years later Gandhi demonstrated the universal and timeless truth of this with simple and beautiful words: "All through history truth and love have always won, tyrants always fall."

Gandhi lived his truth and used non-violent non-cooperation, successfully bringing about many changes and ultimately independence from British rule. Gandhi termed his system of non-violent deeds Satyagraha or "Truth-force." One of the methods was civil disobedience, but by civil he also meant to behave with civility, not simply disobedience against Civil Authority which is more how Thoreau applied Civil disobedience. This practice of civil disobedience often resulted in Gandhi being arrested and imprisoned on more than one occasion. This was an integral part of his plan. His own words to best explain why.

"I care so deeply about this matter that I'm willing to take on the legal penalties, to sit in this prison cell, to sacrifice my freedom, in order to show you how deeply I care. Because when you see the depth of my concern,and how 'civil' I am in going about this, you're bound to change your mind about me, to abandon your rigid, unjust position, and to let me help you see the truth of my cause."

While the British Raj may not have had a change of heart, the wide spread non-cooperation that Gandhi instilled in his followers did have an impact on the British Government.