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The Practice of Non-violence in Muticultural Perspective
35.
tradition. Second, when these teachings are grounded in practice--- that is, when they become not merely "head trips" but "foot trips" as well individuals are empowered and society is transformed.
The legacy of Dr. King's leadership in challenging the evils of racism and intolerance in the United State is incalculable. Had he lived beyond 1968 one can only guess at the ways in which his vision and courage might have continued to benefit persons of all racial and ethnic backgrounds. For present-day Jains living in North America and for others sympathetic to the principles of non-violencethis should give pause for reflection, Ahimsā, though based on metaphysical assumptions that are culturally and historically distinct from European ideologies, may well be the key required to transform a violent, meterialistic, obsessively consumptive society. A society transformed according to the intention of Ahimsā would affirm life and balance competition with cooperation. Its members would find fulfillment through empowering the development of all peoples and through conserving the riches of the biosphere. What follows is a brief exploration of the nature of this challenge within the context of North America and some reflections on the resources that will be required to begin this task.
Inasmuch as the quincentenary of Christopher Columbus'"discovery" of the New World was observed last October 12, it is appropriate to consider the significance of this European presence for American civilization that would follow. Wecan only speculate about what Columbus and his men might have envisioned for their relationship with the local Arawak people when they disembarked upon either Samana cay or San Salvador. What we do know is that in the first few hours of their arrival a process began which we now regard as as incursion. Under the entrancement of an avaricious quest for material wealth, the spanish appropriated the people as well as whatever goods they could carry. In his brief but insightful series of lectures entitled The Rediscovery of North America, Barry Lopez writes : "What followed for decades upon this discovery were the acts of criminals murder, rape, theft, kidnapping, vandalism, child molestation, acts of cruelty, torture, and humiliation."4 Bartolome de las Casas, having arrived in Hispaniola in 1502, later recorded his eyewitness account of the inhumanities and barbarisms which were the result of " continuous recreational slaughter."
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