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Informationen zum Autor Joseph Kosek Klappentext In response to horrific mass slaughter! American religious radicals of the twentieth century developed a distinctly modern form of nonviolence based on the public performance of individual moral action. Combining religious themes of suffering and redemption with new uses of mass media! these rebels' audacious "acts of conscience" included sit-ins! boycotts! labor strikes! and conscientious objection to war. Their efforts! greatly influenced by the ideas of Mohandas Gandhi! gained a unique power by balancing principle and pragmatism. Although radical pacifists' work failed to cleanse the world of violent acts! the Christian nonviolent tradition posed a fundamental! and still relevant! challenge to the American political and religious mainstream. From World War I to the ascendance of Martin Luther King Jr.! Joseph Kip Kosek traces the impact of A. J. Muste! Bayard Rustin! and other radical Christian pacifists on American democratic theory and practice. He locates the early rise of militant nonviolence as a response to industrial conflict and racial terror in the United States! as well as fascism! communism! imperialism! and total war abroad. Religious pacifists found little hope in the secular ideologies of Wilsonian Progressivism! revolutionary Marxism! and New Deal liberalism! which all embraced organized killing at one time or another. Christian nonviolence! in contrast! offered a bold critique of the use of deadly force by liberal democratic societies! even against Nazism and racism. As Kosek makes clear! the Christian nonviolent tradition provides a foundation for contemplating and combating the recurring problem of violence today. Zusammenfassung In response to the massive bloodshed that defined the twentieth century! American religious radicals developed a modern form of nonviolent protest! one that combined Christian principles with new uses of mass media. Greatly influenced by the ideas of Mohandas Gandhi! these "acts of conscience" included sit-ins! boycotts! labor strikes! and conscientious objection to war. Beginning with World War I and ending with the ascendance of Martin Luther King Jr.! Joseph Kip Kosek traces the impact of A. J. Muste! Richard Gregg! and other radical Christian pacifists on American democratic theory and practice. These dissenters found little hope in the secular ideologies of Wilsonian Progressivism! revolutionary Marxism! and Cold War liberalism! all of which embraced organized killing at one time or another. The example of Jesus! they believed! demonstrated the immorality and futility of such violence under any circumstance and for any cause. Tracing the rise of militant nonviolence across a century of industrial conflict! imperialism! racial terror! and international warfare! Kosek recovers radical Christians' remarkable stance against the use of deadly force! even during World War II and other seemingly just causes. His research sheds new light on an interracial and transnational movement that posed a fundamental! and still relevant! challenge to America's political and religious mainstream. ...
