Principles of Non-Violence, Part 9 (The Man in the Mirror #30)

Today, we are going to begin looking at the sixth principle of nonviolence which is as follows:

Nonviolence believes that the universe is on the side of justice.
• The nonviolent resister has deep faith that justice will eventually win.

Unfortunately, righteousness and truth does not always triumph in our world. If it were, slavery would never have happened, wars would not occur, racism would not have been deeply entrenched in our society, and people would not feel as though they have to fight for fair treatment and equal justice under the law. However, the lack of justice or fairness or equality in the world is no excuse to resort to violence. That only compounds the problem. 

Instead, we must have faith that God sees all, and that God will eventually reward those who do good and punish those who do evil. Beyond man’s sinful nature, we do not understand why injustices are allowed to happen in the world. And, at times, it may seem useless to fight against injustice and unfairness. However, if our cause is right, then we should never give up the fight. We should keep the faith. It may take a long time for justice to be realized, but as long as God is on His throne, no one will be able to get away with wrongdoing, hatred, racism, violence, and unfair treatment of others. As Martin Luther King Jr. said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”

In the speech he delivered the night before he was assassinated, Dr. King told the audience, “I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land.” He had faith that, even though he may not live to see a society where blacks and whites are seen as equal under the law, it would undoubtedly come to pass. Why?...