The Balance Beam

Last night,
I wanted to stay forever asleep,
In the temple of my dreams.

Where our souls where one,
And we ran as one,
Over the hills of adversity

And far away,
Down in the lake of morning love,
Where we broke bread with God

And dreamed as one,
As how sweet our lives would be,
If we stayed as one,

Flesh tan by the golden sun,
Souls naked, having fun
Swimming through the oceanic mystery

With one and only one,
Sacred Pact
To Act

Solely out of unwavering love,
For the union,
And the children to come.




But then this morning I woke
To a screeching alarm
Late for class

With a stinking wet ass,
and in this abrupt ending
It was revealed

That this high vision was sealed,
Only in my indigo imagination,
It was not real enough

To come true
Until possibily I made due,
On my holy promise

To be a running Thomas,
And wait ever so patiently
On Fate

To give me a date
With the women with whom
I'd like to mate.

Only then could we see
That if in this divine mystery,
The two of us were meant to be,

Or merely the one-way wish,
Of a lonely poet
Content to dream

And not walk the difficult
Balance beam,
Of a life grounded in reality.

Waiting in Vain

My new favorite song right now is Bob Marley's "Waiting in Vain". The sound is very soothing but the reason why it's number 1 right now is because of the lyrical content. "I don't want to wait in vain for your love" is exactly the way I feel about this girl Maggie Cross ( fictionalized name of course). She's the only girl I've ever asked to be my girlfriend and although she said "no" I thought we had a pretty magical friendship. She used to go to sleep with my book UP ALL NIGHT by her bedside. We had great talks and I thought ( and I wasn't alone here) that we had pretty great chemistry. She loved my comedic sense and was a huge fan of my way with words. She told me two things. One, that she'd always be my friend. Two, she'd never ignore my phone calls. Now, I'm not sure if those words have the ring of truth to them. When she said she'd never return my phone calls, I'm sure she was sincere at the time. She had a habit of ignoring guy's phone calls she wasn't interested in and told me that she "would never do that to me". I guess times and circumstances change because she's been ignoring my phone calls for the last six months. Although I'm not sure of the precise reason why, I guess I can speculate. I've noticed that most girls in their young twenty's don't want serious committed relationships and maybe she saw signs that I was getting too serious. I can see how she would think that but we were never dating and I repeatedly pulled the friend card...especially after she denied my facebook request for an open relationship (which I pursued only after the advice of a teacher that knew us both). She told me via IM when we were overseas that she needed a good talk with me because she was starting to go crazy overseas and that I helped her out a lot enough though I was an ocean away. Perhaps it's my physical stature which I'll admit is less than impressive. I'm 5'8, 290. I thought she was authentic enough not to let that fact dampen our friendship but maybe at this point in her life she has no interest in returning the phone calls of a short, chubby virgin. Maybe it's the fact that I've tried to get her to seek treatment for her eating disorder. Perhaps the eating disorder is warping her reality and she can no longer see the deep rooted value of our friendship. Whatever the reason for breaking her word and ignoring my phone calls, it has me very dissapointed. I don't want to wait in vain for her love and it doesn't even have to be erotic love. I miss her agape--the love that flows from God through people. I miss having a girl there I could just talk to, be myself around, and feel like I had a real friend in. She once thanked me for feeling amazing about herself and repeatedly told me that she missed me. Well those days are no more and I can't even figure out why. Maybe I changed. I doubt it though, I've always been honest, sincere, sarcastic, and sweet around her. Maybe she changed. That could be since I haven't spoken to her for more than two minutes in a good while. I just don't know. Like the great game of life, our friendship is becoming more and more mysterious but I know that I don't want to wait in vain for her agape. I'm a very patient man and this is a real test for me. I wrote this poem shortly after she started ignoring my phone calls and facebook messages. I think it pretty much captures what happenned.

I knew a bulimic girl

I knew a bulimic girl who
Let me into her heart
I gave her soul food
When she was hungry
And each day she grew strong

I tried to give her more
But she got full
Stuck her finger down her throat
And spit me out.

That's the way I feel. Like I was food--nutrition, medicine for her and like real food she spit me out when she was full. Girls from this generation are a pretty difficult bunch and this bulimic sweetheart has me torn. Should I just wait for her to come around? Or should I just move on because I'll be waiting in vain? I guess my best strategy would be, first and foremost, to get physically fit once again. This way I can attract more girls and give myself more dreams to pursue. Plus, if she sees me again she might have to reconsider ignoring my calls. If i see her though, I don't know whether or not I should be just and tell her straight up that I think she's been a horrible friend to me lately or should I be Christian and forgive her on the spot. That's always been a real challenge for me, whether or not to be just or merciful. I guess we'll have to wait and see how the future unfolds. I do know this though, waiting in vain for her love is something I absolutely do not want to do.

Truth: What the Doctor Ordered

Well today, September 28th, 2006 is the first time, yes the first time since March of 2003 that I've got an article published in an actual newspaper. Today, my article is featured in the opinions section of the Gettysburgian. In honor of my return to mainstream media, I've decided post, stream of consciousness style, a brief meditation on a very important mantra, courtesy of Dr.Suess, that I have began to see the universal truth in.


"Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind."



Say what you feel

As I've started to flex my literay muscle in the general direction of the modern matrix, publishing in the Gettysburgian, putting Confession under critical review in creative writing class, as well as submitting my first full-length manuscpript, "God must be Love!" to publishers, the supremacy of this quotation as a ethical mantra has become clear. We can't- we can't supress our trueselves and be submissive and apologetic on the page - afraid to speak what treasures lie in our inner depths. For if we do, we're not doing our gift of free speech, our founders dream for America, justice. If we're not doing the dream of our founder's justice we might as well not even call ourselves American. And if we don't call ourselves America we might as well continue to supress saying what we feel out of fear of potential negative reactions and judgments and move to France.

Be who you are

In the Book of Daniel, God calls all of his creation- trees, dolphins, squirrels, sunflowers, fish, humans, etc. to worship him. The way we do this, according to the large black deacon whose program I was watching, cracked out beyond belief at 6:30 AM today, is, and this makes perfect sense, by being the creatures we were created to be. The Dolphins under this sensical logic worship God by being Dolphins. Squirrels by being squirrels. Fish by being Fish. Humans by being human- showing emotion, laughing, loving, living strong, and not try to be anything but. In a more specific sense, writers worship God by being writers- unapologetic, critical thinking, and never afraid to say what they legitimately feel on the page. They don't worship God by being pacifists. They don't worship God by being saints. They worship God by being the writer- society's bold voice of honesty and conscience.

Because...

Those who mind don't matter
Especially those people who tell you that when they "hated your story" and "hated your character" (which was based on you) That they "rooted for the cops to send your sorry ass to jail", "couldn't believe that you mentioned your name in the same sentence as Jesus", and "were simply a chemically imbalanced lunatic". Those people, despite their piercing criticism, must be regarded as irrelevant if you wish to truly be yourself. They don't matter and if they can't respect your unapologetic honesty then there's simply no hope. "Worry about what others think, you become there slave". Moral: Don't censor yourself out of fear of being judged by finite creatures. Only God, the infinite Creator, can cast ultimate judgmements for he is the only ONE that is eternally wise. Therefore, STOP BEING A FUCKING PUSSY AND SPEAK YOUR MIND. Challenge conventional thought. Be yourself.

And The One's that Matter Don't Mind

Of course. Your friends love you for the unique beacon of blackouts that you truly are. Therefore, they don't care if you speak your mind and be yourself. We wouldn't want anything different.

Farcical Monologues from a Funny Philosopher and Facebook Wall Decorator

Farcical Monologues from a Funny Philosopher and Facebook Wall Decorator
By: Sarah M and Lyle Brennen

The following monologues are addressed to a third party, Truth. The FWD was instructed to discuss an acquaintance named “John”, while “John” was asked to discuss himself.

The Facebook Wall Decorator: John’s a complete psycho. He’s always talking about the Buddha, and philosophy, and the meaning of life. Why can’t he just be normal like everyone else? He doesn’t even have a cell phone!

The Funny Philosopher: I would classify myself as what Bob Marley called a “Natural Mystic”. I realize that I can’t know how exactly the world works, so I just relax and let myself be awestruck by it… The power of love, the feeling I get when I look into a beautiful girls’ eyes, the chills I feel when I watch hero stories on TV, the warmth I receive when I do a good deed- all these word-transcendent affections seem to connect me to something much larger than myself, much, much larger than the mundane world of 9-5’s we live in. I don’t know the nature of this larger reality but I am in awe of it. And although these sublime connections don’t happen each and every day, I live for them- they give my life depth and meaning.

The Facebook Wall Decorator: Oh my God! John is such a loser. One time, at a keg party, he and his buddy started talking in all these big words about really weird stuff right by the friggin’ keg. So I was like, “what are you two dorks talking about?” and they were like “meta-physics?...or something stupid like that. So I said, “Just shut up and get drunk!”, and they said, “ Just drink up and give John Michael Fava a handjob!” So I just walked away and let them talk about their stupid philosophies for the rest of the night.

The Funny Philosopher: Socrates once said, “The unexamined life is not worth living” and I hold that statement to be my creed. “Why are we here?”, “How can we achieve true happiness”, “Is there life after death?”, “What’s the meaning of life?”, I often ponder. I’ve found that it’s not necessarily finding a definite answer to these deeply human questions that really matters but rather the process of searching itself because just searching- just sitting down and thinking with all your head and all your heart- makes you a better person because of the hard work and depth of thought it requires. Personally, I think the meaning of life is to live a meaningful life but that’s just the product of my search, not a definite universal. However, I never would have adopted such a life-shaping attitude had I not spent the time and energy to critically reflect in the midst of this consumer-crazed, instant pleasure seeking culture.

The Facebook Wall Decorator: I don’t know why John can’t just be normal and get drunk, party, and look for “random play” just like everyone else. Uggh he’s so lame, and did you see his facebook profile? It has a link to his blog which is called, “What the Flip: Conscientious Objections to a Cock-Smoking Culture”…pathetic. Under ‘religious views” it says Transcendentalist. And interests, oh my God,- physics and handjobs! Ugggh, that boy needs to be institutionalized.
The Funny Philosopher: I definetly understand that I am not your average 21st century college student, but I take such status as a compliment. I am not afraid to be moral in a culture that thinks God is dead. I’m not embarrassed to be a Romantic in a sea of sexual predators. I don’t feel restrained to be who I am and say what I think because I realize (Suess) that the one’s who mind don’t matter and the one’s who matter don’t mind. I’m not too timid to tell my mother that I love her. Call me a loser, call me crazy, but I think that the real loser is the scumbag who needs to take advantage of a blackout-ed freshmen on Saturday night to be happy for the next couple of weeks- the real lunatic is the person who never sits down, even if life’s greatest tragedies, to soul search- if only for a second, and instead TIVO’s the OC. Just because something’s the cultural norm doesn’t be it’s the right thing to do.

The Facebook Wall Decorator: Ok, here’s an example of why John is a total psycho. I was drunk off my ass walking down the street in the pouring rain after the bar calling people for a ride. Nobody was picking up. But then I saw John stopped a nearby red light with his buddies. The week before I had asked him like what it was like being different but only because I was trying to help him. So when I saw him and the red light and he said, “Amanda sweetie, do you need a ride” all nice and shit, I thought he was thankful for my free counseling and that maybe it worked. But then when I put my hands on the car door he said, “Thanks for calling me a psycho, bitch!” and then took off down the road before I could get into his car.

The Funny Philosopher: I don’t believe whole-heartedly in the God as traditionally portrayed by the Christian faith, however, I do sincerely believe in what the Ancient Greeks called a Logos, or rational order to the universe. From my observations and experience, the world is generally governed by a universal equation: the love you take is equal to the love you make. Bad shit happens to all of us good or bad, however, if he preserve and stay positive, keep the Golden Rule sovereign even in tough times, we’ll ultimately end up living very happy, successful (in the Emersonian sense) lives. If we do the opposite- than the results are reversed. Some call this concept Karma. And in this case I have a recent story of karma or divine justice. I was stopped at a red light in the pouring rain, when I saw that this girl Amanda that called me a “psycho” needed a ride and she was all drunk and wandering completely soaked. So I thought “Should I be a Christian, turn the other cheek to her piercing words, and give her a ride or should I be human and take off. Without reaching a verdict I said, “Amanda, sweetie do you need a ride…C’mon, get in.” like a true gentleman. But then when she put her hands on my car door I decided to choose Justice ( but still thanked her for calling me a psycho) and then took off into the night sky.
Dare. Dream. Discover. Peace God Bless!

The Facebook Wall Decorator: Drink. SmokeWeed. Get Ass. Do it for the money.




I affirm that I will uphold the highest principles of honesty and integrity in all my endeavors at Gettysburg College and foster an atmosphere of mutual respect within and beyond the classroom.

What makes us fortunate

One of the threads that links the human race is that none of us made the conscious decision to be here. Generally speaking, this isn't a bad thing. Many of us were a dream in the minds of our biological parents that inevitably became a reality as they gradually fell in love with each other and married. In this case our conception is the product of both careful planning and faith that we'll enjoy playing the game of life. And so although the decision to be born into this world wasn't ours, it's one that, generally speaking, we'll be glad that they made. In many other cases, however, the birth of a child isn't so Romantic. Oftentimes it's a nightmare- a product of sloppy attempts at contraception and ill thought out submission to desires of the flesh and nothing more. And it's the beginning of a very tragic cycle- one that perpetuates poverty, crime, and further children birthed without the backbone of true love.
So how to we fix this problem? How do we ensure that no children are recklessly concieved? Simple. We sterilize America's heavy population of assclowns. Just kidding, but not really. No we really can't fix the problem. We have abortion which as a male, I don't want to comment on; but that will never solve the perpetual problem of people making the decision to reproduce when they really can't care for oppspring both emotionally and financially. People will be horny, drunk, stupid, and reckless for many generations, maybe until the end of time unless social darwinism is real.
In light of the fact that we can't solve the societal cancer of reckless reproduction, perhaps a new, more relevant, question arises? What are our duties as people who weren't the oppspring of a one night stand- as people who were instead a dream written in the hearts of our two people deeply in love?
Duty #1: Never complain. By virtue of the fact that you were a dream that became a reality and had the backbone of true love behind it, you were born luckier than most people alive.
Duty #2: Don't Judge. Now by judging I don't mean reading peope, figuring out what they're about, but rather remembering the first line from Gatsby,When ever you feel like judging somebody just remember that they haven't had the same advantages of you.
Duty #3: Be happy. Fucked up shit happens all the time in this world but don't let the world bring you down. You're parents conceived you because they wanted you to be happy and share in the sweet symphony of life with them. You were born into loving arms- be happy. This world is not all there is and with a positive charge to your spirit you'll probably discover it. But even this seemingly unsensible world can be the utmost of blessings if you let the seed God planted in your heart grow by practicing an unwavering love towards creation. Be happy, like your parents intended.
Duty #4: Give back. You have an obligation to give back after receiving so, so much. It's only necessary if you wish to create a loving, more just world.
Suggested Choice: Have Kids. Pass on the love that your parents showered you with. Every child born into this world with great parents is an asset. Its not ethical to reproduce, however, without the foundation of two loving parents so if you can't find the right partner use contraceptives, pull out, masturbate, or go celibate. But if you can have kids go for it! Make a dream in the mind of you and your true love a reality and let that dream share in sweet mysteries of life the fortunate way, with two people's boundless love behind it.

An Exploration of Satyagraha

Lyle Brennen
Philosophy of Resistance
Professor Raj
4.26.06
Satyagraha: The Moral Way

For Gandhi, Truth and love or non-violence were deeply interrelated (Diwakar, 2). As a result, Gandhi connected these key concepts to form a political tool based on active resistance known as Satyagraha.
Literally translated, Satyagraha, which grew into Gandhi’s most effective tool of political resistance, roughly means "adherence to or insistence on Truth" (Diwakar, 1). Unlike any other contemporary tools of political resistance, Satyagraha is rooted in love for one's enemy and a living faith in both God and nonviolence to achieve political change (Diwakar, 1). Consequently, this paper will be an exploration of this innovative resistance tool.
In the first section, I will briefly outline the principles of Satyagraha to give the reader a better sense of this important political weapon's anatomy. In section two, I will get philosophical. In this section I plan to answer the following question, “What are the philosophical principles of Satyagraha that make it a moral alternative to violent resistance?” by arguing that the key principles of Satyagraha are in concert with the Golden Rule and therefore make it a moral alternative to violent resistance.

Section I
In order to gain a deeper understanding of the anatomy of Satyagraha, I believe it is necessary to understand the concept by which it is based-Truth.
Gandhi envisioned Truth as a universal and all-pervading spirit that we could only see by loving even the meanest of creatures as oneself. According to Gandhi, Truth pervades everything and cannot be kept out of any field of one's life (Gandhi, 504). Not everyone, however, can see Truth. According to fellow Satyagrahi, Ranganath Diwakar,
"Like knows like. Truth sees truth. Spirit realizes spirit...as long as we do not become true to ourselves, we cannot know truth. The ideal is to know the whole of truth, act according to it, and live wholly in it Truth is realizable, though it may never be fully realized in our mortal lives. We should strain every nerve to approach this ideal, every moment of our lives (Diwakar, 20)."
For Gandhi and other thinkers like Diwakar, Truth is an ideal to be deified and as a result- whole heartedly devoted to. In his autobiography Gandhi makes this clear by saying, "My uniform experience has convinced me that there is no God other than Truth (Gandhi, 503)". So clearly Truth is of utmost importance to Gandhi. And Satyagraha, by definition, is an insistence on or adherence to it and therefore an important instrument of political change to Gandhi.
By virtue of being an instrument of truth, Satyagraha is full of various truthful principles. One of these principles is ahimsa or refusal to inflict pain on others.
Gandhi believed ahimsa played a very important role in the Satyagrahi's ability to see Truth clearly and achieve self-realization. As he states in his autobiography, "But this much I can say with assurance, as a result of all of my experiments (with Truth), that a perfect vision of Truth can only follow a complete realization of ahimsa (Gandhi, 504).
So ahimsa serves two strategic purposes, one is the very practical refusal to cause bodily harm to your opponent. This lowers the potential for an endless cycle of blind violence. The other is to allow the Satyagrahi to achieve the clarity of mind. This will enable the Satyagrahi to see that which is true, right, and just.
Another key principle of Satyagraha is tapaysa or willingness to self sacrifice. In the world of the Satyagrahi, willingness to sacrifice one's life for the cause of non-violent resistance is the highest virtue (Diwakar, 25). It is based on a religious devotion to Truth that subordinates the Satyagrahi's own life to his non-violent cause and is, by nature, very virtuous. Oftentimes this self-sacrifice will included fasting, a non-violent tactic often used by Gandhi to achieve a political aim.
A final crucial principle of Satyagraha is satya or openness, honesty, and fairness-truth. Gandhi believed that satya was crucial to the success of his political reform methods. According to Gandhi secrecy was a form of violence. Consequently, he honestly announced the strategy and goals of his Satyagraha campaigns in the public eye, warmly addressing the British spies that he believed penetrated his meetings.
These main principles of Satyagraha- satya, ahimsa, and tapaysa are all based on a universal love for all living things springing from an "intuitive or mystical realization of the oneness of all life (Diwakar, 21). Consequently, the Satyagrahi, viewing all life as one, has no enemies-everyone is a friend or a brother. And since everyone is a friend and brother every act of resistance taken by the Satyagrahi is rooted in love. This is why Satyagraha is viewed by many to be a truly unique method of resistance.
Despite the fact that the interrelated concepts of Truth and love are the backbone of Satyagraha, it must be noted the Satyagraha is not for the weak but rather for the strong. And this shall be my final point with regards to Satyagraha. As Gandhi points out, "Satyagraha is a weapon of the strong; it admits of no violence under any circumstance whatever; and it ever insists upon truth (http://www.wilkapedia.org)/."
So in summary Satyagraha can be best described as an ethic rooted in a deep seated for love for all living things that strives to achieve just political changes through a religious devotion to what is true and divine. It is the weapon of the strong which requires a strong faith in God.
Now that we have briefly unearthed the basics principles and concepts of Satyagraha, I will progress to argue on behalf of its morality.
Section II
In order to reflect on the philosophical principles of Satyagraha (that I mapped out in section 1) and describe their connection to moral resistance, I believe that it is first necessary to establish a guiding rubric by which we judge morality. Once we have completed this goal, we will have a tool that we can use to evaluate the moral constitution of the philosophical principles of Satyagraha.
In light of moral relativism, some may argue that there is no guiding rubric by which we can judge morality. I, however, disagree. One particular moral ethic has been developed independently by all of the world's great religious traditions, East and West, therefore making it not culturally relative but rather universal. The ethic I speak of is The Golden Rule-the backbone of all ethical behavior.
Consequently, when evaluating the moral constitution of the philosophical principles of Satyagraha, we shall let the degree of the principles' adherence to the Golden Rule be our guide. It is a fundamental ethic in all of the world’s great religious traditions and therefore a divinely inspired, universal ethic of human behavior.
Having established the Golden Rule as our guiding principle of morality, I will now examine the philosophical principles of Satyagraha and argue that they are adherent to the Golden Rule and as result make Satyagraha a moral alternative to violent resistance.
Satyagraha, first and foremost, is rooted in Truth and non-violence which Gandhi argues stems from a realization of the oneness of life (Diwakar, 21). Therefore, the Satyagrahi never consciously does any action to harm any form of life as doing so would inevitably harm him and others and blind him in his realization of Truth. Based on this basic philosophical principle of interconnectedness and its repercussions we can begin to understand why Satyagraha is a moral alternative to violent resistance.
The violent resistor adopts an “us and them” mentality in order to justify his cause. He's on the side of the right; his opponent is on the side of the wrong. Therefore, violence against his opponent is justified because, according to the violent resistor, it is righteous. Gandhi, however, disagreed. He argued, "The first causality of war is the Truth" and therefore when violence is implemented, there can be no right or wrong side only untruth. That is why he adopted his method of Satyagraha, rooted in nonviolence and therefore Truth, with the philosophical principle that life is all interconnected. In this case there is the "Us and Them" mentality that people use to justify violence becomes extinct (because we are all interconnected and therefore brothers and sisters) and a result a moral means of political resistance takes over adherent to the Golden Rule and conscious of the fact that all of life is one.
Another key philosophical principle of Satyagraha is that of "changing hearts" through the means of tapaysa or a self-suffering love. The guiding idea in this method is that by witnessing your own suffering, the humanity of the "opponent" (but not the enemy because you sincerely love that person and want what is best for them) will be revived and as a result his heart will change for the better. Gandhi stressed that he wanted the British to see their own inhumanity on his face (Gandhi film) and this would become a major reason why his Satyagraha campaigns were so effective.
This self-sacrificial love is perhaps the noblest form of morality and the key to the effectiveness of Satyagraha as a moral alternative to violent resistance. It is moral because the motives are pure and sincere as an offspring of the fact that they are ultimately based on a deep seated love for the other. It is effective because the visualization of suffering has great potential to evoke the humanity in perpetuators of violence which will, as a result, change their heart.
The change of heart ushered in by tapaysa, in turn, will push the opponent in the direction of Truth realization and consequently eliminate his antiquated insistence on violence as an answer. This positive result makes a tapaysa moral philosophical principle of Satyagraha not only because it causes no harm to the other but goes a step further in helping them by evoking their true nature which is pure and humane. This evocation of a pure and human nature in the violent man will help the cause of eliminating the perpetual cycle of violence that plagues humanity one convert at a time and, as a result, serve the greater good of humanity. Due to these desired goals and fundamental principles, the moral constitution of tapaysa is very strong.
Ahimsa is a very moral principle of Satyagraha on the practical level because it seeks to never inflict pain on others. If happiness is what most people are ultimately after and happiness is, as Epicurus defined it, "The bodies freedom from pain" ahimsa is very moral because it helps the cause of liberation from pain. But another aspect of its morality lies in its reaction to violence. Because the practioner of Ahimsa is non-violent to the person who is, or could potentially be using violence against him, he is also taking the higher road of morality.
The nature of morality is that it seems to transcend our anthropomorphic sense of "justice" as eye for an eye and strive for something nobler. In the case of Christ, whom Gandhi deeply admired, this was exemplified in his call to "turn the other cheek" to those that spite you. In the case of the Satyagraya its transcendence lies in the call is to be non-violent to those that are violent to you (just like the call from Christ) which in turn will help eliminate the perpetual cycle of violence. Thus, ahimsa becomes very difficult because it recalls strength and courage beyond what seems to be natural and this is part of the reason why Gandhi refers to Satyagraha as the weapon of the strong. However since it is adopted by strong people Satyagraha can become a very effective moral alternative to violent resistance because its practioners are unbreakable in their allegiance to their doctrine of nonviolent but active resistance.
Another facet of ahimsa is its connection to the realization of Truth. Gandhi believed that with a pure ethic of ahimsa Truth could be realized. Now if the realization of Truth were merely, as Plato saw it, the realization of "the limitless ocean of beauty" and nothing more, calling it moral would be a suspect claim. However, Gandhi believed that realization of Truth translated into service to the greater good of mankind. Thus it follows that the philosophical principle of Ahimsa, by virtue of being a vehicle to Truth, will inevitably lead to an embodiment of the Golden Rule through service to the greater good of mankind which, as result gives it moral legitimacy.
Other moral factors connected to positive action and the realization of Truth are honesty and openness. Gandhi believed that it secrecy was a form of violence and therefore immoral. As a result, he developed the philosophical principle that Satyagraha campaigns are to be completely honest, open, and sincere in their motives. This in turn, Gandhi believed, would eliminate the secrecy and covertness that were the marks of violent campaigns and paved the way for trust between parties.
Honesty is a result of genuinely loving one’s neighbor and desiring to be open and truthful with them. Consequently, honesty is yet another philosophical principle that gives Satyagraha true status as a moral alternative to violent resistance.
The final philosophical principle of Satyagraha which makes it a moral alternative to violent resistance its insistence on keeping a living faith in God. According to Diwakar, the Satyagrahi needs this living faith in God, "for [God] is his bedrock (Diwakar, 91)" meaning he needs a living faith in God to give him strength and grounding in his bold Satyagraha campaigns.
By living faith Diwakar mean that the Satyagrahi truly believes that there is a God who calls us to behave with love and nonviolence toward all of his creation in everything he does. The moral implications of this faith are implicit.
Since the Satyagrahi believes in a benevolent higher power, he believes that he must act in concert with the rules that the higher power calls him to follow. These rules, as previously stated, are essentially principles of nonviolence and love.
In the Christian tradition, loving one’s neighbor does no evil and it is fulfillment of the law. Similarly, loving one’s neighbor through the insistence on nonviolence and truth is fulfillment of the law that God has called the Satyagrahi to follow. As a believer in a higher power, the Satyagraha gains the humility he needs to be a faithful, more servant of the greater good.

Conclusion
From our examination it is clear that not only is Satyagraha an innovative and effective tool of political resistance, but it also a very moral one. The fact that its motives are based nonviolence and love for the opposing side makes it so. In the face of violent resistance such as war, Satyagraha stands alone as a true alternative. In the words of Diwakar,
“War uses physical force. Satyagraha uses moral force…War inflicts the highest suffering. Satyagraha invites the highest suffering. War results in heavy losses. The losses lost in Satyagraha campaigns are light…Satyagraha has been used practically in all fields and on all occasions, save during an invasion by an armed enemy. It has proven itself as a substitute for war. (Diwakar, 90-91)
If we are to grow in love and respect as a global humanity we must strive for justice, when possible, using the moral, constructive means of Satyagraha because it is truly the means a grown-up world uses to make changes. And it is my sincere hope that the innovation of Gandhi not be forgotten and the Satyagrahi’s of the world may continue to strive passionately for social justice.

I have neither given nor received any unauthorized aid, nor have I witnessed a violation of the Honor Code.


Bibliography

1) Christie, Daniel. Peace, Conflict, and Violence: Peace Psychology for the 21st Century. Upper Saddle River. Prenctice Hall. 2001

2) Diwakar, Ranganath Rahachandra, Satyagraha- The Power of Truth. Hindsdale. Regnery Co. 1948

3) Gandhi, Mohandis. The Story of My Experiments with Truth. Beacon Press. 1993

4) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Satyagraha

Foundations of an Underage Drinker's Revolution

I have this book idea in mind. Readers ( the two of you) let me know if it has potential.

Title: "I drink therefore I am: 21 reasons to drink before you turn 21" or "Everybody Farts Hardass: Confessions of an Underage Drinker"

(each reason is a chapter)

Reason #1: George W Bush is our president
Reason #2: The spirit of the Law is to keep drunk drivers off the street, not legal adults from drinking
Reason #3: Beer is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy
Reason #4: Drinking underage is a form of nonviolent resistance to an unjust law
Reason #5: Send a message to Stat-heads with Power
Reason #6: You're old enough to vote
Reason #7: Prohibition Ain't Cool
Reason #8: You bear ultimate responsibility for your actions at age 18
Reason #9: Your parents could drink when they were 18
Reason #10: An unjust law is not a law at all
Reason #11: Though shall not drink underage is not one of the ten commandments
Reason #12: It's your liver
Reason #13: Forbidden Fruits taste so good
Reason #14: European minimum drinking ages are 18 and under and America is suppossedly the Land of the Free.
Reason #15: Beer pong is an alienable right of man
Reason #16: The Founding Fathers were rebels against tyranny and in that spirit you should refuse to follow the drinking age
Reason #17: Because You ain't cool unless you drink underage
Reason #18: This land was the Native Americans 1st and they could drink before they turned 21- therefore the orginal law of the land must stand
Reason #19: Your brain deserves a night off every once in awhile
Reason #20: Underage Drinking=Loving Life
Reason #21: The world is too damn crazy

Chapter 1: George W Bush is our president
The President of the United States, the ultimate representative of our country has a DUI on his record. This is absolute fact. At the age of 30 George W Bush was convicted of driving under the influence at his family’s vacation spot in Maine. He tried to have it license changed to cover it up, but democratic rivals found out about it and exposed it. I thought I’d let this information be known up front because I think it is the quintessential reason for non-violently rebelling against Bush’s “Abstinence”, “Pro-21” Agenda.
When I say non-violently rebelling I mean two things, one large scale, one small scale. On the small scale I mean cracking open a cool Budweiser when you’re a legal adult but too young to drink (18-20), and slamming it down as means of symbolically saying “Fuck You” to a government that enforces the injustice that dictates you can vote, serve, marry, and go to jail at your age, but you can’t drink until you’re an arbitrary 21. And on the large scale it means boycotting the presidential elections, essentially throwing away your vote until our leader vetoes a bill passed by Congress that undoes the National Minimum Drinking Age Act of 1984.
This may seem hard for some of us who are under the illusion that our vote actually counts (which it doesn’t…the electoral college picks the president, not the voter; see 2000 election for details) but I believe boycotting the vote is the most effective means to reform. Furthermore, I don’t think that our age group (18-20) should participate in a Government that sends us to war, and sentences us to jail, but doesn’t even let us enjoy alcohol responsibly. I think need to grow a pair, stand United as Underage Drinking Americans, and take a courageous measure by exercising Gandhi’s strategy of non-violent resistance to enact political change-We need to boycott the vote until the suits in Washington finally take our age group seriously. With this noble ideal in mind, I firmly declare, on behalf of my fellow (18-20 year old countrymen) that
WE, THE UNDERAGE CITZENS OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, OLD ENOUGH TO VOTE, OLD ENOUGH TO BE PUT TO DEATH, OLD ENOUGH TO SERVE IN WAR, LIVING AT OR ABOVE THE LEGAL AGE WHERE WE BEAR ULTIMATE RESPONSIBILITY FOR OUR ACTIONS (18) WILL NO LONGER PARTICIPATE IN A GOVERNMENT THAT DICTATES “YOU CAN’T DRINK UNTIL YOU MAGICALLY TURN 21 BUT YOU CAN DIE IN WAR AND GET THROWN IN JAIL”. THEREFORE WE WILL NOT VOTE UNTIL WE ARE GRANTED EQUAL RIGHTS AS OUR 21 AND OLDER FELLOW AMERICAN CITIZENS