NonViolent Action and the Movement
for Family Law Reform
Introduction
There is a growing movement of parents worldwide who are concerned
about injustice in the present patch work of Family Law. While the media has carried some
stories of families and children destroyed by the "system" - perhaps the best
temperature gauge of the movement can be found on the World Wide Web. The Internet allows
even a low income parent to publicize their feelings.
What a story of woe is told across these thousands of sites. Almost
everyone describes the shock of a parent suddenly separated from their children and the
disastrous effects it had on all. Unfortunately, but yet understandably, the large
majority of these sites veritably drip with venom toward ex spouses, lawyers, judges,
psychologists, and others who are blamed for this event.
What is perhaps most disturbing is that each of these parents
normally sees a complete "change in custody" as the immediate fix. Each of these
parents who have experienced first hand the misery of long term separation from their
children - now want to inflict those same experiences of pain and loss upon the other
parent: And well deservedly so - good riddance and a plague upon them!
The vast majority fall slowly into some combination of acceptance
and despair. The "system" is so big and entrenched - what can anyone do? Life
goes on. Professional counselors advise these poor parents to work through the different
stages of grief - the final step being acceptance. The politically correct and reasonable
thing to do - or is it?
A new movement is maturing and more people are beginning to see the
problem as one of basic Civil Rights - the right of a parent to associate with their
children free of government interference. Parent's who were formerly intimated by
professionals in the "system" who felt free to decide the "best interest of
their child", now can respond, "I may not be the best parent, or even a
better parent than my spouse, but I am not a threat to my children. I have a right to see
them as an equal parent, be involved in their growth, and share my life with them -
however humble or flawed. You have no right to interfere and set a higher standard of
conduct for me, than would be expected of any other parent in the community."
The Foundations of NonViolent Action
To clear ourselves for what NonViolent Action is - let's first
explore what it is not. It is not Civil Disobedience as practiced by Thoreau (who
refused to pay tax to a government whose policies he could not support). There are a
number of groups who appear to feel a solution lies in "not paying child
support" or of "going underground" to conceal income from child support
collection. While these might be consistent with his methods of non cooperation - they are
not NonViolent Action.
It is also not just a protest movement or passive resistance
of a form where we carry signs, perhaps with an aggressive message which attacks our
"oppressors", as we portray ourselves as victims of social injustice and the
cruelty of others. We do not let ourselves be pummeled by the "system."
It is certainly not about just accepting things the way they are
as an unfortunate turn of events (which sometimes appeals to people of faith). I once met
a professional counselor who had become a "weekend visitor" in the lives of his
children - he accepted it quite well. He told me there was a strong chance his former
spouse would move out of state with the children and he might have even less contact. He
said, "Well, that sometimes happen, just have to learn to live with it." Imagine
that! As he talked his eyes were staring into the distance almost in a hypnotic trance -
it might have been a mantra, "just have to learn to live with it."
Strangely enough, NonViolent Action is just what the words say,
Non-Violent-Action. We are "non violent" - our goal is not to hurt anyone in the
physical or emotional sense. And we take "action" - what we do is just as
powerful as swinging a bat at someone and certainly gets as much attention. It is based
strongly on Faith (not just in the Christian sense, Gandhi was a Hindu spiritual leader as
well). Initially some folks may consider it impractical, but really it is most pragmatic.
Its methods spring from the foundation of all reality - the presence of a deeply loving
God.
Exactly what is the "action"? Just listen to the following
words from the Sermon on the Mount, they are words you have probably heard before:
"But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn and offer
him the other; and if anyone would take your coat, give him your cloak as well; and if
anyone forces you to go one mile, go with him two miles." (Matthew 5:39)
What is Jesus talking about as our response to injustice? So many
people see these words as just a call to "quiet acceptance", but that is not
there at all. The focus is not even on forgiveness, but on action. We are to act in a
physical sense, and to act immediately on the person who has confronted. Commanded to
magnify their action voluntarily and bringing it on ourselves - what a revolutionary
concept! Are we gluttons for punishment? No.
As we embrace this idea, let us add one more circumstance to the
preceding passage:
"….. and if someone should take your child; then
…." What?
How do we magnify that great a wrong and bring it upon ourselves.
Maybe the answer would have been, "then offer them your freedom as well." In
some actions I have "forced" the system to place me in custody (http://www.kids-right.org/protest_dm.htm)
-- with surprising results! Perhaps our "signature action" will become carrying
a small picture of your child and walking peacefully into a public building. Why?
Because it will help our "oppressor" see the error of what
they have done. How? They will be forced to ask and answer the question, "why has
this person done this?" Perhaps not even at that moment, but they will be forced to
examine their actions and our response. Does it work immediately, not always - but we have
done our duty as strongly as possible by treating our "oppressor" with love and
concern to the point of bringing more misery on ourselves.
"Love your enemy and pray for those who persecute you, so that
you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for he makes his sun rise on the just and
on the unjust, and sends rain on the just and unjust." (Matthew 5:44)
And, just in case, we were the ones really in the wrong - and
perhaps deserved a slap on the cheek - we just offered them the chance to give us another,
no harm done to anyone but us! A very important concept to remember as we look at some of
the people behind this approach.
Henry David Thoreau
Born in 1816 in Concord, Massachusetts, from an average family. He
was a graduate of Harvard college and then became a teacher in the local school -- he
lasted about two weeks after disagreeing with local officials. He then spent some time as
a tutor and handyman, and then started to write. He found himself scandalized by the
nation's acceptance of slavery and the Mexican/American war.
On July 4th, 1845 he moved his meager belongings to a cabin he had
built in the woods near Walden Pond. There he was to declare his independence from the
government for the next two years. He is "an example of the practicability of
virtue, the deep-rooted individual who has the power to awaken his neighbors from their
torpid lives of expediency to lives of principle."
In the middle of his life at Walden Pond he was arrested for not
paying the local poll tax. He refused to pay as a way of demonstrating he did not
recognize a government, "which buys and sells, men, women, and children, like
cattle..." He spent a couple of days in jail until the tax was paid by an anonymous
benefactor. His essay Civil Disobedience was an outgrowth of some of these experiences,
some memorable quotes:
Even voting for the right is doing nothing for it. It is only
expressing to men feebly your desire that it should prevail. A wise man will not leave the
right to the mercy of chance, nor wish it to prevail through the power of the majority.
There is but little virtue in the action of masses of men. . . Under a government which
imprisons any unjustly, the true place for a just man in also a prison.
When I converse with the freest of my neighbors, I perceive that,
whatever they may say about the magnitude and seriousness of the question . . . the long
and the short of the matter is . . . they dread the consequences of disobedience to their
property and families . . . If I deny the authority of the State when it presents it
tax-bill, it will soon take and waste all my property, and so harass me and my children
without end. This is hard . . .
Thus the State never intentionally confronts a man's sense,
intellectual or moral, but only his body. It is not armed with superior wit or honesty,
but with superior physical strength.
Mahatma Gandhi
Born in India, 1869. From a well-to-do family. While attending law
school in England he began to read the Bhagavad Gita, a Hindu text similar in importance
to the Moslem Koran or Christian Bible. Orthodox Hindu's saw the Gita as the historic
account of a battle in which one leader tried to avoid bloodshed, but when reminded by God
of his duty, agreed to commit violent acts. Gandhi, a proponent of nonviolence saw the
book as an allegory, and saw the "combat" as the duel which continually goes on
within a person's heart; however, he did agree with the Gita's clear condemnation of
inaction, and he used it t guide him in also avoiding the evil associated with action.
He who is brooding over result often loses nerve in the performance
of duty. He becomes impatient and then gives vent to anger . . . he jumps from action to
action, never remaining faithful to any. He who broods over results . . . is every
distracted, he says good-bye to all scruples, everything is right in his estimation and he
therefore resorts to means fair & foul to attain his end. Not focusing on
"results" gives one the inner peace to achieve final goals, this is
renunciation.
The first books of the Christian Old Testament bored him, but the
New Testament "went straight to my heart." The ideas of "turning the other
cheek, and love for enemies" struck a chord within him.
At the age of 24, a new lawyer, he went to South Africa. A society
which was sharply divided by color, religion, and profession -- with strong jealousy
between all groups. He bought a first-class ticket for a train, but was told by a
conductor that all Indians rode in third -- Gandhi refused to leave. A policeman was
called and he was thrown off the train along with his luggage. He chose to remain off
the train, it was night, he was cold and afraid --- all night he brooded. Should he return
to India? He decided to fight. Other Indians told him about similar experiences, that is
how it is here, "you cannot strike your head against a stone wall."
A law was being proposed to deny Indians the right to vote for
members of the legislature. Gandhi felt it should be opposed, he remained in South Africa
the next twenty years. Appealing to the common sense and morality of his adversary was
key.
It has always been a mystery to me how men can feel themselves
honored by the humiliation of their fellow human beings.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Born in 1929 in a "middle-class" section of black Atlanta,
Georgia. e learned about how it was in the South when at the age of five, his friendship
with a young white boy was interrupted when they had to attend separate schools. His
mother told him, "You must never feel that you are less then anybody else. You must
always feel that you are somebody."
In high school he and a teacher were returning home from a special
trip on a bus, as the bus grew more crowded with whites the driver told them they must
stand and move to the back. King initially refused, but then moved to the back, later he
remembered it, "That night will never leave my mind. It was the angriest I have ever
been in my life."
He attended a seminar on the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi, and how he
had used truth & love into a powerful source for social change. Gandhi had gone
through dramatic personal change in his life, early in his life and in a fit of rage, he
had tried to drive his wife from their home. Gandhi showed him that it was possible
to redirect anger and turn it into a positive force. Nonviolence meant no cooperation
with evil. Gandhi's history gave King a blueprint to how strikes and protests could be
conducted without hating your oppressor, but also treating them with love and avoiding
bitterness -- all with a faith in divine justice. The term Satyagraha captured this
combination of love and force. This was not no resistance to evil, but affirmative
non-violent action in resistance to evil.
There was a Southern Student at the seminary who was virulently
anti-Black. He confronted King at his dorm room with a loaded pistol. King calmly spoke
with the man and disarmed the situation. There was "outrage" on campus over the
incident, but King refused to press charges against the man. Eventually the man apologized
and he and King became friends. This was an important event in learning how to convert a
foe into a friend:
In our protest there will be no cross burnings. No white person will
be taken from their home by a hooded Negro mob and brutally murdered. There will be no
threats and intimidation. We will be guided by the highest principles of law and order . .
. our actions must be guided by the deepest principles of our Christian faith. Love must
be our regulating ideal. . . .
Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, and pray for them that
use you. If we fail to do this our protest will end up as a meaningless drama on the stage
of history, and its memory will be shrouded with the ugly garments of shame. . . (when the
history books are written) . . . There lived a race of people, of black people, of people
who had the moral courage to stand up for their rights. And thereby they injected a new
meaning into the veins of history and civilization.
Why it's a "good fit" for Family Law Reform
So many folks think the practitioners in the present
"system" are bad people who mean to "slap" them. The fix involves
getting these "bad people" out of the system - or making some stronger
guidelines they have to follow before making a decision. Parents who have experienced
such a traumatic loss can not believe that a "good person" would have put them
through such pain.
Internal Conversion - Allows Focus on the Real Problem
We must accept the real truth that these are "good people"
just trying to do a job for which they feel underpaid, overworked, and under appreciated.
Yes, there are a few bad apples, but they are rare. Yes, they just gave us a huge
"slap" - but they thought they were doing the right thing.
Once we accept these people as our brothers & sisters, we
realize some "cosmetic" changes aren't going to make any difference at all. We
have failed to recognize the Civil Rights of Families - this structural defect must be
corrected.
Strangely enough, treating our "oppressors" with courtesy
gives us more confidence in ourselves. Once we quit worrying about "results",
the ability to take action becomes easier. We are no longer being "acted upon"
by others.
Harmony with the other Parent
This is the greatest tragedy in the present "system". It
positively rewards anyone who is willing to make the most allegations. In present child
custody, there is a winner and a loser - and woe and thrice woe upon the loser! Opponents
to Family Law Reform seize upon this and also wish to see it as a conflict of man versus
women, mother versus father.
By treating the other parent with courtesy and love, by coming
together in groups of mothers and fathers, most of these issues are defused.
Allows and Encourages Stronger Political Support
Family Law Reform is dangerous territory for our politicians. When
all a parent says is, "I love my child. I want my right respected to be an equal
participant in my child's life," that is pretty hard to oppose. Any politician would
feel comfortable standing on the same podium.
But what if the parent is saying this, "The judge's are crooks.
I was cheated in this whole process, my lawyer was no good. My spouse is a jerk, I won't
rest until there is a complete custody reversal. This support burden I am paying is just
ridiculous! …." You have heard these people before - is it just a coincidence
you don't usually here them talk about "love" or their "child"? Would
you like standing next to them?
Also - when election season approaches - what type of
"protest" crowd will have the most public effect?. Can you imagine a
politician, right before an election, being forced to call for the arrest of Mothers and
Fathers who are just peacefully carrying a picture of their child into an office building
where they are located.
Conclusion
The message is Civil Rights for Families. The recent American
experience over the destiny of Elian Gonzalez can certainly shows us how far we still have
to go. Very few mention the concept of Civil Rights. Many seemed to accept the idea that
government was free to interfere in a family relationship if it was for a "good
cause."
Again, we may have to relearn the lessons of history. Prior to the
American Civil War, many religious leaders (and of course slave holders) defended slavery
as humanitarian and doing what was best for people who really couldn't survive on their
own. In many cases they would be proven right, some freed slaves suffered and died during
the transition. One can imagine modern social workers transported to that time saying,
"well, okay, release one parent to freedom - but keep the other and the children in
slavery till we see how it goes… We'll wait for a psychologists recommendation prior
to releasing them. We just have the best interest of the people at heart…"
This would sound absurd now. You don't keep people in slavery for
any reason. Their most basic human right would be violated. Our rights as families are
being violated today. NonViolent action will become one important tool in the effort for
change.
Submitted by: John Murtari http://www.kids-right.org/
jmurtari@kids-right.org
Bibliography:
Fischer, Louis. 1950. The Life of Mahatma Gandhi. New York,
NY: Harper and Rowe.
Kazantzakis, Nikos. 1962. Saint Francis. New York, NY:
Simon & Schuster.
Oates, Steven B. 1982. Let the Trumpet Sound - The Life of Dr.
Martin Luther King Jr. New York, NY: Mentor Books.
Thoureau, Henry D. 1983. Walden; and, Civil Disobedience.
Middlesex, England: Penguin Book Ltd.
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