case in South Africa, Gandhi was forced to leave a first class seat on the basis of his race. That night, as he spent hours in the cold at a bus station because he refused to sit in third class while possessing a first class ticket, he came to a decision. He vowed to himself not to yield to force and not, in turn, to use force to get ahead (Leigh, np). He was reminded of an old precept he learned as a child, “return good for evil” and allowed that to become a guiding principle in his movement towards non-violence. Gandhi’s non-violent movement took the name Satyagraha which literally means “holding onto truth” or “soul force”. He believed that fear and hatred could only produce more of the same (Leigh, np). He taught that when one is pushed towards injustice, one must simply refuse and not fight back. To take the blows of their oppressors and not become servants would have both moral and practical value. Morally, violence and hatred are wrong by most, if not all, religions. Often though, some form of self-defense is considered excusable. Gandhi said “I cannot intentionally hurt anything that lives, much less human beings, even though they may do the greatest wrong to me” (Logue, 23). He also said of cooperation with Britain that “non-cooperation with evil is a duty, and British rule of India is evil” (Gandhi, np). That gave a moral basis for non-cooperation, and non-violence against Britain. Practically, the cause for liberation was to be most purely sought through the course of non-violence. Gandhi believed that in order to overcome injustice one must make injustice visible (Gandhi, np). Fighting back does not allow for such. He encouraged his people to fight against anger, not to provoke it (Gandhi, np). Even more practically was the concept of earning India’s independence. He reminded his followers that terrorism only justifies their regression...
