The philosophy of nonviolent protest Term Paper

The philosophy of nonviolent protest - Term Paper Example This was substituted with active voices and progressive actions that led to change against injustices. The basis of nonviolent protest came from the philosophies of Henry David Thoreau. This followed with several political and cultural leaders that followed the main philosophies of Thoreau and which focused on creating higher levels of equality and freedom for the cultural and social aspects of society. More importantly, each of these leaders was able to create a voice that was based outside of violence and which instead gained prestige from the use of actions and alternative forces to change the current political environment. The basis of the philosophy of non – violent protest was known to come from Thoreau’s book, Civil Disobedience, which was written in 1848. The main concept that is pointed out in this book is based on the current government and the injustices and lack of freedom that came from policies of the government. Thoreau points out that any violent protests are an arm of the government and represent a sense of injustice that is associated with politics. Thoreau believes that the use of violence and the army is one that creates a lack of integrity from the government. More importantly, Thoreau points out that the army alone is one that eventually leads to the inability for a country to be free or to function through the democratic ideals in which it is founded on. The challenge that Thoreau places is to create a better environment, which is specifically based on adding in integrity and an initiation to end violence through the country. The first ideology that Thoreau gives with the basic concept of the government and using non – violent protest is based on the moral obligations that are in the government. Thoreau believes that the use of violence is one that initiates a lack of integrity and the inability to have responsibility to humans and life. More importantly, the use of violent force doesn’t allow men to act with