So students, here is the referrence for my lil blog.

When I was in high school, I had a history , english, and current world problem, teacher that I hated. He was a hippy (or former) and was very much into non-violence. He thought boys were rude and arrogant, and was far too friendly with some of the teenage girls in my class....but that's a story for another time.

During my time as his student, I was forced to write poetry, read poetry, listen to his diatribe about all of the evils that men (white men in particular) brought upon this world, and in particular the women of this world.

He and I frequently butted heads, and the handful of times I've seen him after graduation I have noticeably walked the other direction in order to keep from saying things to him that I might regret later.

One thing that he tried to instill in us was the greatness of Mahatma Ghandi. He was frequently talked about in class, and very idolized by my teacher. If nothing else Ghandi was a very smart man, and had some pretty interesting ideas on civil disobedience.

When I recently read his name, along with Thoreau, on the blog, I decided I needed a refresher on what "civil disobedience" really was. Hence the wikipedia article.

It talks about many things, but I found the rules of Ghandi to be the most worthwhile:

For example, Mahatma Gandhi outlined the following rules:

1. A civil resister (or satyagrahi) will harbour no anger.
2. He will suffer the anger of the opponent.
3. In so doing he will put up with assaults from the opponent, never retaliate; but he will not submit, out of fear of punishment or the like, to any order given in anger.
4. When any person in authority seeks to arrest a civil resister, he will voluntarily submit to the arrest, and he will not resist the attachment or removal of his own property, if any, when it is sought to be confiscated by authorities.
5. If a civil resister has any property in his possession as a trustee, he will refuse to surrender it, even though in defending it he might lose his life. He will, however, never retaliate.
6. Retaliation includes swearing and cursing.
7. Therefore a civil resister will never insult his opponent, and therefore also not take part in many of the newly coined cries which are contrary to the spirit of ahimsa.
8. A civil resister will not salute the Union Jack, nor will he insult it or officials, English or Indian.
9. In the course of the struggle if anyone insults an official or commits an assault upon him, a civil resister will protect such official or officials from the insult or attack even at the risk of his life.

Pretty respectful form of protest if you ask me. Anyone care to comment, or share?