On the last Friday the 13th, a friend of Zombie Popcorn, Steve Jencks, hosted an amazing screening of Return of the Living Dead. Steve is the creator of Lost Movie Night.  He offered some of the most amazing contest prizes for the people who attend the event.  (Deep down inside, I am very sad that I could not attend.) If you want to know more about Steve’s event – you can listen to his interview with us on Zombie Popcorn Radio. 

The reason I am mentioning Steve and his Lost Movie Night is because he has surprised us again and is offering EVERYONE who is reading this post a very RARE and LIMITED EDITION Return of the Living Dead T-Shirt. Not only is he offering this amazing shirt but he is offering it for only $20.00.  YES, twenty dollars!

All you have to do is fill out the form below  – supplies are limited so move fast!

I received a comment on my MySpace page that referred to my opening statement on that page, the first paragraph reads, ‘If we are ever going to take the fight for a nonviolent world seriously, it must start first on our plates. You cannot fully stand behind a cause for nonviolence if what you put on your plate is a product of violence. Once you start paying attention to what you eat, you will become more aware of how such a small act can make a huge difference and that same attitude will naturally apply to your other activities and to anyone you meet.’

This frame of thought is what got me more involved in the world around me. I strongly believe that it is the small actions and the motives behind those actions that shape who we are, as individuals and as a world community. There are only two choices we have with every choice we make, no matter what that choice is, we can choose to make a violent action or choose to make a non-violent action. You may be saying to yourself, how can every choice be committed to these two actions, I choose to get dressed in the morning -where is the choice between violence and non-violence with picking out my clothing? (Your question could be some other variation of this).

One thing I have noticed while traveling is that a large percentage of people in America say that the people they look up to the most, in terms of ideologies, are Martin Luther King Jr, Gandhi and Jesus Christ. The funny thing is when you talk about really living a life of non-violence they look at you as if you are crazy and really have no faith in pursuing a life of non-violence. Sure, its easy to say I am for peace, I am against war, genocide, rape, etc but why is it so hard for people to include the ‘habits’ of living a non-violence life.

Non-violence is not about being a shoe-less hippy, living up in a tree with no modern day comforts. (It is if that is the life you choose for yourself. – but most Americans do not want that type of lifestyle.) I feel the reason most people have a hard time grasping the idea of non-violence is because we are never taught about it, for whatever reason. Schools do not teach us about it, families do not teach us about it, churches do not teach us about it.

So what is non-violence?

It is hard to describe because it is such a simple idea that has been made complex but in a nutshell, nonviolence is held as a moral philosophy that rejects the use of physical violence in efforts to attain social, economic or political change. It is not something that a book can teach you, but it can give you the ground work to understanding nonviolence. It is something that you must work on within yourself, everyday. There will never be a time where you wake up in the morning and say, ‘Wow, I have achieved nonviolence’

So, going back to the (self-imposed) question, “I choose to get dressed in the morning -where is the choice between violence and non-violence with picking out my clothing?” It depends on what your clothing is made of, for example, if the sweater you picked out is a made of wool, an animal suffered to produce that ‘fabric’ and depending on the company that made the sweater a child or a third world family may have suffered in extreme work conditions to create the sweater. In short, we must be very conscience of the choices we make because can harm other lives in a very negative way. As I said in the opening paragraph of this blog, when we start to take notice of the things we do to reduce suffering our daily lives- that awareness carries over and makes a big impact in the things we do to reduce suffering in the world.

You maybe asking now, ok, I understand how small choices help reduce the suffering of animals but how do these choices help people and bigger conflicts in the world, like war?

In short, we can just look at Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr actions and how they have changed cultures, people’s lives and they way we look at individuals.

I do not want to turn this blog post into a lecture so I would like to recommend some reading materials that address non-violence and its effects on war, culture and other conflicts. If you want the books, you can click on the links below – there are also online materials that you can read.

Please fee free to leave questions/comments on this post and I will be happy to extend the conversation.