The Fourth Way

We explore a lesser known nonviolent action which took place in the former Soviet Union, known as "The Baltic Way." We particularly note how momentum is an important aspect of successful nonviolent action.

This episode explores the 1986 revolution in the Philippines known as the "People Power Revolution."

We look at the Iranian Revolution and discuss how nonviolent movements can be used by violent opportunists, and how we often create our own enemies.

After two difficult episodes which ask us as Christians to consider what it means to love and submit, we go for round 3. This episode looks at Pastor Wang Yi's article entitled, "My Declaration of Faithful Disobedience." Thanks to Hannah Nation and the China Partnership for permission to reproduce this. Looking forward to their upcoming book on Pastor Yi!

In light of our last two episodes, I thought it would be good to have some women come on and help me understand how to work through I Peter's call for the oppressed to submit even through oppression. 0:00 - Intro 2:30 - Recap 6:00 - Guest Intros 11:10 - What is submission and obedience? 31:00 - What does it mean to remain in our position? Is divorce a viable option? 43:45 - How can we ask those being oppressed to be nonviolent and longsuffering? 55:20 - How is the church doing with our handling of abuse and what steps can we take to do better? 1:24:30 - How do we handle material put out by abusers and oppressors? 1:32:30 - Closing 1:39:10 - Aftershow: venting about complementarianism

We take a slight rabbit trail on Easter (May 2, 2021 for the Eastern Orthodox) from discussing nonviolent action. I look at the Bible's call for the Christian to suffer and how modern Christians have thrown that off in a variety of ways. I ask how this dismissal of our suffering undercuts our ability to ask other groups to suffer and bear up under their circumstances.

In this episode we look at how the Civil Right's Movement utilized (knowingly or unknowingly) the power of innocence. We also discuss our perception of history and the threshold of self-interest in movements.

World War 2 is probably the most cited counter example for nonviolence. The Nazi threat was so clear and so powerful, only violence could have prevailed. In this episode we look at the impact nonviolence played in WWII, as well as the destruction left in the wake of those who embraced violence, and the lies and violence we continue to live with today as a result of that.

This episode marks the 76th anniversary of Dietrich Bonhoeffer's execution in Nazi Germany. I take a break from looking at how positive non-violent movements work to asking whether or negative actions, like retaliatory violence, might work better at preventing atrocity. Fascism, like nonviolent action, is a populous movement whose force comes in numbers and the strength of the bond. Viral ideologies and movements, whether good or bad, can't be stopped with guns.

Gandhi is perhaps the most famous implementer of nonviolence in history. In this episode we look at his five principles of "soul force" and their importance to nonviolent action.

We take a look at the unexplored/underexplored nonviolent foundation of the American Revolution, and how a violent turn impacted the huge gains made by nonviolent action. We also bring in the pro-violent camp's favorite pastime - hypotheticals - and discuss the hypothetical present we'd have had violence not been used in rebellion against governing authorities.

We continue our series on nonviolence by looking at three examples of nonviolence in history, discussing what they can teach us about nonviolence, as well as how we shape and tell history.

This episode digs into the book, "Why Civil Resistance Works." We discuss research comparing nonviolent action with violent action, and how we should make sense of the counterintuitive conclusion which shouldn't be counterintuitive for Christians.

We begin our season on nonviolent action. This episode starts to lay the groundwork by looking at the four ways of response: fight, flight, freeze, and sacrifice. We explore what it means to sacrifice, and the power behind it, and compare its handling of fear with violence's antithetical response.

Today we are ending our series by discussing John Howard Yoder's sexual assaults. I discuss why I find value in his work despite atrocious actions, and how we can and do distinguish between judging people and judging truth. *This episode has ended up being released at a time when so many Christians are having to deal with the news of Ravi and his sexual exploitation of so many women. The news of Ravi has caused me to reflect back on this episode, as I've seen a number of good arguments come out as to why one's work should not be used in light of such egregious oppression. I'm open to being wrong here, but as far as personal use of material, I don't think I have to throw out the truths Ravi and Yoder do end up getting right. I love philosophy because it's all about getting at the roots. So many of my fellow conservative Evangelical friends saw no issues with implementing a consequentialist ethic to get their guy in office. Who cares about the roots/means when you know the fruit/ends you want? I did a whole season on consequentialism, but today the episode linked below stands out. In it, I talk about other implications of a consequentialist ethic, one of which is suppressed sexual assault reports. After watching Lori Anne Thompson's disclosure of what Ravi did, and how she had other Christians telling her not to come forward because of the damage it would do, I think this episode is worth revisiting. When we implement an ethic where ends determine our means, we end up with an environment which allows Ravis to prey for decades. Episode: https://thefourthway.transistor.fm/episodes/40-consequentialism-consequentialisms-consequences-in-the-real-world Lori Anne Thompson: https://youtu.be/Xyl6jzg5ldc