Editing Nonviolence (section)

===Principled===
[[File:Semai - remaja.jpg|thumb|The Semai have principle called [[Semai people#Non-violence|punan]], which includes nonviolence]]
The nonviolence approach involves accepting that violence is wrong and nonviolence is the best ethical response to any conflict.<ref name=":0" /> The followers of this approach believe in human harmony and a moral rejection of violence and coercion.<ref name=":1" /> They accept the total commitment to nonviolence and encourage those who want to use nonviolent actions to reject all forms of violence and coercion. Principled nonviolence has a religious or ideological basis. This type of nonviolence aims to change the opponent's heart and mind by showing love to them rather than hatred, partnering with the opponents to bring about social change by ending all violence and social injustices, and seeking a solution whereby all parties win.<ref name=":0" /> The techniques they use include persuasion while trying to avoid coercion, and they accept that suffering is part of the means to transform themselves and others.<ref name=":0" />

For many, practicing nonviolence goes deeper than abstaining from violent behavior or words. It means overriding the impulse to be hateful and holding love for everyone, even those with whom one strongly disagrees. In this view, because violence is learned, it is necessary to unlearn violence by practicing love and compassion at every possible opportunity.  For some, the commitment to non-violence entails a belief in restorative or [[transformative justice]], an abolition of the death penalty and other harsh punishments.  This may involve the necessity of caring for those who are violent.

Nonviolence, for many, involves a respect and reverence for all [[Sentience#Animal welfare, rights, and sentience|sentient]], and perhaps even [[Biocentrism (ethics)|non-sentient, beings]]. This might include [[Abolitionism (animal rights)|abolitionism]] against animals as property, the practice of not eating animal products or by-products ([[vegetarianism]] or [[veganism]]), spiritual practices of [[Ahimsa|non-harm]] to all beings, and caring for the rights of all beings. [[Mahatma Gandhi]], [[James Bevel]], and other nonviolent proponents advocated vegetarianism as part of their nonviolent philosophy. [[Ahimsa#Buddhism|Buddhists extend this respect for life]] to [[animals]] and [[plants]], while [[Ahimsa#Jainism|Jainism]] extend this respect for [[life]] to [[animals]], [[plants]] and even small organisms such as [[insects]].<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/animal-vegetable-mineral-the-making-of-buddhist-texts |title=Animal, Vegetable, Mineral: The Making of Buddhist Texts |date=12 July 2014 |publisher=[[University of Cambridge]] (www.Cam.ac.uk) |access-date=12 March 2019}}{{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170106011325/http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/features/animal-vegetable-mineral-the-making-of-buddhist-texts |date=2017-01-06 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |author=Vogeler, Ingolf |url=http://people.uwec.edu/ivogeler/w111/articles/jainism.htm |title=Jainism in India |work=[[University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire]] (UWEC.edu) |access-date=12 March 2019}} {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161026124950/http://people.uwec.edu/ivogeler/w111/articles/jainism.htm |date=2016-10-26 }}</ref> The classical Indian text of the [[Tirukkuṛaḷ]], which is believed to be of Hindu or Jain origin, decrees [[ahimsa]] and [[moral vegetarianism]] as the most fundamental of all personal virtues.<ref name="Sundaram_Kural"/> These ideas can also be found in Western mystical and Neoplatonic traditions.<ref>Cristina Ciucu, "Being Truthful to Reality. Grounds of Nonviolence in Ascetic and Mystical Traditions" in Sudhir Chandra (dir.) ''Violence and Non-violence across Time. History, Religion and Culture'', Routledge / Taylor & Francis, Londres et New York, 2018, pp. 247-314.</ref>

In modern times, several scholars have endeavored to clarify the theoretical intellectual foundations for principled nonviolence and the manner in which such principles might be implemented in practical terms. Included among them are [[Kevin P. Clements]]<ref>[https://s-space.snu.ac.kr/bitstream/10371/94366/1/01_Kevin%20P%20Clements_DOI.pdf  ''Asian Journal of Peacebuilding''. "Principled Nonviolence: An Imperative, Not an Optional Extra". Clements, Kevin P. Vol 3 No. 1 (2015) p. 1-17 Kevin P. Clements on Google Scholar]</ref><ref>[https://toda.org/experts/kevin-clements.html Toda Peace Institute - Biography of Director Kevin Clements on todad.org]</ref><ref>[https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C33&q=Kevin+P.+Clements&btnG= Kevin P. Clements on Google Scholar]</ref><ref>[https://luxembourgpeaceprize.org/laureates/outstanding-peace-activist/2022-professor-kevin-clements/ Luxemburg Peace Prize 2o22 Kevin P. Clements on luxembuourgpeaceprize.org]</ref> and [[Robert L. Holmes]].<ref>[https://ndpr.nd.edu/reviews/pacificism-a-philosophy-of-nonviolence/ ''Pacifism A Philosophy of Nonviolence''. Holmes, Robert L. Bloomsbury, London, 2017 pp.265-266, "Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews" - "Pacifism A Philosophy of Nonviolence"  Book review presented by Cheyney Ryan, the University of Oxford 6/7/2017 archived at the University of Notre Dame on ndpr.nd.edu]</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Holmes |first1=Robert L. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UKg4bwAACAAJ&q=Robert+L.+Holms |title=Nonviolence in Theory and Practice |last2=Gan |first2=Barry L. |date=2005 |publisher=Waveland Press |isbn=978-1-57766-349-2}}</ref><ref>[https://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C33&q=Robert+L.+Holmes&btnG= Robert L. Holmes on Google Scholar]</ref>

[[Mahatma Gandhi]] was one of the most well-known advocates for and practitioners of principled nonviolence. 
==== Semai people ====

The [[Semai people|Semai]] ethnic group living in the center of the [[Malay Peninsula]] in [[Southeast Asia]] are known for their nonviolence.<ref>{{cite book|first=Csilla|last=Dallos|title=From Equality to Inequality: Social Change Among Newly Sedentary Lanoh Hunter-Gatherer Traders of Peninsular Malaysia|year=2011|publisher=University of Toronto Press|isbn=978-144-2661-71-4}}</ref> The Semai [[Semai people#Non-violence|punan]] ethical or religious principle<ref name=semai>{{Cite book|last=Dentan|first=Robert Knox|date=1968|title=The Semai: A Nonviolent People Of Malaya|series=Case studies in cultural anthropology|url=https://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/document?id=an06-017|url-access=subscription|access-date=2019-11-10|archive-date=2021-03-23|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210323160558/https://ehrafworldcultures.yale.edu/ehrafe/citation.do?method=citation&forward=browseAuthorsFullContext&id=an06-017|url-status=live}}</ref> strongly pressures members of the culture towards nonviolent, non-coercive, and non-competitive behaviour. It has been suggested that the Semai's non-violence is a response to historic threats from slaving states; as the Semai were constantly defeated by slavers and Malaysian immigrants, they preferred to flee rather than fight and thus evolved into a general norm of non-violence.<ref>{{citation|last1=Leary|first1=John|title=Violence and the Dream People: The Orang Asli in the Malayan Emergency, 1948-1960. No. 95|publisher=Ohio University Press|year=1995|page=262}}</ref> This does not mean the Semai are incapable of violence however; during the [[Malayan Emergency]], the British enlisted some Semai to fight against MNLA insurgents and according to Robert Knox Dentan the Semai believe that as Malaysia industrialises, it will be harder for the Semai to use their strategy of fleeing and they will have to fight instead.<ref>{{citation|last1=Leary|first1=John|title=Violence and the Dream People: The Orang Asli in the Malayan Emergency, 1948-1960. No. 95|publisher=Ohio University Press|year=1995}}</ref><ref>Robarchek, Clayton A., and Robert Knox Dentan. "Blood drunkenness and the bloodthirsty Semai: Unmaking another anthropological myth." American Anthropologist 89, no. 2 (1987): 356-365</ref>