The End justifying the Means? In the early days of the Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King Jr was often accused of straddling the fence with his mode of ‘‘non-violent” resistance which he called ‘‘a courageous confrontation of evil by the power of love.” Talking about this perceived conflict, he said: “One of the great philosophical debates of history has been over the whole question of means and ends. And there have always been those who argued that the end justifies the means, that the means really aren’t important; they may be violent, they may be untruthful means; they may even be unjust means to a just end. But we will never have peace in the world until men everywhere recognize that ends are not cut off from means, because the means represent the ideal in the making, and the end in process, and ultimately you can’t reach good ends through evil means, because the means represent the seed and the end represents the tree.”
May hate be too great a burden for us to bear. And like the late Bishop Festo Kivengere who boldly declared, “I Love Idi Amin,” may we wear out those who seek to oppress us with love.
And make no mistake about it. Love is not passive. Love is powerful.
July 13, 2018 at 2:59 pm
May God help us to love , in these situations where greed and selfishness is the order of the day.it is so hard to love when rulers go back on their words and treat everybody like we are some kinda fools. Corruption , nepotism and greed take over our nation from all aspects of life. We use each other for our own personal gains. ” when the madness of an entire nation disturbs a solitary mind….it’s not enough to say the man is mad” for God and my country.
July 13, 2018 at 3:00 pm
Love requires a fist fight if necessary, love is action, not mere words
July 13, 2018 at 3:00 pm
For as long as we meet physical force with canal force we will loose But when we meet physical force with soul force.. we will triumph
I am convinced that what we are up against inst as big as what MLK overcame or what Gandhi triumphed. This isn’t a time to fight this is a time to THINK and strategize
July 13, 2018 at 3:01 pm
Absolutely, Jerome. Yesterday was a good start (before the chairs started doing the rounds;-) but that should have been only to stall the debate and buy time. But not looking beyond that was always bound to end with what we had today. As it is now (with 25 MP’s suspended), your guess is as good as mine what will happen next. The Opposition’s focus should be to get the masses directly involved, not just playing to the gallery (and cameras) like, sadly, most of them were more intent on doing. Short of a divine intervention, that’s the only redemption available now..
July 13, 2018 at 3:02 pm
I have to no avail convinced my friends that violence breeds violence, you can’t win over violent hands with violence ( I wish I had ways of preaching this)
Now you are out of Parliament and crying foul bse of your unhonourable acts ( they win)
How fo you stay in and make your presence felt?
I am bored on both fronts
July 13, 2018 at 3:03 pm
It is a case of heads they win tails you lose.
Wherever bribery exists the conscious of anybody gets compromised. Even those who bear the name honourable no longer vote out of conviction but convenience. So many choices have been made in this country without due diligence and reason and will doubtless baffle generations to come and the world at large.
July 13, 2018 at 3:04 pm
Well said Jacob. Quite a refreshing dose of truth in these times.
July 13, 2018 at 3:05 pm
I hear you, Claire. Zeddie, I’ll not even quote scripture (Romans 12:21, etc). From Mahatma Gandhi to Mandela to the American Civil Rights Movement, history has taught us that the truly lasting revolutions are not premised on violence. There’s a lot of anger on the streets right now (and rightly so) but for lasting change, what has happened today can only perpetuate the cycle of violence; it’s only a recipe for disaster!
July 13, 2018 at 3:06 pm
Sadly While the fists ? continue someone is thoughtfully crafting the next move…today’s lasting battles are fought with the mind not fists, sticks and chairs! Todays was simply a side show trap that some fell into unknowingly with irreversible ramifications!
July 13, 2018 at 3:07 pm
Spot on, James Kasujja. And sadly in this new dispensation, there are no quick fixes! The hard work needs to be done; getting buy-in from the masses. Will these 75+ dissenting MP’s do that? Your guess is as good as mine. My suspicion is that change will not come from the precincts of parliament. Most of our problems as a country have their roots there; I doubt the answers will come from there!
July 13, 2018 at 3:08 pm
My conviction is that our battles are winnable, the problem is the half wits bent on fighting fire with fire
These guys know violence, when you front violence you are playing within their game plane. With non violence they have nothing against you
July 13, 2018 at 3:08 pm
You are wrong. These guys shall kill the nonviolent on the streets and at home. You do underestimate their greed for power.
July 13, 2018 at 3:09 pm
Its now or never
July 13, 2018 at 3:10 pm
Mutibwa Stephen, I understand your frustration but you need to read up on history. History is a good predictor of the future. Non-violent political movements, like those I talk about in my earlier comments, appear to yield results, even according to the statistics available on the matter; non-violent campaigns combined had a success rate of about 73pct, while comparably, those that chose the old route of “an eye for eye” (and tooth for tooth;-) had only 33pct. The more recent Arab Spring bears this out: consider the more or less nonviolent movements that brought change to Egypt and Tunisia. And you surely have heard of 45,000 defenseless women in Ivory Coast who had had enough and took to the streets drumming pots and pans to protest a stolen election in Ivory Coast. Where’s Laurent Gbagbo today? And have you not heard of Blaise Compaoré (the pretender in Burkina Faso who killed and usurped power from his childhood friend, Thomas Sankara)? His attempt to amend the constitution to extend his 27-year term led to the 2014 Burkinabé uprising. Violence, my friend, in addition to being morally heinous, is tactically counterproductive. Violent movements attract thugs and firebrands who enjoy the kavuyo / mayhem. Like we saw yesterday, violent tactics provide a pretext (and moral high ground) for retaliation by the domineering force and in the process alienate neutral parties who might otherwise support the cause. And believe you me, they are many!
July 13, 2018 at 3:12 pm
In violence it’s hard to separate heroes from villains
July 13, 2018 at 3:12 pm
We need special grace directly from God to love these people. I know the bible says LOVE YOUR ENEMIES AND PRAY FOR THOSE WHO PERSECUTE YOU, but i must confess right now that FATHER it’s so hard but give me your grace to do so.
July 13, 2018 at 3:13 pm
I hear you Robyn. This is when our faith, and the admonition to “pray for them which despitefully use you” is being put to the test. Kunno kugezesebwa kwenyini. Nnyo nnyini!
July 13, 2018 at 3:16 pm
I hear U Zic
July 13, 2018 at 3:17 pm
Different revolutionaries carry different ideologies, as much as Martin Luther King Jr. stood for non violence Malcom X advocated for fighting and defending yourself to get your rights. In the face of injustice, every one is obliged to use to anything he can use, when both the violent and the non violent exert the pressure on whatever power maybe, the powers eventually break. In South Africa they used both, in America they used both, God used both with the Egyptians. And lastly, whether peaceful or violent they all die violently. Gandhi peaceful died violently, MLK peaceful died violently, Malcom x violent died violently too. William Wallace of Ireland you remember the brave heart movie. Let’s not put a revolution into a box. This was just the beginning of the birth pangs for Uganda.
July 13, 2018 at 3:18 pm
Your articulate argument almost convinces me, Kasibante Valentino! But let’s consider the common thread in all your examples – from Apartheid South Africa to India to Civil Rights America. Who delivered the freedom? Not Umkhonto we Sizwe (the armed wing of the African National Congress (ANC), co-founded by Nelson Mandela in the wake of the Sharpeville massacre). Not the Nation of Islam and Malcolm X, who infamously referred to Martin Luther King as Rev. Dr. Chicken-wing! With the sheer force of the oppressor, all these militant movements didn’t stand a chance! It’s the seemingly powerless force of Non-violent resistance that brought home the revolution. Little wonder Jesus says the humble shall inherit the earth! And by the way, did you know that later in life (when he visited Jerusalem), Malcolm Little (X) changed his views, and became nonviolent? Yeah, that’s the bit common history skips;-)
July 13, 2018 at 3:19 pm
You are right Jacob Zikusooka. In South Africa it was not The Buthelezi’s who said a bullet for every settler who gave independence but ANC who were moderate and employed diplomacy and negotiations
July 13, 2018 at 3:20 pm
Oh, and your account of Ancient Egypt’s “Revolution” is interesting, only you look at it one way. You’d recall before Moses escaped to the Midian desert he tried his hand at violence (he killed an Egyptian) in protest of the harsh treatment that the Egyptian taskmasters were meting out to the Israelites. But when he got the call to to liberate his people 40 years later, he and Aaron essentially adopted a non-violent resistance approach. But you have got me thinking. Perhaps we should implore heaven to come and fight a battle that is too great for us to take on. From Pharoah’s court to Jericho (to now), it seems to me God delights in coming to the rescue of helpless people such as us!
July 13, 2018 at 3:21 pm
Have you guys ever asked WHY MLK’S Birthday is celebrated?
2. How many other American heroes have their birthdays cebrated?
“We must have SENSE enough to meet physical force with soul force.
July 13, 2018 at 3:22 pm
Jacob, if you are attacked or if.you face danger, the adrenaline hormone dictates that you either fight or flee. SFC attacked the Mps, what did you expect them to do? Semujju nganda(who wasn’t on the list of suspended Mps was carried out of the parliament first). I did see any opposition Mps fight NRM mps on the previous days, all they did was sing.
The opposition Mps were attacked by the SFC goons.
Kale kayihura admitted that it was all well.planned out.
Kadaga held a closed door mtg with the attorney general and prime minister, why didn’t she invite the leader of opposition, to sort out the matter amicably.
As a ugandan, i am ready to act and i am Proud of the opposition mps for standing for the truth.
July 13, 2018 at 3:23 pm
I hear you, Dorhys Beza. The situation we find ourselves in requires that we go higher than those who seek to oppress us. Remember Jesus’ words: “Here’s another old saying that a second look: ‘Eye for eye, tooth for tooth.’ Is that going to get us anywhere? Here’s what I propose: ‘Don’t hit back at all.’ If someone strikes you, stand there and take it. If someone drags you into court and sues for the shirt off your back, giftwrap your best coat and make a present of it. And if someone takes unfair advantage of you, use the occasion to practice the servant life. No more tit-for-tat stuff.” Jesus said this at the height of Roman rule – one of the most ruthless regimes that the world has witnessed to date. You see, Jesus understood something we, in our Ugandan situation, would do well to understand. While his peers, Barabbas and the other zealots who had made resistance to the Roman occupation a sacred duty incumbent on all Jews, and considered the non-violent Jesus (who ended up crucified on a Roman cross) a sell-out. But how sincerely wrong they were! Within a short 100 years of his execution, people throughout the Roman empire became his followers. In 325 AD, Christianity became the official religion of the empire after Emperor Constantine’s conversion. Within 500 years, even temples of Greek gods were being turned into churches!
July 13, 2018 at 3:23 pm
What led to the collapse of the Mighty Roman Empire 15 centuries ago? This question will forever be asked. The knowledge that even the mightiest of empires ultimately collapse will forever haunt despots and rulers who have taken to personalizing entire nations. Rulers who have become so brazen in their proclamations as to think their people owe them a lifetime of servitude. You see, when the sum is tallied, virtue stands tall. And good will always triumph over evil.