The Nonviolent Alternative — Thomas Merton

From the Trappist monk and author of The Seven Storey Mountain, reflections on the way to moral and social change in a violent world.

The writings in this work were precipitated by a variety of events during the last decades of Thomas Merton's life -- the civil rights and peace movements of the 1960s among them. His timeless moral integrity and tireless concern for nonviolent solutions to war are eloquently expressed. A revised edition of the previously published Thomas Merton on Peace, The Nonviolent Alternative addresses such topics as Christianity and defense in the nuclear age; the Danish nonviolent resistance to Hitler; civil disobedience; wartime atrocities; passivity and abuse of authority; and more. It is a meaningful and thought-provoking read for anyone concerned with maintaining faith and making ethical, effective decisions in a world filled with conflict and injustice.

Praise for the first edition

“These articles represent a radically spiritual breakthrough beyond the ‘self-enclosed . . . beautiful, narcissistic tautology of war' to a certainty of a peace without limit and time.” -- Kirkus Reviews