Transforming a Moment of Fear with Nonviolence

People sometimes think that a nonviolent actor in a threatening situation is not afraid. Not true, as Amandine Roche testifies: such a person acts nonviolently in spite of their fear or anger. This is often made possible when, as here, one is not all caught up in one’s personal safety, but can think of the well-being of others. Even the attacker, and remember his or her humanity under the label of ‘attacker,’ ‘bad’ that the ego wants to slap on him or her. When you can, then even in a situation like this where there’s no time for arguing or appealing to reason you can, sometimes with a single gesture ‘bring him back to his human consciousness.’

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