An author visiting classrooms today and tomorrow at Wartburg College has written a new book titled “Ghandi’s Worldview.” M-P Mathai taught in India and his book on the famous advocate of nonviolence, and his speaking tour, were done before current events changed America’s outlook.
September 11 came since, coincidentally, and the focus changed from the book to the event, and how we can find alternatives to terrorism and military retaliation. Though proponents of a “war on terrorism” back military force, Mathai says he hasn’t been criticized for bringing up Ghandi’s famous non-violent philosophy. He says faculty, students and members of local communities have attended his lectures at campuses across the country. Mathai says the U-S is caught in a “descending spiral of violence” right now.
He says this will “take us to hell,” not to peace, and the futility of violence has become clear. Mathai says that’s why people are interested in his work on Mahatma Ghandi and his use of non-violent protest. In the context of the terrorist attacks, there’s a new interest in resolving conflicts, and the way is nonviolent means, dialogue and arbitration. Mathai has already spoken at campuses in Washington D-C, Richmond, Virginia, and Baltimore, and this weekend he leaves for South Dakota and then Minnesota.
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