Preview

How Did Gandhi's Beliefs Affect His Work For Social Change

Powerful Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1850 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
How Did Gandhi's Beliefs Affect His Work For Social Change
How did Gandhi’s religious beliefs affect his work for social change?
Many people associate the name Gandhi with the principles of peaceful protest that fought for the independence of India From Britain and promoted religious freedom. Although this is true, Gandhi was more than a protestor and achieved change through a deep understanding of justice and religion; he used this knowledge to great effect and achieved change in a unique way. Born in 1869 in India where he was raised, he found his way to England to study law. After briefly returning to India, Gandhi traveled to South Africa where wealthy Muslims hired him as a lawyer. Whilst in Africa he developed his own political perspective based on the injustice and mistreatment he saw of Indians …show more content…
When you disobey one of the 10 commandments, you can still be admitted into Heaven by seeking redemption through prayer. Justice is delivered to Christians in three main places; Hell, Purgatory and Heaven. You are sent to Hell if you have carried out multiple sins and do not try to seek redemption. In the eyes of a Christian, Hell is where you are committed to burn eternally and suffer. Purgatory is an intermediate stage: half way between Hell and heaven. This is the place where you seek forgiveness to progress to Heaven. The fact that Jesus died for our sins indicates that forgiveness is central to the Christian …show more content…
This method, best known as ‘peaceful protest’, referrers to ‘the political and spiritual power that people possess when they take action with nonviolence, for example, by engaging in civil disobedience, or refusal to participate in oppressive systems’. All of Gandhi’s protests were peaceful and used this method, and as Gandhi fort for rights and freedom, this method was used a lot by him and his followers. Throughout the ‘non-cooperation protest’, Gandhi didn’t harm a thing and forced the government to halt the taxes of goods such as food due to the famine. This peaceful protest method had never been done to this extent before and succeeded. This success was purely thanks to Gandhi’s belief of
Continue Reading
View Writing Issues

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    GKE1 Task 2
    • 1163 Words
    • 5 Pages

    GKE1 Task 2

    There have been many individuals throughout history that have left an indelible impact on their people and the world, but few could rival the difference that Mohandas Gandhi made. Gandhi was born on October 2, 1869 in the British Common Wealth of India. He spent his youth witnessing the injustices that the English purveyed on the Indian people; something that eventually helped him to decide to become a barrister. Shortly after passing the bar, Gandhi was offered a case in South Africa that would require him to live in that country for about 1 year and he readily accepted. Once arriving in South Africa, he almost immediately experienced the prejudice that Indians living there had been enduring. The turning point for him came when he purchased a first class train ticket but was asked to move to the 3rd class coach, simply because he was Indian. When he quietly refused, he was physically thrown from the train. It was at that point that he decided to stay in South Africa to fight discrimination and what had been planned as a 1 year stay turned into 20 years. During that time he created, taught and practiced the concept of satyagraha, a non-violent way of protesting against injustices. (Rosenberg, n.d.) Gandhi believed that freedom could not be taken but must be given willingly and that this concept helped both the oppressor and the oppressed recognize the humanity in each other. The idea of satyagraha would be used by many great civil rights leaders as a way to advance their causes. Because of this, it remains Gahndhi’s greatest contribution to political change.…

    • 1163 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    How Did Gandhi Contribute To Civil Disobedience?
    • 531 Words
    • 3 Pages

    How Did Gandhi Contribute To Civil Disobedience?

    Upon his return, Gandhi was informed that his mother had just died weeks earlier. In India Gandhi struggled to find work as a lawyer, and when he did get his first case he froze up due to nerves and fled the courtroom. After struggling to find work in India, Gandhi decided to pursue legal services in South Africa. When he arrived, Gandhi was astounded with the discrimination and racism by the British there. A particularly influential moment in his life occurred a few days later on June 7, 1893.…

    • 531 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Gandhi Dbq Analysis
    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Gandhi Dbq Analysis

    Gandhi used civil disobedience, the act of defying laws peacefully, as a way for him to spread his idea of an independent India across the globe. The British imposed salt tax law on colonial India, which heavily taxed salt and prohibited Indians from making their own salt. Gandhi recognized the unfairness of the tax, as Indian workers rely heavily on salt to keep them healthy, while the British had less need for the salt. (Doc. A) Because of this unfairness, Gandhi held The Salt March, in an act of civil disobedience he led thousands of his followers to the sea to make their own salt. Gandhi’s vision of nonviolence was strictly followed by the participants.…

    • 548 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    Satyagraha and the Singing Revolution: Voices That Needed To Be Heard
    • 1542 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Satyagraha and the Singing Revolution: Voices That Needed To Be Heard

    Nonviolent resistance is the practice of achieving socio-political goals without the use of violence. An advocate of this practice was Mahatma Gandhi, who through his use of civil disobedience, gained independence from the British in India. Gandhi defined this form of civil resistance as Satyagraha, which meant to respectfully disagree with one’s government. There have been many nonviolent resistance movements following Gandhi’s that have used the same strategy of civil disobedience. One such event was the Singing Revolution in the Baltic States, which was used to release those countries from the control of the Soviet Union. In this particular movement, Gandhi’s use of Satyagraha proved to be effective due to the success of the Baltic States regaining their independence from the Soviets without any bloodshed.…

    • 1542 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Mahatma Gandhi's Assassination
    • 493 Words
    • 2 Pages

    Mahatma Gandhi's Assassination

    Gandhi worked as a global non-violence leader for many years of his life. He used methods of non-violence to attempt to gain independence for India. India had always been a colony of Great Britain, but as its economy and population continued to boom, the movement for independence did as well. Gandhi became a leader for this movement. He helped ease tensions that could have erupted into severe violence, violence that could cause…

    • 493 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Gandhi essayedited
    • 1019 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Gandhi essayedited

    The practice of Ahimsa is one that Gandhi was most well-known for and is essentially the living by the concept of "non-violence"1. This means that instead of fighting violence with violence, Gandhi argued that exploitation could be overcome by returning love for hatred and respect for contempt, in a determined refusal to give in to injustice2. In explaining his theory Gandhi stated "I object to violence because when it appears to do good, the good is only temporary; the evil it does is permanent"3. He put his theory into action throughout various campaigns in his fight of social injustice such as the Salt March campaign. Another one of which being the Quit India movement which became the most violent movements in the struggle of India's freedom. The protest resulted in mass arrests and violence on an unprecedented scale4. However Gandhi wanted his disciples to follow the principles of Ahimsa and therefore the violence received was not reciprocated and resulted in the only non-violent liberation of a country. This practice often involved a…

    • 1019 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    How Does Religion Reflect the Lives of Its Followers?
    • 316 Words
    • 2 Pages

    How Does Religion Reflect the Lives of Its Followers?

    Jesus prepared a place for us in Heaven and is awaiting our arrival. Most Christians believe that if you don't believe that Jesus is Savior, then you will go to hell for all…

    • 316 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Thoreau, Gandhi, And Martin Luther King Jr.
    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Thoreau, Gandhi, And Martin Luther King Jr.

    In returning to India 20 years later, Gandhi was a hero and led peaceful strikes and movements with the help of fellow Indians. For example, after World War I he believed that Britain would grant India their freedom but as it turns out they did not. He was not satisfied at this and held peaceful protests of civil disobedience; even when the British fought with violence, Gandhi insisted the Indians stay peaceful and not resort to violence. Although some riots did out burst, he called for all the protests to end. Years later India received its…

    • 776 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Dilemma: African American and Nonviolence
    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Dilemma: African American and Nonviolence

    Gandhi was one of the first people to use nonviolence in a major way. A book tells how Gandhi went to jail instead of others because he did not fear a jail cell and proved he was nonviolent. When Gandhi organized a march officers beat the protesters and injured them severely, but they did not raise an arm to fight back. Gandhi sent a letter to Lord Irwin saying how british rule is a curse and he will stop at nothing to free his people from british rule. Gandhi initiated the first acts of nonviolence and won freedom for the people of India.…

    • 539 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
    Read More
  • Better Essays

    Mahatma Gandhi Imperialism
    • 1080 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Mahatma Gandhi Imperialism

    He had demanded the release of the British rule over India. It was because of the discrepancies between India and the British that Gandhi decided to started the "Quit India Movement." It was through this that many people stood up to stop colonialism on India. Mahatma worked hard to enhance the status of the lower class people in society. He was a leader in trying for political independence(Hartman). His first campaign was called the satyagraha campaign. This campaign was built on the foundation of non-violent protest. The goal of this movement was to end a law requiring Indians living in Transvaal to get fingerprints. Their goal was met and Gandhi continued to push other protests and organizing resistances to his cause. After all of his works done in South Africa, he took what he had learned to India. There he continued to express his feeling toward the discrimination of his people. It wasn't too soon until his fight for Indian Independence had spread and people saw him as a hero(Mohandas). As you can see Gandhi worked as a very successful political leader doing anything in his power to do what was right. Gandhi, although claiming he was only an average man, had seemed to be more than that doing things people of little faith had doubted could be done. Gandhi makes these claims in his quote saying, "I claim to be no more than an average man with less than average abilities. I…

    • 1080 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Better Essays
    Read More
  • Powerful Essays

    World History Research Paper
    • 1391 Words
    • 6 Pages

    World History Research Paper

    Watching videos, seeing pictures, and hearing audio of vicious cold blooded war that 's going on around is getting us no where. The progress of wars and fighting proves that most effective revolutions occur when there is minimal yet any bloodshed or violence takes place. Political, economical, and social aspects of countries configure down to the basis of this reasoning. If cruel violence, innocent death, and undeservedly bloodshed did not effect any then by all means go for it but in all cases that does not apply. Fighting without bloodshed is most effective way to begin and conclude a revolution. Revolutions such as Gandhi’s (India) Egyptian, and the Rose (Georgia) have all worked effectively therefore proving that non-violent revolutions can be successful.…

    • 1391 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Civil Disobedience And Non-Violence
    • 599 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Civil Disobedience And Non-Violence

    In this essay, I will explain why civil disobedience was the most important concept for Gandhi. He believed that non- violence was superior that violence, because it does not harm anyone but it awakens the peaceful spirit causing conscious suffering. I will discuss how civil disobedience can be more powerful than guns and my views on the subject. I will provide examples of the drawbacks of civil disobedience and in which situations is not appropriate. I will go into further detail on the correct path to political change and a time that I can think of, when non-violence worked better for me.…

    • 599 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Civil Disobedience: The Negative Effects Of Peaceful Resistance
    • 573 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Civil Disobedience: The Negative Effects Of Peaceful Resistance

    Gandhi tried the approach to non violent protests and his people ended up disappointing him by advocating violent acts. Gandhi in Gandhi and Civil Disobedience said that “Distrust spilled over into violence. He spoke out for peace and forgiveness.” This is significant because unlike Gandhi some of his followers were done with non violent protesting. His people wanted to show the world something more than they already were.…

    • 573 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Nonviolent Resistance
    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Nonviolent Resistance

    He became the leading figure in India’s struggle to gain independence from Great Britain. Gandhi was imprisoned several times. He undertook a number of hunger strikes to protest the oppression of India’s poorest classes, among other injustices. He continued to work for peace between Hindus and Muslims. Gandhi was later shot to death in Delhi in January 1948 by a Hindu fundamentalist. Gandhi’s protest not only changed the world by sparking a new relationship between the Muslims and Hindus, but he also used peaceful resistance to promote recognition of the problems between the Hindus and Muslims.…

    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More
  • Good Essays

    Philosophy Personality of God

    • 1381 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Philosophy Personality of God

    The Christian God is a forgiving God. In order to be forgiven, as Christians, we must ask for forgiveness. No matter how great the sin, if you turn to God and repent, He will forgive you. In the bible it is written in Romans 3:23, “For all have sinned, and all fall short of the glory of God.” Nobody on this earth is righteous, and never sins. Without the forgiveness of sins, our lives would have no meaning. On judgment day God will say to those who chose not to obey or follow him, “I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.” Because of Gods forgiveness we as sinners have a choice to follow God or to shut him out. If we choose to ask for forgiveness we will inherit the kingdom of Heaven, and those who disregard his will to forgive will endure eternity in hell. We are all sinners. God has a way for us, but we tend to want to do things our own way. God knows this, and He does not overlook it. He is always prepared to condemn people for there sins, but is willing to forgive us when we choose to begin a relationship with him. God sent his only son to die on the cross for our sins, He then rose from the dead and offers us forgiveness. We can see and understand this in…

    • 1381 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
    Read More

Related Topics