“An apostle of nonviolence.” “Preaching nonviolence”. We hear these
expressions so often, we don’t question them. But there is a crucial
difference between soporific preachifying and nonviolent action. So
let's clear this up.

How can this thing called "nonviolent action" work? Over the last 100 years, against seemingly insurmountable odds and always to the surprise of official analysts and media pundits, unarmed civilians have prevailed over the power and weapons of some of the world's worst human rights abusers and most brutal dictatorships. There's a long list, but highlights include the Shah of Iran, Poland's Jaruzelski, Marcos in the Philippines, Pinochet in Chile, P.W. Botha and apartheid rule in South Africa, not to mention a few Soviet-style regimes behind the Berlin wall.

The cycle of violence can be broken. On interTactica this week, we get acquainted with two people, featured in our "Healing of Memories" dialogue, who haven't given up on hope.

In 1990, Father Michael Lapsley was a chaplain in exile, working with the African National Congress (ANC). He had left his native South Africa some fourteen years earlier, on the heels of the Soweto massacre, because of his opposition activities to the system of Apartheid. 
But now was a more hopeful time in the history of South Africa. Nelson Mandela had, at long last, been released from prison. Soon after, Father Lapsley received a small package of religious magazines, unbeknownst to him most likely sent by South African security operatives. As he opened the first periodical, a sophisticated letter bomb blew both his hands, broke all windows, shattered his ear drums, destroyed one of his eyes, and tore a hole through the floor.