The White Patch formally introduced
A new organization formally introduced itself on the Web this past January. THE WHITE PATCH is a USA-based group that seeks to end the use of killing in conflict-resolution situations [Note: no longer active].
Its members take a pledge: “I will never intentionally take the life of another man or woman. Whatever disagreements we may have, I will find a better way to resolve them.” And as a way of showing their resolve, members wear a small white patch of cloth (with their name on it) on their left breast pocket and actively encourage those they meet to ask about it.
As the mission statement on their website says, the idea is simple:
“We want to live in a world in which disputes are not ‘resolved’ by one man killing another, by one country threatening another with war. That approach causes only sorrow and fear, and wastes a huge chunk of our global resources.
“Think of all the time and money and mental energy we spend building weapons, inventing new ones, repairing the damage they do and the pain they cause. Does any of that activity make sense?
“Few of us have ever killed anyone. Few of us ever will. But we all suffer. We’re all made poorer by the loss of loved ones, by the stunting of opportunities and the destruction of dreams.
“We’re not angry. We’re not looking for revenge or demanding an apology. We know life is hard. Life has always been hard. But man killing man just makes life that much more difficult, and it’s unnecessary. It accomplishes nothing. It ‘solves’ nothing.
“So here’s a question:
“Would you feel safer walking down the street, if you knew that half the people you passed were pledged to not-killing? Would you feel safer attending a political demonstration if everyone was wearing a badge saying: ‘Yes, we disagree, but we won’t kill each other over it.’ Would you feel more inclined to listen to an angry neighbor, if you’d both forsworn violence and so you didn’t feel threatened?
“The White Patch represents that promise. It says: ‘We will no longer accept murder, under whatever circumstance and however deep the grievance, as a means of settling a dispute. There should always be a better way.’
“We show our resolve by wearing The White Patch. It’s a little thing, a simple act, but done in the millions– half the people on your block, half the people on the next block, and the next and the next– done in the millions we can show our strength.
“It’s a reminder: That killing is a waste. A waste of lives, a waste of money and talent and hope.
“There should always– always — be a better way. If we have the courage to seek it out.”
The wearing of The White Patch is envisioned as both a community organizing tool (locally) and as a way of instilling a sense of empowerment in its members on a larger level. It’s a way of finally having a cheap, simple way of making our voices heard, and of proving just how many millions (or billions) of us belong to the global community of people who’ve never killed anyone, who never will, and want to stop wasting the money and energy needed to sustain a global weapons-and-killing infrastructure. We think that money and brainpower could be better spent elsewhere.
For too long we — the vast majority of people on this planet — have timidly stood by and let others set the terms of the debate. Perhaps in some earlier time the need for armed violence was justified, but it shouldn’t be any longer. We’re not naïve, we’re not cowards, we’re not utopians. But we do sincerely believe that if we put our minds to the problems confronting us, we can find answers that don’t involve killing each other. It’s that simple.
And so the time has come for us to start speaking up, start speaking out. The White Patch website is a beginning. The hope is that other people — many others — will visit the site, learn about the idea behind it, and decide to join. All that’s required is a small commitment: just take The Pledge and wear The Patch.
