Gandhi Reflection

"Mahatma" Gandhi was a Hindu.  He was a Muslim.  He was a Christian, a Jew, and an Atheist.  But most of all, Gandhi was a man who used his religious beliefs to forever change the world.    Gandhi was born a Hindu in Porbrandar, India on October 2nd, 1869.  In the movie, Gandhi tells his friend that when he went to worship at his Hindu temple, excerpts from both the Qur'an and the Bhagavad Gita were read, which influenced his belief that Hinduism encompasses all religions.  This belief led Gandhi to fight for the unification of India, because he believed that both Hindus and Muslims could live peacefully in the same country.  In fact, Gandhi refers to the separation of Hindu India and Muslim Pakistan as one of his greatest failures.  Gandhi also strongly believed, as a result of his faith, that nonviolent cooperation was the best and only option that India had to defeat the powerful British Empire.  He urged his followers to fight against the British without resorting to violence.  In the end, this tactic worked, and India was granted Independence on August 15th, 1947.  After independence, fighting broke out between the Muslims and the Hindus.  Gandhi threatened to fast to the death unless the fighting completely ceased.  This nonviolent technique was extremely effective, however, some disagree and say that outright violence is more ethical than the "moral blackmail" technique that Gandhi often used to obtain what he thought was best for the Indian nation.  Personally, I believe that nonviolence is always a more ethical solution and that it should be used as often as possible.  However, I have to disagree with Gandhi when he told the Time Magazine reporter in the movie that nonviolent tactics should have been used against Hitler during World War II.  Nonviolence can be very effective, however throughout history, it has been proven to take more time than open warfare.  I think that nonviolence worked with the British because they wished to appear morally correct to the rest of the world.  When reporters started broadcasting how cruel they were being to the Indians, they decided to surrender and to save their reputation.  However, I believe that Hitler did not really care about whether or not the rest of the world thought he was morally correct.  He was massacring alarming amounts of Jewish people and other minorities, so I think that unfortunately, violence was the most effective way to shut down his regime and save innocent lives.  I also believe that Gandhi knew how influential he was and used this to his advantage when he wanted something to be done.  I think he may have been a bit more self-centered than he is remembered in history.  I also think that although his "moral blackmail" was unfair,it does not really matter compared to the lives it saved and violence it prevented.  All in all, I think that Gandhi had a unique perception of Hinduism that shaped him and India as well.

One of Gandhi's most famous quotes is "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind".  I think that this quote is very powerful and that it also shows how Gandhi chose to live out his faith.  Gandhi's mother believed in Jainism and their nonviolent practices, which greatly influenced Gandhi.  In the movie, many of Gandhi's followers wanted to violently strike back against the British and later the Muslims as a reaction to the violent treatment they were receiving.  However Gandhi told them that "an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind" and told them that the only way to win was to be the nonviolent better person.  This is one of my favorite quotes from Gandhi and I often see it today on bumper stickers, which shows how wise Gandhi was and how his ideas are still very relevant in society today.