Evil and non violent resistance

Just finished a book called Baby Jesus Pawn Shop (The Permanent Press, 2008) by Lucia Orth. It's a powerful novel with the backdrop of Marcos-dominated Philippines. There are intersecting story lines of politics, love, class, and decisions that scrape raw the complexities of morality and ethics. Without giving away the plot, the following is a quote from the character named Doming as he comes to grips with his own emotions, desire, calling, and anger:

If I mirror the evil in their hearts with my own inclination to violence and revenge--that worm that gnaws us all--it will eat away at my soul. But if I name it, then I am made whole. So I can not keep silent against the dragon's violence, no matter how bloodied I become. Call it by name in story and song and imagination. And laughter. That, too, is a form of resistance... (p. 360)

What evils do we confront? What inclinations arise in us? How might we use story, song, imagination, laughter, creativity, artistry to confront evil? How bloodied are we willing to become?

I'm impressed with this form of resistance portrayed by the fictional Doming. But it's not just for made-up characters in novels. It's also been the choice of real-life world-changers like Ghandi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Nelson Mandela. It was the commitment of Ted Studebaker, one of thousands of little known martyrs choosing nonviolent responses to violent evils. And it is the principle message of God in his son Jesus. Resist the evils of the world, absolutely resist, but do it through uncompromising love and tenacious passion and creative reshaping of the story of human history.