Considering in-world violence as a Quaker pacifist

Catherine Linden posts on the official SL blog that the Linden Lab PR department is looking for "folks who are using Second Life in the pursuit of religious or spiritual ends."  As some of you know, I'm a Quaker. Not a great Quaker, but still a member of the Religious Society of Friends. After the fold is the missive I sent to her.

(REMINDER: the first in-world Quaker service will be held this Saturday.  See my previous post for all the details.)

Hi Catherine,

In my real life, I am a member of the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers as we are known, and have been very interested in the intersection of my spiritual journey and the path that my avatar Rik Riel is traveling.

One spiritual issue I have confronted has to do with in-world violence. Quakers are by-and-large pacifists, for hundreds of years refusing to take up arms for any cause or country. That said, in Second Life there are many opportunities to engage in what appears to be violence and combat for entertainment purposes.

I'm not much of a gamer, but I have been intrigued with the Samurai culture in SL, and the somewhat refined form of stylized combat that takes place on Samurai Island. I recently purchased a katana sword and have been enjoying learning the fine art of SL dueling.

In real life, for a Quaker to take up armed combat as a hobby would seem, well, not in the spirit of our faith. But in the virtual world, the consequences of what appear to be "fighting" in-world seem to be in large part positive. There is a camraderie and a generosity among those who I have crossed swords with that does not fit neatly into the Quaker traditional belief that conflict begets more conflict. Entire guilds of samurai combat enthusiasts meet and help each other become better duelists and presumably form new friendships. In this case, mock conflict seems to beget community.

In the bigger picture, the actual in-world violence seems to be those who grief other residents. To take pleasure from bringing lag, annoyance and harm to others seems to me to be a new form of violence. Finding the Quakerly response to these actions -- to love the griefer but not the grief -- seems to me to be the moral challenge for pacifists. I.e. to reach the human being behind the pixels.

Quakers believe that there is that of God in every person. This informs how we have responded historically to the quest for slave emancipation, women's suffrage, the civil rights movement, and currently the gay marriage issue. Perhaps it is time we extended that consideration to finding that of God in every avatar.

I will be attending the first ever Quaker meeting for worship on Saturday. I hope other Friends can help me traverse this space ethically and with a clean heart.

In Peace,

Rik Panganiban / Rik Riel

The Katana-wielding Quaker

Comments

[david]

well said
catherine, let's begin by drawing a cartoon of mohammed on sl & click
on him

[Zann Canto]

I look for peace in SL. While I'm not a Quaker, I have several friends who are, and I have been active in Peace seeking in RL. As a newbie I spent a good deal of time in SL looking for peaceful places to sit and look out at the sea. Sometimes I would log on and just sit on the bank.

When I starting building things, I got to thinking maybe I should offer something thought-provoking. So I set up a couple of galleries named Tierra Paz and stocked them with peace graphics I had created in RL. I found a shop space in Barcelona with arched texture in the interior walls. By arranging peace posters in the arches and adding lilies, it has an almost churchlike feeling.

I didn't know if there would be enough interest to even pay the rent, but in the first two weeks I've covered my rent, ad expenses, and most of my upload charges. To me this indicates that people are looking for more than just bling in SL.

[rikomatic]

In this modern world, our lives are filled with noise and rushing about from task to task. It's not hard to believe that some people come to virtual worlds to spend time in a calmer and gentler place than their real lives. Glad to hear that you've found a sustainable model that seems to meet a need out there.

[Jeff Porten]

You might be amused to know that Penn's football team is the Fighting Quakers, and the full name of the band is the Oxymoronic Fighting Quaker Marching Band.

[Neri Nemeth]

I just joined second life two weeks ago, so forgive me, I'm a bit of a newbie still *grins*

I've had the same kind of issue as you Rik. While I am no quaker, indeed I've no real religion I suppose. I do however have my own morals,including my own personal moral rules. I despise violent destruction, but just because you hold a sword in your hand does not mean violence.

Perhaps it is an odd way to look at this. Some people consider fencing an art.
It is not about violence, or danger, or destruction, but about the fluid movements of two people in combat. It's about reaction times and grace. Their is a magic in that, which has nothing to do with violence.

It's like a saying I heard a long time ago, though I dont' remember who said it.
A gun in the hand of a nice person isn't dangerous.
A gun in the hand of a suicidal maniac is one of the most dangerous things in the world.

Learning something like..swords, or even play fighting is not inheriently dangreous, it's a workout, something to enjoy. It's what you do with it in the long run, and what you get from it, that determine weither it's something to abhore or adore.

A wooden stick isn't inheriently dangerous, or violent.
If my neighbor beats me with the stick then that is dangerous and violent.

It's a bit like life, nothing is so hard to balance, as ethics and life. Second Life involves both, so it's twice as hard.

Just because you have a tool, doesn't mean you should use it.

Just thoughts.

And Jeff, that is amusing :)

[Kathleen]

The Samurai were warriors, not soldiers. They were trained in a code of conduct, an art form, and they were trained to protect, not to seek out opportunities to kill. This wasn't always the truth in reality, but it was the ideal.

Samurai means "to serve." A Samurai without a master was no longer considered a Samurai, but a Ronin, or drifter. Samurai tended to resent their freedom, others respected their self-determination, and there were Ronin who became rogues/pirates of sorts, but ultimately, Ronin were once Samurai, trained in the same values and traditions.

A band of brothers trained to protect and serve was once a high ideal in any society. In the RL today, there are many men trying to reconnect with that warrior identity, the man inside who seeks to serve and protect. It is an honorable thing, approached with spirituality, knowledge of self, and duty to society. It does not seem to me to be, in the end, at odds with your Quaker beliefs.

[rikomatic]

Kathleen, what a well-thought response. Thank you!

-- Rik "Samurai Quaker" Panganiban