A Courageous Conversation - "Civil Disobedience and The Limits of Protest"

Braver Angels Long Island Alliance in participation with The Unitarian Universalist Fellowship Bay Shore hosts another Courageous Conversation; "𝐂𝐢𝐯𝐢𝐥 𝐃𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐛𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬𝐭"; a friendly and intellectually engaging experience you won't find anywhere else.

Here's the night's topic:

Civil disobedience has always involved a kind of moral friction. To protest unjust laws is to break them. In the tradition of leaders like Martin Luther King Jr., nonviolent resistance has long claimed moral authority by refusing harm - physical or verbal, even while resisting power.

But today, that foundation is being questioned. Across the political spectrum, people increasingly feel that the stakes are urgent, even existential.

Some argue that nonviolence is essential - that once a movement turns to violence, it risks losing both legitimacy and purpose. Others ask whether nonviolence is always sufficient, especially when injustice feels urgent, when institutions seem unresponsive, or when harm feels immediate and entrenched. Yet others contend that speech itself can be a form of violence - that words can wound, exclude, dehumanize, and create real psychological and social harm. If that is true, then the boundary between “nonviolent” and “violent” becomes far less clear.

This conversation invites us to wrestle with difficult questions - without assuming easy answers. Participants are encouraged to come prepared not just with opinions, but with reflection - drawing on history, personal experience, and a willingness to listen across differences.

𝐒𝐞𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐬, 𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐑𝐒𝐕𝐏 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐞 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐭 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧t𝐛𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐞: eventbrite.com/e/civil-disobedience-and-the-limits-of-protest-registration-1986277054138?aff=oddtdtcreator