Ronny Edry is indeed a Fierce Gentleman: in his touching TedX talk, he tells the story of how he inadvertently kicked off an international grassroots peace movement.

The reason I hold up Ronny Edry as an exemplar of the Fierce Gentleman archetype is that he so resolutely holds two apparently competing instincts: a level of practicality born out of his experience as a paratrooper in the Israeli military, and a level of idealism based on what I can only surmise is a huge heart.

Ronny, and everyone who has joined his Movement, have done the truly courageous thing: they have stood up even in the face of odds that appeared insurmountable in order to send out messages of peace and love between peoples.

They have sown seeds of peace that you can be sure will sprout sometime in the future. Who knows: maybe these seeds have already prevented another round of senseless violence. But the only way to ensure that future violence does not erupt is to keep planting seeds of peace. Keep forgiving, keep building our compassion for others.

Ronny, who after his time as an Israeli paratrooper certainly acquired a certain competency in violence, has now earned his competency in ahimsa, nonviolence: another badge of a true Fierce Gentleman.

The world has plenty of “War Factories” up and running already. Not only huge national bodies like the Department of Defense in the United States, but also mass media outlets that push violence, violence, and more violence.

In a world so full of violence, it is our responsibility as Fierce Gentleman to hold up as lights those who would bring more peace and non-violence into the world. Ronny Edry’s group The Peace Factory is one such group. I donated in 2012, and encourage you to do so as well.

 

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