There are, however, human approaches to defense and law enforcement that do not depend on violence.  Aikido, for example, is a martial art based upon a prime directive to be non-violent, to cause no harm to one’s attacker. This distinction makes a profound difference in the message it sends about strength and courage. Because if you think about it for even a little while, you’ll realize that it takes far more courage to respond to violence with non-violence than to respond in kind.

I for one am eager to see novelists and writers for television and film begin to create stories of triumph over evil that spring from peaceful and non-violent intentions. Toward that end I’ve written the first novel in a series of novels based on a non-violent hero. My protagonist, Tyrone King, is half-white, half-black, half-gay and half-straight, but most importantly he pursues the bad guys without the use of weapons or violence.  In his first adventure, Detonate, he pursues terrorists who are intent on mass violence at Niagara Falls and later at the Statue of Liberty.

I call on other writers and filmmakers to join me.  A culture of non-violence will not come to pass until we begin to first imagine it and show people how it looks!

 --David Greene is the author of Unmentionables: A Novel, a gay "Gone With the Wind" for everyone.