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Tim DeChristopher Biography

Tim DeChristopher

Timothy Mansfield DeChristopher is an American climate activist and co-founder of the environmental group Peaceful Uprising. In December 2008, he protested a Bureau of Land Management oil and gas lease auction of 116 parcels of public land in Utah's redrock country by successfully bidding on 14 parcels of land (totaling 22,500 acres) for $1.8 million with no intent to pay for them. DeChristopher was removed from the auction by federal agents and taken into custody, eventually serving 21 months in prison.

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Tim DeChristopher Quotes

I don't think a worship of nature is necessary to mount a really strong defense of the environment.

Strong, Thinking, Defense, Environment, Think, Worship

I would never go to jail to protect animals or plants or wilderness. For me, it’s about the people.

Animal, Jail, People, Protect, Wilderness

With a nonviolent movement we are still inviting a strong reaction from the government or ruling authorities. We are inviting a powerful reaction against ourselves. But it undermines the moral legitimacy of our current government. That is the path we need to pursue. Rather than reinforcing their legitimacy we need to undermine their legitimacy.

Authorities, Government, Inviting, Legitimacy, Powerful, Strong

Our security doesn't come from turning away from the hard stuff; it comes from the knowledge that we can handle it.

Come, Handle, Hard, Knowledge, Stuff, Turning

If we're constantly suppressing our strong, heavy emotions - like fear and anger and outrage and sadness - it weakens us. But when we're not afraid to confront the hard emotions - when we don't turn away from the pain and the suffering of the world - it builds the confidence that we can do whatever we need to do.

Away, Outrage, Pain, Sadness, Strong, Suppressing

If we want to change that status quo, we might have to work outside of those rules because the legal pathways available to us have been structured precisely to make sure we don’t make any substantial change.

Legal, Pathways, Status, Want, Work, Work Out

Part of the reason I embrace nonviolence is that it's the most effective thing we can do. It's a more advanced tactic than violence. If people who engage in violence want to escalate their tactics, they would escalate to nonviolence.

Escalate, Part, People, Tactic, Tactics, Want

We need actions that are really coming from people's souls.

Actions, Coming, Needs, People, Soul, Souls

The reality is not that I lack respect for the law; it's that I have greater respect for justice.

Greater, Justice, Lack, Law, Reality, Respect

My spiritual path has largely been Christianity - a label that I embraced and then rejected and have partially embraced again, as my understanding of Christianity has changed over time. When I accepted the mainstream, dogmatic definition of Christianity there came a point when I had to say, "Well, if that's what a Christian is, I'm not one. "

Christian, Dogmatic, Point, Spiritual, Understanding

My values are primarily motivated by love for other people. I value the non-human world in large part because it's so vital to human beings. Even my appreciation for wilderness grows out of an understanding of how important wilderness can be for people.

Appreciation, Beings, Large, Part, People, Understanding

Being forcefully rattled out of our consumer mentality - our addiction to comfort and convenience can create an opportunity for us [people] to reconnect with what we really value and with the qualities of life that really can sustain us - which include reconnecting with our roles as citizens, community members, and human beings.

Addiction, Convenience, Opportunity, People, Roles

That's why there is such alienation, depression, and despair in our society - because the means we're employing doesn't lead to the ends we desire, no matter how hard we work, nor how much "stuff" we accumulate.

Alienation, Desire, Despair, Matter, Mean

Spirituality has to play an important role, particularly in resistance movements. The institutions we are fighting against - corporations and governments - use alienation as one of their primary weapons. A big part of their messaging is intended to make people feel separated from each other, which disempowers them, which makes them ever easier to exploit. This is really a spiritual weapon they are using. It isolates people and breaks their spirit.

Against, Fighting, Play, Separated, Spiritual, Spirituality

It wasn't until I started reading the history of religion that I understood that the definition of Christianity has shifted in many different directions over time, and the mainstream view today certainly doesn't have any exclusive ownership of what being a Christian means. Realizing that freed me to use the terminology without needing to be tied down to it.

Christian, History, Mean, Reading, Tied, Today

Alienation is perhaps the most effective tool of control in America, and every reminder of our real connectedness weakens that tool.

America, Effective, Real, Tools, Weakens

It's really hard to change the world when your first priority is making sure that the little world around yourself doesn't change.

Change, Littles, Making, Priorities, World

This is not going away. At this point of unimaginable threats on the horizon, this is what hope looks like. In these times of a morally bankrupt government that has sold out its principles, this is what patriotism looks like. With countless lives on the line, this is what love looks like, and it will only grow.

Going Away, Government, Like, Lives, Patriotism, Principles

I don't read the Bible as the literal word of God; I don't view Jesus as a God. I've rejected both those statements. I view Jesus as a model for how we should live, and by that definition I do consider myself a Christian.

Bible, Christian, Definition, Jesus, Statements, Views

Civil disobedience is an act of love.

Acts Of Love, Civil, Civil Disobedience, Disobedience, Love

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