If you ’re a fan of classical 1960s music , you probably know Edwin Starr ’s 1970 hit " War , " with its memorable refrain , " What is it good for ? Absolutely nothing . "
That ’s an idea that resonate with people who embrace the doctrine ofpacifism — in a general sense , the foeman to violence andwaras a means of settling conflict .
Throughout history , those with pacifist opinion have rejected the employment of force , and advocate other way to resolve differences . The term comes from the Romance wordpacificus , which means " peace - make " [ informant : Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy ] .
For some pacifists , that means turn down to take up arms in the military , even at the risk of being punished for it . In Israel , for example , a young man named Nathan Blanc made headlines in 2013 for repeatedly refusing to serve during the Israeli - Palestinian conflict in Gaza , even though it mean spending more than 100 day in military prison .
Blanc told the Guardian , a British newspaper , that he feel both face were in the wrong , and more killing would only intensify the engagement . " We , as citizens and human beings , have a moral duty to refuse to take part in this cynical game , " he articulate in the clause [ source : Sherwood ] .
Blanc joined a pacificist tradition that dates back to ancient times , and in the modern earned run average admit activists who ’ve used nonviolent methods — such as sit - ins , boycotts and protest march — to challenge what they think is wrong .
To some , pacifism might seem dreamily impractical and severe , not to mention perchance unpatriotic . But proponent indicate that pacificism — particularly in its more temperate , flexible variations — in reality is a utilitarian agency of dealing with conflict , and one that ’s a better fit with canonical human nature .
Duane L. Cady , a former philosophy prof at Hamline College in Minnesota and author of the leger " Warism to Pacifism : A Moral Continuum,“has writtenthat once a soul deny to take for deed over that force is the most effective solution , pacifism is not naïve and unrealistic at all . In fact , all of us are pacificist to some degree , since all of us counterbalance violence as a mean of fundamental interaction in many aspects of our lifetime . "
In this clause , we ’ll look at the dissimilar types of pacifism , the history of pacifist notion and how pacificism has evolved in the age of act of terrorism .
What Exactly Is Pacifism, Anyway?
opponent to violence and warfare is n’t areligionor unpolitical party . It ’s an idea , and it ’s one that multitude have interpreted and tried to do in a blanket range of means .
The strongest , purest form isabsolute pacificism , in which a person believe that it ’s always wrong to habituate violence against other human beings , even in ego - defense or defense of another somebody . It ’s a hard course to follow and comparatively few throughout history have been unforced to cover it .
Even one of the famous pacifist leaders of all time , Mahatma Gandhi , acknowledged that while he see nonviolence as " immeasurably ranking " to violence , he was n’t against India waging war in ego - defense . " I have been repeating over and over again that he who can not protect himself or his nearest and dear or their laurels by non - violently confront death may and ought to do so by violently dealing with the oppressor . He who can do neither of the two is a burden,“Gandhi said .
But there are plenty of other forms of pacificism that take more nuanced views than Caesarism . In pragmatical orconditional pacificism , someone is opposed to using wildness or wag state of war in a particular situation — for example , the fight in Vietnam during the sixties and 1970s — because he or she trust it ’s the wrong solution for that finical conflict [ source : Cady , BBC ] . But that person might remember it ’s OK to use force in some other context , such as defeating Hitler and the Nazis in World War II .
Another temperate configuration of pacifism isselective pacifism , in which a person opposes sure eccentric of violence — such as wars using nuclear bomb or other weapon of mass destruction because they are so devastating [ reference : BBC ] .
you may also look at pacificism in terms of how pacifists really carry out their beliefs . Some pacificist have such an distaste to war that they ’ll refuse to take part in any way , and will endure go to prison house or worse rather than serve in the military .
Other disarmer take a less rigid spot . They wo n’t pick up a gun , but they ’ll be unforced to swear out in some non - crimson content , such as drive an ambulance or play in a hospital . This position is calledactive pacifism[source : BBC ] .
The History of Pacifism
Pacifism is n’t quite as old as war , but its roots go back to ancient times . Perhaps the first major pacifist figure was Siddhartha , the founder of Buddhism , who give out with the tradition of his warrior caste in India sometime between 400 and 600 B.C.E. and taught his followers that it was untimely to inflict suffer on any living matter [ source : Walters and Jarrell ] . One of the first great Buddhist Amerindic kings , Ashoka , relinquish wars of conquest because of his notion [ source : Britannica ] .
But pacifist ideas began to flower in dear in late Renaissance Europe . In the other 1500s , the Dutch author Erasmus indicate that Christianity and war were irreconcilable , and " building a urban center is much skillful than destroying one " [ Erasmus.org ] .
pacifistic spiritual appellative such as the Quakers and Mennonites looked for secure havens incolonialAmerica , where some of them declined to participate in the Revolutionary War because of their belief [ source : Yoder ] .
In the 1800s , the carnage of theNapoleonic Warshelped rush the rise of disarmer group such as the London Peace Society , which promote the estimate that disputation between nations should be resolve without resorting to violence [ source : Brown ] .
Many of the nineteenth C ’s most spectacular intellectual espoused pacificist beliefs , including Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy , whose Christian beliefs led him to reject the use of violence by society to maintain order , and Gallic economist Frédéric Passy , who organise an outside peace league in Paris in 1878 and was present the Nobel Prize for his peace activism [ sources : McKeogh , Nobelprize.org ] .
When Pacifists Become War Resisters
If you ’re a fan of the TV series " Downton Abbey , " you know how frightful of a slaughter World War I was . It was so defective , in fact , that after the U.S. entered the war in 1917 , about 21,000 immature men sought sound granting immunity from the militarydraftas conscientious objectors ( COs ) .
They were compelled to go through iron boot pack anyway , but in the destruction , about 4,000 of them did not have to attend to in fighting . Some of the reluctantsoldierswere allow to suffice in different ways , while others were granted deferments to go back and work on farms [ source : Patterson ] .
Other men simply go to prison . When a painstaking objector named Evan Thomas refused an order to eat during a hunger strike , for representative , a military public prosecutor seek to have him execute , contend that failure to penalise such cowards would threaten the U.S. government ’s survival . alternatively , Thomas was sentenced to 25 geezerhood — though finally , he was released early thanks to a sound technicality [ beginning : Thomas ] .
During World War II , even more Americans — more than 72,000 — sought CO position , and another 6,000 were immure for reject to join forces with bill of exchange boards at all .
But the U.S. government did n’t treat resisters as raspingly as it had in the previous conflict . Many were give up to serve in the Civilian Public Service , where they could put to work on conservation projects or as fireman . Some even designate their fearlessness by wait on as guinea pigs in medical experiment
Similarly , during the Korean War in the 1950s , scrupulous objectors were countenance to do construction and farm study instead of have up arm [ source : Yoder ] .
During the Vietnam fight in the 1960s and former seventies , it became more difficult to try CO status , because of alteration in the law that excluded anybody who did n’t object to all warfare for spiritual reason . As a result , while 170,000 unseasoned men were granted CO status , ten-spot of M chose either to go into hiding or flee to other countries [ source : Yoder ] .
Even after the U.S. stop military conscription in 1973 and swap to an all - volunteer military , some member of the help occasionally decline to enter in wars . During the U.S. occupation of Iraq in 2004 , for good example , 110 soldier filed paperwork to become COs . one-half had their requests grant . Some of those refuse went into hiding , while others were court - martialed and dish up jail time [ rootage : Associated Press ] .
Pacifism and Nonviolence
One of the most important figures of the 20th century was Mahatma Gandhi , who lead a successful movement to free India fromBritish ruleand gain independence in 1947 . But unlikerevolutionsin other nation , the monolithic rebellion was n’t a violent one . rather , Gandhi ’s followers stag sit - atomic number 49 and other objection , and volitionally allowed themselves to be catch by compound confidence .
Gandhi took spiritual precept vulgar to Hinduism , Buddhism and Jainism , another Indian religion , and turn them into a non - tearing scheme for overcoming an adversary . He called itsatyagraha , which means " Sojourner Truth military group . " His brainwave was that nonviolence eventually would wear down an opponent and convert him to the right-hand point of view .
But Gandhi ’s nonviolence was n’t exactly the same as pacifism . ( Indeed , as we mentioned previously , Gandhi was n’t against the theme of India using force to protect its interest once it profit independence . ) Instead , passive resistance was what Gandhi saw as weapon that could equalize a struggle against an oppressor , and which could be used by all — children , women and people of all historic period .
That said , Gandhi ’s " weaponization " of pacifism did include a awe for aliveness and a respect and empathy for others that fits with pacifist opinion . He admonished his following never to insult their opposer , or the British pin , even though to Indians it represented oppression . And if a British official was assaulted , Gandhi secern his followers that they should protect him from assault , even at the risk of losing their own life [ source : BBC ] .
Can Pacifism Work in the Age of Terrorists?
pacificism and passive resistance have always do with risks . The most obvious exemplar is Americancivil rightsleader Martin Luther King Jr. , who initially kept guns in his Montgomery , Alabama , home to protect himself against tearing whites , even as he lead a boycott against the city ’s segregated bus organization that was based upon peaceful resistance .
But after visiting India in 1959 to study Gandhi ’s philosophy , he confide himself to passive resistance , and gave up his guns . He once even tried to reason out with an American Nazi Party fellow member who jumped on stage to assault him [ source : Engler and Engler ] .
King , of row , eventually paid with his life for his nonviolent activism — though his effort , in the death , succeeded in breaking down many of the barriers to African - Americans .
But does nonviolent resistance usually " forge " as far as achieving the goals of a movement ? Pacifism and nonviolence have a decent rail track record for defeating tyrannous government , or at least getting them to make concessions and permit more exemption .
Ina studypublished in the journal International Security in 2008 , scholars Erica Chenoweth of Wesleyan University and Maria J. Stephan of American University looked at hundreds of rebellions against governments between 1900 and 2006 , in nation such as Indonesia , the Philippines and Burma . They found that in 53 per centum of the conflicts , nonviolent activism was successful , while only 26 percent of tearing rising succeeded .
But it ’s difficult to see how pacifism would be good against the 21st century scourge of violent terrorist groups , who have no qualms about exterminating their adversaries .
" It ’s not very likely , at least at this point , that ISIS will reply to a nonviolent peacemaking squad , or even to solid number of nonviolent masses taking action , " Christian pacifist Ron Sider , beginner of Evangelicals for Social Action , notice in a late interview . But while New pacifists such as Sider concede that war may be the only solution against some uttermost threats , they still see it as a last recourse , and believe that most conflicts can be break up peacefully .
Lots More Information
This assignment was interesting to me , in that I did n’t know a passel about pacificism when I started . But I ’ve train in a martial art for years , and I know enough about wildness to embrace the melodic theme that most problems can be resolved without it .
