ANSWERS: 19
  • No. Pacifism is a reasonable method of resistance. I refuse to play the game of death and destruction that others play.
  • No. War is nothing more than the refuge of a coward. Pacifism is not being a dickhead.
  • The unfortunate result of a "peace at any cost" mentality is that you will end up paying the greatest of costs for that peace: your freedom. "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature, and has no chance of being free unless made or kept so by the exertions of better men than himself." ~John Stuart Mill~
    • Hardcore Conservative
      Well said. Better quote.
    • Moongrim
      I disagree. War is designed to make money, no matter the cost of folks lives.
  • Depends on motivation. When you're claiming pacifism to not rescue others who are asking you for it, perhaps. When you're staring at a raised fist and you just turn your head, I'd say that's braver than ducking to punch him in the gut. Again, even that depends on context and motivation.
  • No. It usually takes more courage to be a pacifist.
  • No, it's the method of those who would prefer to use reason and thought to solve political, racial, and religious issues rather than destruction, hasty moves of violence, and genocide.
  • The refuge of a coward is "capitulation" in the face of aggression for no other ideal than self-preservation.
  • no, violence is cowardly. its a last resort reaction that for some reason seems to be the first line of defense.
  • It's cowardice to refuse to face conflict to defend values. Pacifists face conflict but avoid violence. So this is a "no" answer.
  • Pacifism simply means peace which I think is a very desirable sate don't you? Something to work for as much as possible. But as a solution to absolutely everything I think it is impractical.
  • When I was young I thought rattling the saber and waving the flag was the proper thing to do and did so in the military service. Today, I would be termed a pacifist because I now see the futility of war. No war has ever been fought for freedom. Wars are fought for greed, politics, or gaining of territory, usually a combination of all three. Wars create need for equipment which corporations make millions and billions of dollars from (or whatever currency a country uses). Most people look at the big items such as ships and aircraft but stop and think a moment how the little things cost millions of dollars. How about shoe laces? The cost of a pair of shoe laces costs from $3 to $7 each. Yes, they come with the shoes in most cases but they are an expense included in the cost of production. Today I would refuse to fight in a war caused by a government as it is generally for one of the three I mentioned. It isn't that I am a coward it is because I don't want to die for a pair of shoe laces. I will protect what is mine as required but not what a government says then keeps pushing freedom as the reason when it is really greed!
  • John Stuart Mill is one of the philosophers most associated with modern democracy with his principle of utilitarianism in which he argued that the useful is the good and that the determining consideration of right conduct should be the usefulness of its consequences; specifically that the aim of action should be the largest possible balance of pleasure over pain or the greatest happiness of the greatest number. He once wrote, in the context of a discussion of pacifism: "War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse." I am not especially a fan of Mill, but in this case I think he made a valid point.
  • 2-5-2017 Here is an ebook that every analyst needs to read: http://comingdarkage.blogspot.com/ History shows that people do the same stupid mistakes over and over. Giving their "isms" different names has no important effect.
  • I am not a pacifist at all but I do respect those who hold those views. My husband is a Navy veteran.
  • its also having the power to do something, like to fight but choosing not to, because there is no need, because it is above you, because you have simply chosen not to engage in violence. there is nothing cowardly about not wanting to fight, choosing a different path and resisting the urge to cause harm to others.
  • Sometimes. Believing that all violence is unnecessary and bad is naive to say the least. Sometimes violence is the only answer. "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing." - Edmund Burke
    • Moongrim
      You do not understand Pacifism. It is not avoiding all violence. It is avoiding unnecessary violence. For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill.- Sun Tzu.
  • No, it's being sensible.
  • If I had beat the hell out of my brother when I was a young kid, my whole life would have gone BETTER. Pacifism, I have noticed, is a genetic trait. People don't chose it, they just find they are that way and then make excuses about it being the right way anyway. But I would not recommend turning to violence easily. I'm almost 60 and only regret not going John Wayne on someone's ass on just two occasions. (so twice in 60 years...that's about how often it's been my experience, that one might actually need to punch someone hard and make him cry before he does it to you and decides he has the right to, whenever he pleases, giving others the impression they can also). You HAVE TO punch THAT guy. Even if the cops will put you in a cage for it. (And we should never have let corrupt crappy lawmakers take our rights away from us to that extent.)
  • It takes more guts to be a Pacifist, in a world filled with people determined to make other people fight. "For to win one hundred victories in one hundred battles is not the acme of skill. To subdue the enemy without fighting is the acme of skill."- Sun Tzu, The Art of War

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