Any Pacifists On DU?

[BamaLefty]

I am a pacifist and I believe that war cannot be justified. What about you?

[Maat]

1. Almost there.

Be interested in the comments. Thanks for the post.

I believe that we had to act during WWI and WWII.

One should only engage in war to defend oneself or another country from occupation, in my humble opinion.

This war was absolutely unnecessary at least the way we went in when we went in.

[DrWeird]

2. WWI?

Now there was a worthwhile war.

:eyes:

[JVS]

17. Somebody had to intervene to save the money we lent to UK and France

[Swamp Rat]

3. Yes

[Dob Bole]

4. I hang out at this pacifist Christian commune a lot...

It's a nice break from all the religious right crap that goes on...

www.koinoniapartners.org

I was pretty pacifist, but now I make an exception for sending Bush voters to war.

[gaia_gardener]

5. I'm there

it was a hard process for me, but I've now come to the opinion that there is no war that cannot be avoided.

[wurzel]

6. I am not a pacifist, but

If you are in someone else's country with a gun in your hand, you had better be able to explain to the inhabitants and the rest of the world what you are doing there.

[indigobusiness]

7. Pacifist

until cornered.

[Bouncy Ball]

27. Good answer.

What indigo said.

I find I agree with you a lot, indigo.

[indigobusiness]

28. Thanks

I'm glad someone does.

[El Supremo]

8. I'm one.

And I have been arguing that even WWII was avoidable.

If Congress and the allies had supported Woodrow Wilson instead of wanting revenge, then the unjust Versailles Treaty would not have happened and Hitler would not have come to power.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

20. Exactly!

World War II was caused by World War I which was caused by the Franco-Prussian War which was caused by the Napoleonic Wars and so on and so on and dooby-dooby-doo.

[Aunt Anti-bush]

9. I never thought about it before, but

I suppose I am a pacifist, too. I don't believe war is necessary for any reason whatsoever. In the leadup to this war, however, Colin Powell's speech at the UN had me pretty convinced that we should go in there. I was totally brainwashed, so to speak, but found out pretty quickly that it was all hogwash.

[ckramer]

10. Agree with you most of the time

but sometimes some wars are better others. Absolutely not this Bush war though.

[BamaLefty]

12. I Love this Painting by Dali

It is called "The Visage of War". War is never justified!



Never think that war, no matter how necessary, nor how justified, is not a crime. - Ernest Hemingway

[peacetalksforall]

11. I am a pacifist.

Our birth is for nothing if we don't desire, value, work for, and speak out for peace.

Platitudes such as "there will always be war" will guarantee war.

War is the perfect practice of serfdom and slavery.

[SammyWinstonJack]

13. I don't believe in War

Any war, period! I think all war can be avoided. So I guess that makes me a pacifist.

[serryjw]

16. I am a Pacifist.....BUT also a Pragmatist

What GOOD could we have done with $200 BILLION. Think maybe less people would hate us?

[salvorhardin]

14. "Violence is the last refuge of the incompetent"

and a star-spangled cookie for anyone who groks my avatar.

[knight_of_the_star]

15. Not exactly

I don't look for trouble but I have no problem with opening up on a threat when I see one.

[quaker bill]

18. yes

as the handle implies, I am a Quaker. We deny war and work to deny the conditons that bring about war.

We should understand that there are gradations of pacifism. While I deny war, I cannot say for certain that I would not defend myself if attacked. I haven't had to answer this question as that has never happened.

Dietrich Bonhoffer was a pacifist Lutheran Minister. After much thought and prayer, he chose to conspire with a group of German officers to assasinate Hitler. He was summarily executed when the plot failed.

Pacifism is not simple.

[AlabamaYankee]

23. Not to go off topic, but

Bonhoeffer was arrested in 1943 and imprisoned in a concentration camp where he continued to minister to fellow prisoners and guards alike. He was hanged in 1945 just before allied forces liberated the camp.
His book,"The Cost of Discipleship", is one of the most powerful books I have ever read

[Lydia Leftcoast]

19. Close

Maybe a truly defensive war can be justified, but an aggressive war or a war aimed at imposing our will on another country--no way!

Years ago, I read a quotation from a Chinese philosopher (I forget which one), and it went something like this:

"If a man breaks into his neighbor's house, kills some of the residents, and steals all his neighbor's possessions, we consider him a monstrous criminal. If he invades a neighboring country, kills people, and plunder's the country's wealth, we consider him a hero."

After all these centuries, most people still don't see the analogy.

[MsConduct]

21. I'm 99% pacifist. The other 1% believes 'war' should be fought by

the world leaders who think it's necessary.

[seafey]

24. Dang, I thought you were going to say...

the other 1% believes war should be fought by those who are being oppressed, like apartheid in South Africa, etc......

[MsConduct]

25. Oops, sorry to disappoint you! n/t

[Kitka]

32. This is the sliver that makes some noise in my gut sometimes.

The sliver that says that sometimes an armed uprising is understandable. But understandable doesn't equal justified.

[AlabamaYankee]

22. You Betcha!

I still have my 1-0 (conscientious objector) draft card, and did non-military Alternative Service when I was drafted in '71.

When the Afghan situation heated up I was amazed that the old revulsion for war came back stronger than ever.

[Darth_Ole]

26. I'm an absolute pacifist.

Now more than ever, too, even against bin Laden. Especially against bin Laden, actually. Folks say, "But these people drove planes into skyscrapers. They have no regard for life." Well if they have no regard for life, what good would bombing them do? It only serves as a recruiter, b/c they see us as the "Great Satan."

That was an excellent point about WWII being caused by faulty planning after WWI. Bad country planning has created civil wars in Africa and the Balkans as well.

After 9/11, we should have taken a step back and figure out WHY anyone would do this. One reason is obviously that we arm "good" dictators all the time until they piss us off.

The act of going to war is an admission that reason has failed. It is an abandonment of all our hopes, schemes, and ideals. There's simply something mind boggling about people actually wanting to kill other human beings. War is mass murder and violence is wrong on any level. That is why I'm an absolute pacifist.

[indigobusiness]

29. War is not the answer.

It's not even a good question.

[Kitka]

30. Absolute pacifist. No war, not one, is or has been "justfied".

That is not to say I don't understand the desire for self-preservation that causes people to fight oppression and defend themselves when attacked. But it is never "justified", even if it is understandable. Hard to explain.

I was mortified at my response to 9/11 - I acually felt the desire for revenge for a few days. Then I came to my senses, thankfully.

[morgan2]

31. i believe war can be justified

but almost never is.

[Zomby Woof]

33. yes

[Spider Jerusalem]

34. More or less...

I believe most wars are unjustified and unnecessary; but I also believe that there are rare instances when that is not the case.

That said, I think the United States has only fought two "necessary" wars, the Civil War and the Second World War. (The American Revolution was unnecessary, especially from the historical perspective...the US would eventually have gotten self-government, just as Canada, Australia, New Zealand, etc. did).

[whirlygigspin]

35. i'm a jaded procrastinating sinical inactive pacifist

I just never get around to not doing anything worthwile,
it's pointless anyway.

Did I mention that i'm also quite sarcastic?

[Tace]

36. Buddha Said There Is One Justification For Violence

He gave an example of a crazed man wielding a sword in a marketplace, hacking people up. He said hurting the swordsman to stop further injury is justified.