Pacifism

This quote epitomizes the idea behind anarcho-pacifism better, perhaps, than any other. Having already explained what anarchy is, we felt that a definition of pacifism was in order as well.

As Eisenhower said, people are more likely to promote peace than any government ever will be. But why? Many politicians and historians claim that a world free of war is impossible. They claim that war has existed as long as people have roamed the earth. While pacifists do not dispute this fact, they question wheter or not those facts justify the existance of war. Many believe that they do not.

War has been fought under many pretexts. Often, war was waged in order to expand an empire, or country. In others it was fought as civil war, between factions within a country. And in yet others, war was proclaimed in the name of god. Pacifists have objections to each of these justifications.

Any time a war is fought as a means to expand an empire, it is at the expense of those who wish to remain seperate from that empire. It is impossible to conquer and control a land without also controlling it's populus. Thus, the will of the conquering nation is imposed on those who are conqured. Often times, even in our modern world, this results in the elimination of entire cultures and ways of life that, in the absence of such armed conflict, would have not only survived, but also flourished. Such was the case with the native peoples of Africa, Asia, Australia, And North and South America both before western imperialism.

Civil war or revolutionary war is aslo condemned by pacifists. In each and every case throughout history, those on both sides of the struggle have claimed to be justified in their actions. However, what many pacifists feel that civil wars truly represent is the failure of communication and human compassion. Always, there is some divisive issue between the two sides, and rather than take every measure to reach an agreement that is mutually acceptable, governing powers would resprt to costly wars.

Perhaps one of the most confusing terms to pacifists, both religious and non-religious, is the term "Holy War". These wars were popular in meieval times, but even today governments use religion as a justification to wage war, often when the true intentions have no religious implications at all.In fact most pacifists find the term holy war contradictory. Almost every religion in the world claims to serve a kind and compassionate god that loves all his creation. How then, can the leaders justify the destruction of this creation? How can they justify killing in the name of god, which, supposedly, is the name of love? Indeed, few, when seriously questioned, can do satisfactorily.

Many pacifists reject the idea that war can ever bring about peace. As Ghandi once said "You may hit me, beat me, even kill me, but even then you have my dead body and not my cooperation." This is the notion to which many pacifists ascribe. Most realize that war is about power. What is worse, however, is that it is fought by those that have no power. What exactly is meant by this? Simply, that when one government declares war on another government, the statesmen and women who control that government are not directly involved. Instead, it is those with little political power that comprise the armies of warring nations. The powerless are, in essence, used by the political elite to increase thier power, while, in turn, gaining nothing for themselves . In this way, war is little more than exploitation.

But pacifism embodies more than the idea of being against war. It is opposed to any form of violence; the radical notion that all human beings are capable of compassion and that we can, through this comassion, show respect to all of our fellow human beings, regardless of race, sex, ethnicity, religion, or any other articficial barrier that we have created in order to justify our terrible actoins of the past. It is the idea that all humans are all capable of acting with love rather than hate and unity rather than division; that, if we try, we can all leave together peacefully.

Written by Andy Power As always, if you have any questions ou comments pertaining to this article, or desire further information about pacifism, feel free to e-mail us with them. --Thought Crimes