Pacifism
From RationalWiki
Pacifism is the opposition to violence as a means of settling disputes. This opposition may range from the belief in peaceful resolution of international conflicts to personal rejection of a tradition of violent activity.
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[edit] Well-known pacifists
- Aung San Suu Kyi
- Mohandas Gandhi
- Tenzin Gyatso, the current Dalai Lama
- Bertrand Russell
- Leo Tolstoy, Russian writer, Christian, and anarchist, who influenced the development of Gandhi's passive resistance
- Robert LeFevre, an otherwise influential early libertarian theorist whose pacifism has not particularly carried over into the modern libertarian movement
- Martin Luther King
- Gene Sharp, an influential (at least in academia) nonviolent resistance theorist
- Jesus, although you wouldn't know it today from some of His purported followers.
[edit] Pacifist movements
[edit] Religious
- Buddhism is known for its strong emphasis on pacifism. Thich Nhat Hanh, the Vietnamese Buddhist monk, was a member of the Buddhist delegation to the Paris peace talks and was nominated for the Nobel peace prize.
- The Society of Friends (AKA The Quakers) are the most well-known pacifist Christian group. Some Quakers have been prosecuted for their opposition to war and militarism.
- Christian pacifism in general
- Jainism is so peace-loving that its adherents refuse to kill the smallest animal, even a mowse.
[edit] Secular
- The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament was the major anti-nuclear weapons movement in the West during the cold war.
