Pacifism

[Era Might]

[quote name='Aloysius' post='1856652' date='May 3 2009, 06:18 PM']you need to provide an example where non-violent resistance has actually succeeded without being backed up by the threat of violence. Because you're saying that we need to take the threat of violence off the table to have more power, except as soon as the threat of violence is off the table then all non-violent resistance becomes ineffectual... if history is any example.[/quote]
There has never been a massive (society-wide) effort at non-violent resistance, at least not one that I am aware of. The only examples I can think of are relatively limited.

For non-violent resistance to be an effective alternative to war, I think non-violent resistance has to become a society-wide commitment, and not just an isolated movement in society.

[Era Might]

[quote]...A great hope has filled our hearts that Europe and the world might finally enter an era of firm and stable peace. It seemed that the Second World War had at last come to an end! And yet we are constantly reminded how fragile are the institutions which ensure peaceful relations between peoples who, with the onset of freedom, are also rediscovering ancient hostilities and prejudices. Although - as you well know - individuals are capable of great and noble acts of service and human solidarity on the battlefield, war itself with its accompanying evils and sufferings is a reality which the human family is called to reject as a means of pursuing political objectives. You who have seen its cost in human suffering will surely agree that other, more just, ways must be found to meet whatever challenges to peace may arise now and in the future.

--Pope John Paul II, "Address to Canadian War Veterans"

[url="http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_paul_ii/speeches/1991/september/documents/hf_jp-ii_spe_19910919_veterani-canadesi_en.html"]http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/john_pau...anadesi_en.html[/url][/quote]

[Lounge Daddy]

Would you agree that we need all kinds? Perhaps some people are called to take up arms, some are called to take up rosaries.

Some fight [url="http://agorism.info/"]through counter-economic measures[/url], some fight at the voting booth, and some become pamphleteers -- others take up arms.

It's the people who do nothing when faced with evil who have a share in the blame in the end. But counter-economics or picking up arms or grabbing a rosary are all doing something.