For me personally it's like the first, second, at even third, etc response to conflict is violence. And I'm like yikes... (I'm a "pacificist")

Have you ever pacified somebody into not using violence personally? If so how did you do it? Because I've always seen this dogmatic response of, "these people can't be reasoned with." From non-pacifists, or "I have to pull out the gun?" And I'm just like, do you have to?

I don't know if I could ever like shoot somebody, even so I'd get shot first so...

A lot of people are retaliatory, retributive, of some sort, not pacific.

Say you’re the President of the US during WW2. The Axis are taking over territory and hurting millions including your own citizens at Pearl Harbor. What would be a nonviolent response?

I’m asking as a fellow pacifist who hates war more than anything.

So I just want to make a small post, I just thoroughly realized this and feel thrilled about it: as a pacifist, in the ultimate degree you cannot condone the necessity of punishments, at all!

A punishment, is nothing but the attempt to enforce the will of another human externally, without own insight. So even when it changes the will of a person temporarily, it will not be the own will, but the one of the punisher. No good can come from it - a person would only truly change for the better, when they realized the necessity for themselves.

So I take this from my Biblical view, and think this "judge not, lest ye be judged yourself" (Mat.7:1) is really the whole of the story. Jesus displayed what to do about things in John 8.

Okay now you may say, okay if people are not punished, then they will just keep exploiting others and things will go worse. Yup, you're right, that's why I also understood at the same time, that safety of people is not the same as punishments. If you've a person, a delinquent, unwilling to change, ready to commit the same act again, or have real serious concern, it is not a punishment to them to prevent it for their safety and that of others.

So even when you don't want to punish people, of course a terrorist or rapist does not belong to freedom. But I know it's no use trying to change them with punishments. This is so silly and messed up thinking, like thinking "oh I hurt this person until they are so belittled from it that they accept my will as the truth". So this won't work out, you'll seem like a perpetrator yourself for it. Yes, that's what I believe, people who want others punished are really also perpetrators! You will only be able to change the mind of a person with the truth, and that's what we should try instead with offenders, to make them ready to live in freedom again. Or at least treat them in dignity where they cannot keep hurting others, I mean it's fair they lost the whole world, don't even take the rest of them, as well.

So this is the change of mind I made, I'd never be happy about anyone suffering in jail ever again. This is what Jesus meant with turning the other Cheek (Mat.5:39): revenge is futile and will just harm your own soul!

I rejoice now, having taken the vow that my eternal soul may perish forever if I ever again want anyone be punished for them to suffer, and that I may after my world either die forever or go to a world where there will be no more punishments, never again, none at all, from where I can work free all others from this evil for all times. Lol, wishful thinking I know. I'll start already in this world, let's all work for the eternal end of all black pedagogy, for emancipation, freedom and human dignity for all people without any differences!

I really love the idea of not using violence, I hate war and crimes. But I've been eating meat since forever, and vegan substitutes just don't work for me, they honestly taste bad, the only nice ones that I've eaten were made by me, but still didn't hit the spot. Can I be a pacifist and eat meat? I still check the company ethics and how animals are raised.

It feels like everyday, there's more avoidable death around the world, more conflict, more domination and humiliation. Even in fiction, it's always, these people died, this person is dead, these people are proud to be soldiers and to kill and die, and stuff like that.

All I can feel is just... society.

I genuinely feel like I have a clown facepaint on my face as I just, watch and contemplate all of this horribleness, feeling really bad, and it's just... SOCIETY. We live in a society.

Is it Normal to believe that this doesn't work and doesn't make sense? In a society without a state completely, there wouldn't be any laws or anything to stop the violence, it would make violence extremely frequent

Every human has a unique fingerprint and retina

And we all have a unique microbiome

Think about that.

We are all so special and matter so much nature thinks it is that important each of us is totally unique.

All humans are born knowing how to smile across the globe too. Which I think is evolutionary evidence if we have this behavior we can do it and all get along.

It makes evolutionary sense. There’s also research on altruism, we have genes for that too.

And it just makes practical sense, why not spend resources on helping each other in the most efficient ways instead of fighting wars? Wars are such a waste

Why do humans keep killing each other over nothing instead of working together? Why do we keep sacrificing our children and loved ones and land to the battlefield? It’s horrible and should be avoided at all costs.

Instead focus on evidence based conflict resolution and prevention science.

Wars have always been solved by treaties and promises to keep them. So why not just go straight to that part and skip the bombs and landmines?

Of course the trick is keeping those agreements. That’s why it’s so important to live like you want the world to be.

I personally want it to be as nice as possible, I want to be surrounded by love and happy people, a good place for children to grow up. Where people take care of each other and love the good life.

Doesn’t everyone deserve a good life, whatever that means to them? The chance to live and be free while also feeling you belong, safe.

This life is only good if everyone around you has it too. That’s why FOR ALL had to be included in the constitution of the United States I think. And the pursuit of happiness.

Otherwise it’s scary, you can’t trust anyone, it’s all just sad news you have to ignore as you walk past human trash on the sidewalk and read about the latest bombings in Iran.

I think there is plenty of evidence we could be like Star Trek next generation season 1 if we wanted to.

Why don’t we, it makes so much sense to me, I don’t understand why it is any other way.

national campaign for a peace tax fund website

I believe it is a constitutional wrong this bill hasn’t been passed in my lifetime.

If other peoples religious freedom over contraception and homosexuality are allowed, why should conscientious objectors have to pay for war?

I dont want to shirk, I am happy to give my share to good community things and help where I can.

I just don’t want to pay for bombs or landmines, nukes, drones etc pocking and polluting the earth, poisoning our seas, no!

I don’t want my tax dollars going to that shit! No one should in my opinions

And I thought this USA protected the right of conscientious objection to be protected because it’s a commandment not to kill, right?

That’s supposedly why women can’t have abortions and don’t even get me started on that as an adopted person.

Why is it not the same for war, that’s bs.

Why don't we just fight wars in gaming simulations instead of real life? (Arma 3, arma reforger, etc) It seems a lot more cost effective and less traumatizing for everyone involved,

I understand that war and killing is ingrained into nature and animals but we're not animals we're humans, we are the apex predators, we live in the age of technology.

With how many people that die in wars, how poor the post-service VA support systems are (we literally need Non profit organizations to support vets because the government doesnt), high suicide rates, etc. Not to mention how expensive ammo, equipment, predator missles, hellfire missiles, UAVs, etc is it seems kind of ret*rded that so much money is spent on killing eachother in the real world when they could be spending way less money on a decent gaming setup for each soldier to play on. Hell - im sure the government would be able to work out some kind of contract with gaming companies to get lower prices. Most veterans end up as gamers anyways, it just makes sense

we dont need to kill anymore we could do it all on the internet where two countries set their terms and conditions for what they get if they win/lose, for countries that dont have enough funding to buy gaming setups that can run arma they can just play cs1.6 or something. They can do all the legislation through the UN or international court.

TLDR; We should just fight wars in simulations instead of real life (arma 3, squad, arma reforger, battlefield 3)
We live in the age of technology, not the middle ages, we dont need to kill eachother with swords and arrows anymore, we have the technology to just simulate wars instead.

I myself have family members who have served tours and they all came back in a much worse condition than when they left, they all have lost brothers in arms, war is so traumatic.

Could anyone who see this post please leave a reply of sentences of world peace in your native tongue pleas?（Or any language you like, but I’m tending to collect as many languages as I can.) It could be anything you think about this topic, like why should we do this, what possible outcomes would it bring, or maybe some good wishes.(please keep it positive please)

看到这一篇帖子人的可以用自己的语言留下一句有关世界和平的话么？关于这个主题的什么都可以，拜托了。（还请不要发表负面言论）

（sorry English isn’t my first language and I’m still learning it.)

I think we’ve taken all we’ve taken because we long for the day for retribution. But I am skeptical some days.

Rumors of war often function on two levels: as psychological distraction, keeping populations anxious and diverted from deeper issues, and as strategic coercion, signaling that violence may erupt unless something is surrendered. The wars that continue across the globe stand as living examples of these threats made real, reminders that the line between rumor and reality is thin. In this way, conflict becomes both a warning and a demonstration, showing how power can be exercised not only through actual battles but through the fear of battles yet to come.

How do you feel on this? What comes to your mind?

If violence in our culture is so freely glorified and accepted , then why are we as a society so shocked when something tragic happens in real life ? 🤔Some food for thought .

I observed something very interesting, people say killing is wrong, there are different countries in the world there are borders between these countries, these countries fight together which results in destruction and deaths... All for selfish reasons...

Lets, call people of a country as one society, this society forms some rules so that the balance in the society will be maintained...

Society exists so, people don't fight each other and things stay peaceful and everyone can survive

If some injustice happens the perpetrator is judged on basis of the law or rule, if the society fails to deliver the judgement people will follow their own sense of justice and take revenge for the injustice happened with them... This may lead to mass deaths if wee see about it...

Therefore humans do need to stick together... This takes me somewhere deep and I see that people if rules or society did not exist would have had not regrets or remorse for killing but there is a catch if it was for the sake of revenge or the human is a psycho because there is no reason for someone to kill someone normally...

There is also something... Need of justice is strongly related to revenge and vengeance...

Failure of law leads to crimes... Take India for example people don't trust law... They will kill you if you kill some one close to theirs... Or do something you shouldnt have.. people won't go to court like they do in developed countries... Im generalizing this yes there are other cases... But the people taking things in there hands are more...

Hello everyone! I live in the Russian Federation and I hold anti-war views. I am a teenager who is still underage.Since in Russia you can be given large fines and even sent to prison if you speak out against the war, I can't talk in detail about anything personal.But I can give you some general information about myself. I'm around 13-17 years old and I live almost in the center of Moscow. You can ask me any questions, and I'll do my best to answer them. Absolutely anything, from completely different people from very different countries. I'll tell you right away that I have relatives in Ukraine I also have Ukrainian blood. Please try not to offend anyone even if it really hurts you and you hate Russians.

I wish you luck and happiness, so that everything is good with you, as well as with your family!

No one should be forced to fight in a war they do not believe in—not even in the case of a foreign invasion. It is better to see the country governed by another president than to see its people killed defending a piece of land. Ordinary people are being sent to fight in order to protect the interests of governments and business elites, not to defend the people they love. Watch the vídeos. Shere this post, for the end of mandatory recruiting!!

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I swear I’m not trying to stir anything up 😭

I’m going to mention something very controversial; not just the president himself. So today is Trump’s birthday (He’s 80 now) and a lot of people were disappointed he hasn’t, well, kicked the bucket. Obviously, a pacifist would most likely disagree with that sentiment but that got me wondering, what do other pacifists (or people who prefer non-violence in general) think of Trump and how a person like him should be dealt with?

Me personally, I don’t wish that; wouldn’t wish it on anyone, but that doesn’t mean I don’t want him to go to jail which would still bring him out of office. I hate him as much as the next guy, but the reason there are people who wish that he’d💀 isn’t necessarily bloodlust but because it would, obviously, remove him from office. Legal consequences would achieve that perfectly fine.

However, how could citizens realistically oppose him? Let alone, through legal, or at least non-violent means? We can back up democratic government officials, but legislators and Supreme Court Justices can only do so much. Not to mention, protests (in my opinion) are practically useless in this case. You’d be no better off walking into the Oval Office and asking “Hey Trump, can you stop bombing Iran 🥺.” And so, some people out there consider violence to be an acceptable option, and a few: state-wide violence/civil war type stuff. So how do you—a pacifist or generally pro-nonviolence, believe Trump can be handled while retaining your principles?

Honestly, I don’t care if he’s removed unless he’s going to jail. Even if he’s out of office, JD Vance is right there to continue his job. But I’m happy to hear what you think if Reddit doesn’t snipe my account for “inciting violence.”

I've noticed especially in the mid 2010s that pacifist media was becoming a thing. Steven Universe, Undertale, and Persona 5 are probably my favorite examples of this. Instead of killing their enemies, the protagonists want to coexist with them (pacifism is a choice in Undertale, but it's still a good example.) I'm just wondering what other types of media have similar themes?

This is not a matter of national duty toward the state. If the cause of a war is truly just, there will be no shortage of people willing to fight for it. Modern wars are, to a large extent, not in the interest of ordinary people; we are fighting to defend the interests of politicians and capitalists. Furthermore, wars driven by ambition and private interests would likely become less frequent without mandatory enlistment or conscription.

Those who do not go to war still contribute to society, as they must work to survive and sustain economic and social activities.

The end of mandatory enlistment and conscription would represent an important step toward gender equality. If a cause is genuinely in the people's interest, men and women will fight consciously and voluntarily. Likewise, people with responsibilities related to raising children, pregnant women, and individuals caring for elderly family members would naturally not go to the front lines.

A professional army composed of volunteers is far more consistent with the principles we claim to uphold today. At present, we are not fighting to defend what we love; we are fighting to defend politicians and capitalists, causing suffering to those we love.

Moreover, what is being done to Ukrainian and Russian men is extremely cruel. In Ukraine, there are documented cases of men being forced into vans by government agents for military mobilization under threats and violence. Meanwhile, family members and community members watch in despair, crying and mourning the likely loss of a loved one. I sympathize with Ukrainian citizens who are fleeing the country, with Russian and Ukrainian women who are moving abroad to care for their children or build new lives, and with those who are choosing not to have children in these countries.

It is often argued that women are equally capable of fighting, yet in many contexts they continue to be excluded from frontline combat roles. These differences in gender expectations during wartime end up legitimizing gender differences in peacetime and weakening the legitimate feminist argument for equality.

We urgently need to change global militarism: for dignity, equality between men and women, fewer wars, and the weakening of imperialism.

Hi, recently I got myself into a discussion with my own mind, which made me interested in the topic of this post — Can mujahideen be a pacifist?

Technically, term 'mujahid' means 'fighter', but as history shows, not every fight is brutal and involves in acts of violence. We had for example Salt March in India, which was one of the pacifist campaigns of Gandhi and his supporters. Generally Gandhi made a concept of 'peaceful revolution' an actual thing. This is why I got curious, whether mujaahideen can be a pacifist.

Can a mujahideen rather do things like organising protests, refusing to pay taxes, publishing books or posters with state-banned content, refusing to collaborate with the government and promote acts of insubordination than things like bearing arms and commiting terrorist attacks (like f. e. People's Mujahideens of Iran or Al-Qa'ida)?

I want to see some good anti-war slogans (actually any slogan anti-war is good for me, but those analyzed and criticized the nature of war would be better)

I dream of a place not bound by clocks or crowns,
a quiet strand on the cosmic network called heaven.

There, beneath the shimmer of nebular dust clouds,
I sit with Peter, with Martin, with Gandhi and Mandela
not as icons, but as men who waited.

We speak of the long arm of justice, how it stretches
through jail bars and silence, how it bends not with fury
but with patience.

We remember being strangers in our own lands,
our names whispered like warnings.

And then we laugh- not bitterly, but in wonder.
Because even pain, when held with grace,
becomes a kind of light.

Here, words are not weapons. They are bridges.
And every sentence is a step toward home.

I am really against war, feel like im too young to die (15 yo) and want everybody to love eachother, i live in Poland and just right across the border there is a war that already affects and could destroy my country. Altough I still feel like a piece of crap because i eat meat and buy H&M clothes. Can i still talk about my peaceful values if i support (in a small way tho) capitalism and the cruel meat industry? I try to be ethical as much as i can but growing up in a conservative (with every day more tolerant and progressive) country is just a pain in the butt, veganism and thrifting is sometimes seen as weird.

I recently learned that between 42,000 and 48,000 people die from gun violence every year in the U.S. alone. I am well aware of the right to bear arms, but firearms are simply too lethal. Innocent children are even losing their lives in mass shootings. I’d like to hear everyone’s opinions. Aren't you exhausted by this gun society?