Pacifists function under a sort of magical thinking--if we don't believe in war, it won't happen to us. Would that the world were so straightforward. Think the good thoughts and all will be well. It's childish of course, and such childishness could only survive into adulthood in an artificially highly protected environment.
Pacifists function under a sort of magical thinking--if we don't believe in war, it won't happen to us.
I think that is the prevalent modern view. The older view would be that pacifism serves God and one's own soul, despite the evident fact that it invites persecution and martyrdom. I can respect the latter view, for it deals with reality and accepts the consequences in service to a higher calling. The magical modern view is not so admirable. Jeff Jarvis illustrates what often happens when shallow belief contacts nasty reality: on 9/11 he discovered that he wasn't a pacifist.
Speaking of converts, I also recall Hitchins' moment of truth in Iraqi Kurdistan when he discovered that Bush I had in fact saved the Kurds, who were grateful for the act. Now, I think it wonderful that Hitchins was able to change his mind about the virtue of the first Gulf War, but I've got to wonder what kind of fool he was in the first place to find it a revelation that the Kurds had been oppressed and that Bush helped them on their way to liberty. It wasn't as if Hitchins was a boy at the time.
There will be a small sweepstake as to whom the blame for this atrocity will be attributed.
Frankly, I find the question oddly worded though I'm sure that was inadvertant. With Rachel Corey and this guy and Pearl and Berg I'm afraid the first thing that comes to mind is Grizzly Man.
Teach your kids the truth:Mercy to the wolf is cruelty to the lamb.
Back during our Revolution the Quakers called the founders "the violent people" and were a constant source of worry to the Revolutionaries. While the Quakers supported the notion of Independence, they were opposed to virtually any and all means of achieving it. Some things do not change.
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I remember watching this "Friends" group in Rittenhouse Square in Philadelphia agitate on behalf of some anti-war group in 2002 and 2003.
Somehow, I find this ironic. Pacifism doesn't have much to say to a gun.
Pacifists function under a sort of magical thinking--if we don't believe in war, it won't happen to us. Would that the world were so straightforward. Think the good thoughts and all will be well. It's childish of course, and such childishness could only survive into adulthood in an artificially highly protected environment.
Pacifists function under a sort of magical thinking--if we don't believe in war, it won't happen to us.
I think that is the prevalent modern view. The older view would be that pacifism serves God and one's own soul, despite the evident fact that it invites persecution and martyrdom. I can respect the latter view, for it deals with reality and accepts the consequences in service to a higher calling. The magical modern view is not so admirable. Jeff Jarvis illustrates what often happens when shallow belief contacts nasty reality: on 9/11 he discovered that he wasn't a pacifist.
Speaking of converts, I also recall Hitchins' moment of truth in Iraqi Kurdistan when he discovered that Bush I had in fact saved the Kurds, who were grateful for the act. Now, I think it wonderful that Hitchins was able to change his mind about the virtue of the first Gulf War, but I've got to wonder what kind of fool he was in the first place to find it a revelation that the Kurds had been oppressed and that Bush helped them on their way to liberty. It wasn't as if Hitchins was a boy at the time.
There will be a small sweepstake as to whom the blame for this atrocity will be attributed.
Cthulhu?
Frankly, I find the question oddly worded though I'm sure that was inadvertant. With Rachel Corey and this guy and Pearl and Berg I'm afraid the first thing that comes to mind is Grizzly Man.
Teach your kids the truth:Mercy to the wolf is cruelty to the lamb.
Chuck, you may have hit on the big one! Google and see!! HP may have been prescient.
Back during our Revolution the Quakers called the founders "the violent people" and were a constant source of worry to the Revolutionaries. While the Quakers supported the notion of Independence, they were opposed to virtually any and all means of achieving it. Some things do not change.
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