Pacifism

Pacifism is the principle or practice of opposing war and violence, often including refusal to participate in armed conflict. It ranges from rejecting all violence to opposing war while permitting some forms of force.

Nonviolence: A principle or practice of pursuing change without physical violence. Pacifism often adopts nonviolence as both a moral commitment and a method of resistance.
Early Christianity: The religious movement that developed around the teachings of Jesus and the earliest Christian communities. Some early Christians rejected military service, establishing a lasting Christian pacifist tradition.
Absolute pacifism: The position that violence is morally impermissible in every circumstance. It states the strictest version of pacifism’s opposition to violence.
Salt March: A 1930 campaign in which Mohandas Gandhi led a march to challenge British colonial salt laws in India. It exemplified mass nonviolent resistance against imperial rule.
Right of conscientious objection: Legal recognition that people may refuse military service because of sincerely held beliefs. Pacifist advocacy has helped establish exemptions from compulsory military service.
Just war theory: A tradition of ethical reasoning that sets conditions under which war may be justified. It permits some wars, challenging pacifism’s rejection of armed conflict.
Quakers: A Christian movement whose members emphasize spiritual equality, peace, and direct religious experience. Quaker peace testimony made opposition to war a defining communal commitment.
Contingent pacifism: Opposition to war based on judgments about its causes, effects, or available alternatives. It rejects particular wars without claiming that every possible war is wrong.
Montgomery bus boycott: A 1955–1956 protest against racial segregation on public buses in Montgomery, Alabama. Its sustained nonviolent organizing showed how collective refusal could challenge injustice.
Nonviolent resistance: Collective action that challenges power through methods such as strikes, boycotts, and demonstrations rather than physical violence. Pacifist ideas have informed campaigns that confront authority without armed struggle.

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