George Hamilton-Gordon, 4to conde de Aberdeen

There exist two possible meanings of the term pacifism : the action of the partisans of peace or doctrines of nonviolence. The two concepts connect simply the reverses of same a médaille : Theory and Praxis.

In the first direction, the pacifism is the doctrines and the action of the partisans of the peace or the re-establishment of peace. The Socialists of before 1914 (Jean Jaurès), the Zimmerwaldiens during the First World War, the opponents with the colonial wars or the partisans of peace between Israeli and Palestinians profess a pacifism which is not comparable to the Non-violence. Thus, the Israeli Refuzniks which do not refuse to carry the weapons, but to be useful beyond the green line, are the pacifist ones.

Christian pacifism

The positions varied during the ages.

the first Christians refused to carry the weapons, even to defend Rome, by calling upon the passage of the Passion where Jesus, that Pierre seeks to defend by the sword, orders in Pierre to arrange this one by specifying that which uses the sword will perish by the sword .
Holy Martin (316-397), converted soldier whereas it is engaged in the army by a 25 year old contract, requires not to take part in the attack of Worms. Treated of coward by the emperor Julien, it then decides to go at the head of its troops, without other arms that a cross, but it is that the Barbarians go before the attack (Martin will be released from its contract at the forty years age)
Saint Ambroise (340-397) made watch of a Roman vision of the choses : “ The force without justice is matter of iniquity. With justice the force is full which, with the war, protects the fatherland against the barbares. ” Nevertheless, the temporal power remains under narrow monitoring: the town of Thessalonique being revolted against its governor and having killed it, the emperor (Christian) Théodose I {{er}} orders the massacre of the inhabitants, innocent or guilty, and seven thousand people perish. Saint Ambroise writes at once in Théodose to mean the gravity of his fault to him and to prevent it that, until it expie by penitence, it is excluded de facto from the community. When the emperor presents himself to the church, Ambroise prohibits the entry of it to him. The emperor points out the forgiveness granted to king David formerly. “Imitated it to You in his sin, answers holy Ambroise, imitate it in his penitence”. He imposes the obligation to him to promulgate a law carrying that any sentence of confiscation or dead will become executory only at the end of thirty days, after again being examined and being confirmed. After eight month of tacking, Théodose subjects
Saint Augustin (354-430) increases: “ What does one find to blame in the guerre ? Is this the fact that one keep silent there of the men who must die one day so that the winners are Masters of living in paix ? To make this reproach with the war is the fact of man pusillanimes and not of religious men. What one blames in the war it is the desire to harm, the cruelty of revenge, an unappeased heart and relentless, the fury of the reprisals, the passion of the domination and other feelings semblables. ” Augustin estimates that to kill a man (including oneself) is not a fault when God orders it, while quoting, inter alia, the example of Samson ( the City of God , delivers I) :

“God himself made some exceptions to defense kill the man, sometimes by a general command, sometimes by a temporary and personal order. In such a case, that which kills does nothing but lend its ministry to a higher order; it is like a sword between the hands of that which strikes, and consequently it should not be believed that these violated the precept: “You will not kill”, which undertook wars by the inspiration of God, or which, covered character of the public power and obeying the laws of the State, i.e. with very-right and very-reasonable laws, punished of died the malfaiteurs ” (§21)

In the Summa Theologica , Thomas d' Aquin (1228-1274) examines the conditions of admissibility of a war and poses three exigences :
# authority of the prince,
# the cause right,
# the right intention.

It also considers there that a company “one is given of nature”; a company the pagan ones is less legitimate than a Christian company. A pagan sovereignty is thus possible, including on Christians. One cannot thus regard as holy with the only pretext that one would do it with infidels (it in what the posted position of Catholicism thus differs from that of Islam).
Lastly, it admits the legitimacy of the Régicide vis-a-vis the “ tyrant of exercice ” or with the “ tyrant of usurpation ”.

Catechism in 2003: the war of defense is regarded as acceptable with condition :

“that the damage inflicted by the attacker with the nation or the community of the nations is durable, serious and certain ;
that all the other means of putting an end to it appeared impracticable or inefficaces ;
which are met the serious conditions of the succès ;
that the use of the weapons does not involve evils and disorders more serious than the evil to be eliminated. The power of the modern means of destruction weighs very heavily in the appreciation of this condition. ”

Pacifist famous

Einstein,
Jean Jaurès, Karl Liebknecht, Rosa Luxemburg,
Romain Roland, writer French, born with Clamecy (Nievre) the January 29th 1866 and died with Vézelay the December 30th 1944. It accepted in 1916 the Nobel Prize of literature 1915 for its major work, Jean-Christophe . Its requirement of justice pushed it to seek peace “ above the fray ” during and after the First World War.
Woodrow Wilson addresses a message to the congress, which must guarantee peace. This speech of the 14 points (“ The world must Be made safe for democracy ”) in particular the creation of a “League claims off Nations ” (SDN)).
Roger Martin of Gard, according to the movement pacifism of the inter-war period, wrote with a friend in September 1936 “ All rather than the war, tout ! Even Fascism in Spain, even Fascism in France, even Hitler ! ”.
Aristide Briand, it signed in particular an agreement to put the war outlaw !
Jean Giraudoux, friend of this last and author of the pacifist part the Trojan War will not take place .

Like all the nominated ones of the Nobel Prize of peace.

Jean Giono, more or less anarchistic writer but “ pacifist integral ”, founds a pacifist movement, (“ Meetings of Contadour ”), of the name of a village of the Mountain of Lure (the Low-Alps), but its lack of charisma, its individualism and its refusal to make important decisions will make hood these illusions.
Bob Marley

Pacifist nations

The Total Peace Index measurement on the basis of score of criteria (in particular engagement in conflicts, the sale of weapons, the expenditure military, the transparency of the government, the rate of criminality…) the most peaceful countries.

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