Since the beginning of time, war and violence has always been a part of our human existence. It has been said that this is just human nature to destroy each other in a time of war. One theory behind this is that violent behavior is imbedded in humans because ancestors of humans were wild animals and humans have evolved to their present state as "sophisticated" beings. Yet the basic animal instinct is to kill in a time of war to protect themselves and their nation. There are those who are conscience objectors to war and killing their own species. These Pacifists developed from the same human animals that kill its own in war. Why is this?.
Before finding out why this is true, it is important to understand when Pacifism began. The earliest objectors of war "arose among early Christians who lived in the Roman Empire during the first few centuries BC, long after war that had been around for around since the beginning of mankind. This group also was the first to develop the ideas of antimilitarism, which included refusal to serve in the military. (Brock, 9) Even when Christians were being persecuted for their Christian faith, they never retaliated in any form of violence. Without violence, Christianity spread throughout Europe in the early centuries AD and today is one of the most dominant religions of the world. This shows that people can resolve their conflicts by being a Pacifist. So what is the definition of a Pacifist or Pacifism?.
The American Heritage College dictionary define Pacifism as the belief that disputes between nations should be settled peacefully, opposes to war and violence to resolve disputes, and do not believe serving in the military service. This brings me to my next question, what is the role of a pacifist in a time of war.
There are 2 basic roles that Pacifists have in a time of war. One is that Pacifism must be an effort to create by non-violent methods a new and better civilization.
