Pacifism

It may be too broad a topic, but I would like to ask - Why isn't pacifism the default stance?

Is violence avoidable or is it a natural and necessary mechanism for survival?

What do you think?

Violence has always and will always be the forefront of the civilized world ...

Whether we like it or not, it is there - suppose it comes back to the 'survival of the fittest' theory?

Every single culture & religion has been built on violence.

It's a harsh world where animal eats animal, and when we as people start to remember that we are nothing more than animals 'doing our thing' ... things will never change.


OR ... that is what they want you to believe?

I realise that violence is an animalistic mechanism - you see it in most, if not all, species - however, the (collective) human mind has developed; just look at technological advances for one example.

Let me ask - if 'we are nothing more than animals doing our thing' why do we have prisons? a legal system? Why not just let people do their thing?

It's because when we don't find things acceptable in society we try to stop or change them. Why not this?

I've never understood (and this is tied to the ethics thread really) how we as human beings have taken it upon ourselves to (in our little groups) dictate what is moral and immoral; and then when it suits us postpone morality all together... For example, war and the death penalty - taking a life is taking a life and the lesser of two evils is still evil!

Having said that, maybe you are right then, we are doomed...

Yeah ...

We are apparently at the height of awarness, we have evolved to be creatures with a conscience, the cream of civilization and at the top end of technological advances.

Yet we put every energy into delveloping technology for destruction and weapons. The major leap in the last century is all to do with military and nothing to do with peace.

Quote :

Let me ask - if 'we are nothing more than animals doing our thing' why
do we have prisons? a legal system? Why not just let people do their
thing?

Because, we have a false belief that we 'know our own minds' that we have morality.

'You hit that man in the face, that was wrong - violence is wrong.
Now I shall hit you in the face to reinforce my belief and teach you the same'


No matter how aware the human race believes it self to be, there is an underlying score that never goes away ... every part of life leads us to confrontation, to challenge others. From all out war to the simplest things like a game of sport etc.

What is this underlying thing that we try so hard to believe we have overcome (yet at the same time display 99.9% of the time)?

Natural instinct?

Violence is instilled in us, it always has been......we all know that the world would be a better place if we were all peace loving, animals included.

As humans we can be capable of keeping our emotions in check, therefore it could be possible for us to be a world of human pacifists but we simply don't care enough to follow through with this. As Bee said we are built with the "survival of the fittest" gene that tells up that we must fight our corner to establish our own segment of the earth.

I am as a person very much a pacifist, I don't believe in violence, would love there to be no wars and am usually the one to try to break up an argument or patch up a friendship but at the same time I can for whatever reason, fly into the same rage as everyone else! Even the meekest of people has an aggressive streak somewhere.

Mrs-G wrote:

I am as a person very much a pacifist, I don't believe in violence

Ah, but are you? ... really?

You eat meat, therefore you actually encourage and even pay other people to be violent.

You are saying that you don't believe in violence against other people, which says you believe in 'good violence' but don't agree with 'bad violence' ... so you DO believe in some form of violence.

Not even Gaz is in the clear ... at some point (even on the lowest of low scale), the act of pulling a carrot from the ground becomes aggressive and 'violent'

What do you want us to do charm the buggers out of the ground?

Mrs-G wrote:

See, violence! ^^



Don't be afraid ... embrace your inner warmongerer

if there were no pacifist we would have no one to bully