🕊:Pacifism and Peacemaking 🕊
Pacifism
Keywords
☸Buddhist pacifism ☸
✝ Christian pacifism ✝
Pacifism
The belief of refusing participation in war or any violence
Peacemaker
A person who works to establish peace in the world or in a certain area.
Engaged Buddhism
A movement in Buddhism concerned with applying the Buddha's teachings to eliminate social/environmental injustice
Peacemaking
The action of trying to establish peace
Involves the belief that violence is NEVER justified, working and campaigning to resolve conflict and violence
Pacifists often promote justice and human rights so that the causes for conflict, violence and intolerance are reduced
Christian pacifists believe that violence can be prevented through faith, prayer and meditation in order to be at peace with oneself- which they believe reduces chance of conflict.
Matthew 5: 9- 'Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God'
Christian pacifists often use this teaching from Jesus to present that Jesus is the role model for pacifism
Many Christians were 'conscientious objectors'- they refused to fight in the world wars. Many belonged to the Quakers- a strongly pacifist Christian denomination.
'Everyone should commit themselves to peace' (Pope John Paul II)
Romans 12:21- 'Do not overcome evil by evil, but overcome evil with good'
Christians would use this to show that forgiveness and love are the only solution to eliminate evil in the world- evil is the root of conflict.
Matthew 5:44- 'Love your enemies'
Christian pacifist organisations
Buddhists strongly support pacifism, but promote non-violent resistance against oppression to eliminate suffering
First Moral Pecept : Abstain from harming/killing
Parable of the Saw (In the Pali Tipitaka): ''if anyone were to give you a blow with the hand...I shall remain full of concern and pity, with a mind of love, and I shall not give in to hatred''
This shows how Buddhists believe that revenge only harms the person giving the revenge, and that you should threat others as you would yourself.
'Peace can exist if everyone respects all others- Dalai Lama
Thich Nhat Hanh was a Buddhist monk who pioneered Engaged Buddhism- actively fighting social injustice to achieve enlightenment.
Thich Nhat Hanh emphasized how meditation can stop anger and violent thoughts, thereby preventing violence and war
Anglican Pacifist Fellowship, who believe that Jesus' teachings are incompatible with war, that churches should be against war, and that pacifism is a vital tenet/belief of Christianity