Pacifism and Pacifists

Unfortunately, the discussion of words does require definitions.  This time around, I'm putting to use http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pacifism :

Pacifism - 1: opposition to war or violence as a means of settling disputes; specifically : refusal to bear arms on moral or religious grounds  2: an attitude or policy of nonresistance

 

The second definition is more accurate.  A Pacifist is the individual who never engages in a physical confrontation, for any reason.  The Pacifist could never employ a method of non-violence as this would allow for defense of the self and another.  Nonresistance does not allow for self-defense, but it may allow for defense of another.  The Pacifist opposes more than just violence.

 

In any physical confrontation one can imagine, The Pacifist will only use words and never engage in self-defense.  The Pacifist will defend another using the method of nonresistance, giving up his body to prevent, or limit, damage done to another.  The best example of this would be The Civil Rights Movement.  The following is only 16 seconds long, but MLK Jr. wraps up The Pacifist and Nonresistance quite efficiently:

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhIifbJq6d4

 

The Pacifist has a moral objection to the use of violence itself.  This is why The Pacifist always opposes war.  The Pacifist is no coward.  The Pacifist of such a powerful nature that even Hermann Goering was forced to acknowledge them, and said at The Nuremburg Trials:

 

The people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same way in any country. 

https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hermann_Göring

 

To bring a quote back:

 

"The man who strikes first admits that his ideas have given out."   ~ Chinese Proverb from http://www.quotegarden.com/violence.html