What a profound topic!! I took a very interesting class in college, titled "The History of Anti-War Movements in the U.S." The course followed anti-war activists from the Revolution to Vietnam. It was fascinating! Far from being radical extremists, most of the pacifists were from deeply religious backgrounds, like the Quakers or the Amish. They would not fight for religious reasons; many were of the opinion that it would be preferable to be killed than to kill and break one of the Commandments.

I found myself questioning how much of a pacifist I really am. I think that when a person, or a group of people, or a nation, is being oppressed, it is necessary to make a stand to protect ones rights. Unfortunately, I think it is human nature to exploit the "weak" (look how we treat underdeveloped nations, animals, the planet).

Here's another question: What do we do when someone else is doing the exploiting? Do we rescue the weak one, or do we write it off as another step in our socio-political evolution? Yeah, you guessed it, I'm talking about Bosnia/Yugoslavia/whatever we call it now (A MESS!). Certainly the Holocaust-type atrocities being exacted on the Muslims (among others) must be brought to a halt, but how do we (as a planet) do it?