pacifists
Opponents of warfare
Pacifists are people who oppose war and violence as means of settling disputes, often refusing to participate in military service on moral or religious grounds.
The term can be descriptive or dismissive depending on context—pacifists may be praised for principled commitment to peace or criticized as naive about geopolitical realities: The pacifists staged a protest outside the recruitment center.
Principled rejection of force
- ahimsaHindu principle of harmlessness
- antimilitarismOpposition to armed forces
- conscientious objectionMoral refusal to fight
- QuakerSociety of Friends member
Mennonite · Jain · satyagraha · Tolstoyan · Gandhian · moral objection · harmlessness · nonresistance
Public expression of disapproval
- demonstrationPublic display of opinion
- marchRhythmic group walk
- civil disobediencePeaceful refusal to obey
- sit-inProtest by remaining seated
vigil · conscientious objector · draft resistance · sanctuary movement · noncooperation · direct action · hunger strike · blockade
Indian independence leader
- Tolstoy
- Desmond Tutu
- Dalai LamaTibetan Buddhism's supreme leader
- Bertrand Russell
Discussion seeking mutual accord
- mediationIntervention to resolve conflict
- treatyBinding pact between nations
- ceasefireAgreed halt to fighting
- armisticeAgreement to cease hostilities
disarmament · reconciliation · conflict resolution · peacemaking · dialogue · accord · detente · nonaggression pact
nonviolence
Principled rejection of force
- ahimsaHindu principle of harmlessness
- antimilitarismOpposition to armed forces
- conscientious objectionMoral refusal to fight
Quaker · Mennonite · Jain · satyagraha · Tolstoyan · Gandhian · moral objection · harmlessness · nonresistance · quietism
protest
Public expression of disapproval
- demonstrationPublic display of opinion
- marchRhythmic group walk
- civil disobediencePeaceful refusal to obey
sit-in · vigil · conscientious objector · draft resistance · sanctuary movement · noncooperation · direct action · hunger strike · blockade · die-in
Gandhi
Indian independence leader
- Dalai LamaTibetan Buddhism's supreme leader
- Albert EinsteinRenowned twentieth-century physicist
Tolstoy · Desmond Tutu · Bertrand Russell · Cesar Chavez · Joan Baez · Pete Seeger
negotiation
Discussion seeking mutual accord
- mediationIntervention to resolve conflict
- treatyBinding pact between nations
- ceasefireAgreed halt to fighting
armistice · disarmament · reconciliation · conflict resolution · peacemaking · dialogue · accord · detente · nonaggression pact · demilitarization
- HumanitariansMother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi, Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr.
- peacemakingnegotiation, mediation, mediate, negotiate, diplomacy
- dissentersdissenter, dissenters, dissidents, dissident, nonconformists
- peacemakerspeacebuilders, diplomats, peacekeepers, humanitarians, Gandhi
- believersbeliever, believers, adherent, devotee, theist
- AnabaptistsMennonites, Amish, Hutterites, Mennonite, Menno Simons
pacifistswarmongers
Advocates for military action
hawks · militants · militarists · belligerents · war hawks
pacifistsaggressors
Initiators of hostility
fighters · brawlers · hot-heads · combatants · attackers
pacifistshawks
Keen-eyed birds of prey
militarists · neoconservatives · war party · hardliners · imperialists
- pacifist movementsOrganized opposition to armed conflict