pacifism

A political or religious ideology that stresses peace over violence or war. A central tenet of many Eastern religions, and also surprisingly widespread in modern-day Europe. Pacifist ideology assumes that violence is inherently bad and should be avoided, typically without giving serious thought to the causes of and solutions to war and violence (see Heinlein quote below). Pacifism is also commonly linked with socialism and environmentalism, and was widespread in the US during the 1960s, with hippies for some reason favoring the communist, Soviet-backed North Vietnamese over the US and its involvement. This is also prevalent today with respects to the War on Terrorism. As is typical, those adhering to pacifist thought do not consider the alternatives to the war, and instead, as is typical, provide baseless or biased rhetoric as to why it is better to die like a dog than fighting on your feet.