Pacifism (Split from "Top 10 Armies of Today")

That's the problem with pithy, memorable statements. I always took it to mean, "if you want peace you should be prepared to defend yourself if attacked, and maintain armed forces large enough to act as a deterrent"
But that's doesn't sound quite so snappy :lol:
The moment your forces drop below a level where, in the enemy's estimation, his potential losses are less than his potential gains is the point he invades.
War is about gains and losses, if you can convince a potential enemy that he'll lose more than he'll gain there won't be a war.
Ref Hitler's decision was influenced (to some degree) by the Oxford(? might have been Cambbridge) debate result that the youth of England would not fight for King and Country. Hitler saw it as an indication of the feeling of the entire country rather than an intellectual exercise in arguing.

 

Oli wrote:

I have always taken it the same way and to all accounts that is exactly the way it was intended. Sometimes a too literal reading can alter the gist of a statement, pithy or otherwise

 

in the movie BLACK ROBE the french priests convinced the local indians to stop warlike behavior and settle down and farm,turn the other cheek ect.....the next tribe inland did not however give up war .they invaded their christian convert neighbors and wiped them from the planet.is this correct and who were the tribes involved?[western canada,1720?]

 

oops,eastern canada of course.....

 

I don't know if this is correct, but I've always wondered why Christians deliberately turn themselves into the victims and even the slaves of anyone more assertive than they are. Submitting to overlords seems to be at the very foundation of their morals. In the early days of Christianity they were even known to give themselves up to Roman authorities, just so they could die a martyr's death. It's no surprise, then, that missionaries would go about turning warlike peoples into servile peoples.

 

It is the slightly misconceived idea that meek = subserviant.

the use of 'meek' in the Bible actually has a meaning closer to 'not misusing your strength'

The Rome / Lions thing is slightly different - they were obeying the law of Rome, and wanting to become Martyrs. Whether they were doctrinally correct to do so is a matter for debate!

 

where's the top 10 armies of today post if i may ask?

 

TOP 10

I suppose the better ones are in IRAQ!

 

i think the idea is that if u are percieved as powerful then the would be invaders are not tempted to mess with you.it works in the school yard and it works in the adult world too.it has always been and will ever be thus,im afraid...as for feeding the third world,whatever amount of food is produced or delivered the local population will simply expand until exhausts the food supply again...no easy solution.