History Main / ObstructionistPacifist

** A famous example is Edith Keeler from "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E28TheCityOnTheEdgeOfForever The City on the Edge of Forever]]". A [[TimeTravel time-traveling]] Dr. [=McCoy=] saves her, and because she lives, she leads a pacifist movement that prevents crucial war research during UsefulNotes/WorldWarII, causing the Nazis to win the war. [[BittersweetEnding Kirk has to let her die to reset the timeline.]]
** Subverted in "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E26ErrandOfMercy Errand of Mercy]]", in that the Organians look like this for most of the episode. Spock describes the planet as a stagnant culture on and the planet seems to be populated by amiable old men who placidly allow the Klingons to conquer them, rebuking Kirk and Spock's efforts to inspire a resistance because they abhor violence so much they'd [[WouldRatherSuffer rather allow arbitrary executions than fight back.]] It's only at the end that we learn the Organians have simply ''pretended'' to be harmless (and executed, and humanoid) to make their [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith visitors feel at ease]]. When tensions come to a head, they revert to their luminous true forms and make both sides sit in the corner.

* ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' 3[[superscript:rd]] Edition: The "Vow of Nonviolence" and "Vow of Peace" IntrinsicVow feats make this a game mechanic -- both require the PlayerCharacter to police their allies' behaviour, and the former also inflicts mechanical penalties on nearby allies who commit violent acts.

SubTrope of HonorBeforeReason.

Compare SuicidalPacifism and WeHaveBecomeComplacent.

Similar to ThouShaltNotKill.

May lead to TooDumbToLive.

[[AC:{{Anime and Manga}}]]

[[AC: Western Animation]]

* Many pacifists who would be Conscientious Objectors to military service are also opposed to paying taxes to [[NoBudget fund the military.]] In the United States, The National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund works to pass a national law to allow conscientious objectors to redirect their tax money to be used only for non-military purposes[[note]]As any rational person will immediately see, this would accomplish approximately nothing unless more than about 80% of the people did it, since the government would just say "Fine, YOUR money goes to pay farmers not to grow crops (or whatever), we'll just take a little more for the DOD out of EVERYBODY ELSE'S taxes to compensate." There's also the question of what exactly constitutes "non-military purposes": a significant fraction of research grants to universities in the United States are funneled through the Department of Defense somehow, through agencies like the Office of Naval Research or the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (which is largely responsible for the very existence of the Internet), and these should arguably be considered non-military purposes: most of the grants are not for things that are actually directly useful to the military, they tend to be for basic research ("Find out more about how polymers adhere to ceramics") instead of more applied projects ("Figure out how to detect enemy submarines better").[[/note]]

* Many pacifists who would be Conscientious Objectord to military service are also opposed to paying taxes to [[NoBudget fund the military.]] In the United States, The National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund works to pass a national law to allow conscientious objectors to redirect their tax money to be used only for non-military purposes[[note]]As any rational person will immediately see, this would accomplish approximately nothing unless more than about 80% of the people did it, since the government would just say "Fine, YOUR money goes to pay farmers not to grow crops (or whatever), we'll just take a little more for the DOD out of EVERYBODY ELSE'S taxes to compensate." There's also the question of what exactly constitutes "non-military purposes": a significant fraction of research grants to universities in the United States are funneled through the Department of Defense somehow, through agencies like the Office of Naval Research or the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (which is largely responsible for the very existence of the Internet), and these should arguably be considered non-military purposes: most of the grants are not for things that are actually directly useful to the military, they tend to be for basic research ("Find out more about how polymers adhere to ceramics") instead of more applied projects ("Figure out how to detect enemy submarines better").[[/note]]

* Many pacifists who would be a ConscientiousObjector to military service are also opposed to paying taxes to [[NoBudget fund the military.]] In the United States, The National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund works to pass a national law to allow conscientious objectors to redirect their tax money to be used only for non-military purposes[[note]]As any rational person will immediately see, this would accomplish approximately nothing unless more than about 80% of the people did it, since the government would just say "Fine, YOUR money goes to pay farmers not to grow crops (or whatever), we'll just take a little more for the DOD out of EVERYBODY ELSE'S taxes to compensate." There's also the question of what exactly constitutes "non-military purposes": a significant fraction of research grants to universities in the United States are funneled through the Department of Defense somehow, through agencies like the Office of Naval Research or the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (which is largely responsible for the very existence of the Internet), and these should arguably be considered non-military purposes: most of the grants are not for things that are actually directly useful to the military, they tend to be for basic research ("Find out more about how polymers adhere to ceramics") instead of more applied projects ("Figure out how to detect enemy submarines better").[[/note]]

->'''Magistrate:'''The treasury supplies the expenses of the War.\\

->'''Magistrate:''' It is the treasury supplies the expenses of the War.\\

* ''Series/StargateSG1'' has the Nox. The Nox practice a philosophy of absolute pacifism and non-violence that is so strict that they refuse even to [[SuicidalPacifism defend themselves when threatened.]] This policy is so strict that others within their domain are [[MyRulesAreNotYourRules forced to obey their rules of policy of pacifism when necessary.]] Should visitors attempt to employ violence against one another, the Nox remove their weapons as part of their rules. Of course, they can afford to be pacifist, considering they can turn themselves and other objects invisible with no apparent effort. Jack tells them it doesn't work that way for humans.

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* ''Literature/TheSwordOfTruth'' has the beliefs of the culture that produced evil pacifists that are absurd to the point where they won't fight back or even try to get out of the way when people with weapons are nearby and trying to kill each other. Indeed,they are TooDumbToLive.

* ''Series/StargateSG1'' has the Nox. The Nox practice philosophy of absolute pacifism and non-violence that is so strict that they refuse even to [[SuicidalPacifism defend themselves when threatened.]] This policy is so strict that others within their domain are [[MyRulesAreNotYourRules forced to obey their rules of policy of pacifism when necessary.]] Should visitors attempt to employ violence against one another, the Nox remove their weapons as part of their rules. Of course, they can afford to be pacifist, considering they can turn themselves and other objects invisible with no apparent effort. Jack tells them it doesn't work that way for humans.

* Many pacifists who would be a ConscientiousObjector to military service are also opposed to paying taxes to [[NoBudget fund the military.]] In the United States, The National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund works to pass a national law to allow conscientious objectors to redirect their tax money to be used only for non-military purposes[[note]]As any rational person will immediately see, this would accomplish approximately nothing unless more than about 80% of the people did it, since the government would just say "Fine, YOUR money goes to pay farmers not to grow crops (or whatever), we'll just take a little more for the DOD out of EVERYBODY ELSE'S taxes to compensate." There's also the question of what exactly constitutes "non-military purposes": a significant fraction of research grants to universities in the United States are funnelled through the Department of Defense somehow, through agencies like the Office of Naval Research or the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (which is largely responsible for the very existence of the Internet), and these should arguably be considered non-military purposes: most of the grants are not for things that are actually directly useful to the military, they tend to be for basic research ("Find out more about how polymers adhere to ceramics") instead of more applied projects ("Figure out how to detect enemy submarines better").[[/note]]

* In ''Literature/{{Deathworld}} 2'', Mikah Samon is a "pacifist" who opposes Jason's plan to foment revolution (and later a war of consolidation) on [[StrandedInSpace the planet they've crashed on]], even though in the existing political system most people are slaves and all the factions are too busy keeping a tight grip on their own technological monopolies for anyone to actually make any progress. His "principled resistance" led him to betray Jason twice (once to the gang he was undermining and again later to his chosen victors' enemies), the second time causing Jason to take a wound he [[NormallyIWouldBeDeadNow wouldn't have survived if rescuers from his homeworld hadn't found them.]]

* Despite being the Sin of Wrath, Meliodas from ''Manga/NanatsuNoTaizai'' is a TechnicalPacifist who chooses to be WillfullyWeak and not kill his opponents. While this mindset works out early on in the manga as he and his fellow Sins are vastly more powerful than their opponents, it becomes a deterrent when they encounter the Armored Giant. Not only is this demon so strong that only using their full strength and killing it is the only way to stop it, but killing it is also the [[MercyKill only merciful thing]] to relieve its suffering. Meliodas initially doesn't want to go this route and even hinders comrades of his that want to. It's only when the gravity of the whole matter is apparent to him that he [[TheGlovesComeOff decides to actually]] [[IAmNotLeftHanded stop holding back.]]

* Many pacifists who would be a ConscientiousObjector to military service are also opposed to paying taxes to [[NoBudget fund the military.]] In the United States, The National Campaign for a Peace Tax Fund works to pass a national law to allow conscientious objectors to redirect their tax money to be used only for non-military purposes.

->'''Magistrate:''' "It is the treasury supplies the expenses of the War."
->'''Lysistrata:''' "That's our first principle – no War!”

* ''Series/StargateSG1'' has the Nox. The Nox practice philosophy of absolute pacifism and non-violence that is so strict that they refuse even to [[SuicidalPacifism defend themselves when threatened.]] This policy is so strict that others within their domain are [[MyRulesAreNotYourRules forced to obey their rules of policy of pacifism when necessary.]] Should visitors attempt to employ violence against one another, the Nox remove their weapons as part of their rules.

* Subverted in "[[Recap/StarTrekS1E26ErrandOfMercy Errand of Mercy]]", in that the Organians look like this for most of the episode. Spock describes the planet as a stagnant culture on and the planet seems to be populated by amiable old men who placidly allow the Klingons to conquer them, rebuking Kirk and Spock's efforts to inspire a resistance because they abhor violence so much they'd [[WouldRatherSuffer rather allow arbitrary executions than fight back.]] It's only at the end that we learn the Organians have simply ''pretended'' to be harmless (and executed, and humanoid) to make their [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith visitors feel at ease]]. When tensions come to a head, they revert to their luminous true forms and make both sides sit in the corner.

* ''Series/StarTrekTheOringialSeries'':

* A famous example is Edith Keeler from the ''StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "The City on the Edge of Forever". A [[TimeTravel time-traveling]] Dr. [=McCoy=] saves her, and because she lives, she leads a pacifist movement that prevents crucial war research during WWII, causing the Nazis to win the war. [[BittersweetEnding Kirk has to let her die to reset the timeline.]]

* An episode of Gene Roddenberry's {{Andromeda}} involves Dylan and his crew trying to save a pacifist colony from SpacePirates. When one of the pacifists deliberately blows up the crate of Smart Lances that the crew brought along (and he justifies it as [[SuicidalPacifism better off dying than allowing the colony to be "tainted" with violence]]), Dylan has to do a TrainingThePeacefulVillagers montage and play guerrilla.

* Subverted, In StarTrekTheOriginalSeries the Organians look like this for most of "Errand of Mercy". Spock describes the planet as a stagnant culture on and the planet seems to be populated by amiable old men who placidly allow the Klingons to conquer them, rebuking Kirk and Spock's efforts to inspire a resistance because they abhor violence so much they'd [[WouldRatherSuffer rather allow arbitrary executions than fight back.]] It's only at the end that we learn the Organians have simply ''pretended'' to be harmless (and executed, and humanoid) to make their [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith visitors feel at ease]]. When tensions come to a head, they revert to their luminous true forms and make both sides sit in the corner.

-->-- ''{{Aristophanes}}, {{Lysistrata}}''

SubTrope of HonorBeforeReason

Compare SuicidalPacifism and WeHaveBecomeComplacent

Similar to ThouShaltNotKill

May lead to TooDumbToLive

!Examples

[[AC:Videogames]]

* Subverted, In StarTrekTheOriginalSeries the Organians look like this for most of "Errand of Mercy". Spock describes the planet as a stagnant culture on and the planet seems to be populated by amiable old men who placidly allow the Klingons to conquer them, rebuking Kirk and Spock's efforts to inspire a resistance because they abhor violence so much they'd [[WouldRatherSuffer rather allow arbitrary executions than fight back.]] It's only at the end that we learn the Organians have simply ''pretended'' to be harmless (and executed, and humanoid) to make their [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith visitors feel at ease]]. When tensions come to a head, they revert to their luminous true forms and make both sides sit in the corner.

* Subverted, Japanese, Italian and Nazi aggression that precipitated World War II often is cited as an argument against pacifism. [[WhatCouldHaveBeen If these forces had not been challenged and defeated militarily]], the argument goes, [[FromBadToWorse many more people would have died under their oppressive rule.]]

[[AC:{{Film}}]]

* The ''Film/TheSwordOfTruth'' has the beliefs of the culture that produced evil pacifists that are absurd to the point where they won't fight back or even try to get out of the way when people with weapons are nearby and trying to kill each other. Indeed,they are TooDumbToLive.

reply:
Like the evil pacifists in TheSwordOfTruth?

reply:
SubTrope of HonorBeforeReason.

reply:
Exactly like the evil pacifists in the TheSwordOfTruth.

reply:
Compare SuicidalPacifism and WeHaveBecomeComplacent.

reply:
A famous example is Edith Keeler from the ''StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' episode "The City on the Edge of Forever". A time-traveling Dr. [=McCoy=] saves her, and because she lives, she leads a pacifist movement that prevents crucial war research during WWII, causing the Nazis to win the war. [[BittersweetEnding Kirk has to let her die to reset the timeline.]]

reply:
An episode of Gene Roddenberry's {{Andromeda}} involves Dylan and his crew trying to save a pacifist colony from SpacePirates. When one of the pacifists deliberately blows up the crate of Smart Lances that the crew brought along (and he justifies it as [[SuicidalPacifism better off dying than allowing the colony to be "tainted" with violence]]), Dylan has to do a TrainingThePeacefulVillagers montage and play guerrilla.

reply:
May lead to TooDumbToLive.

reply:
* In ''Literature/{{Deathworld}} 2'', Mikah Samon is a "pacifist" who opposes Jason's plan to foment revolution (and later a war of consolidation) on the planet they've crashed on, even though in the existing political system most people are slaves and all the factions are too busy keeping a tight grip on their own technological monopolies for anyone to actually make any progress. His "principled resistance" led him to betray Jason twice (once to the gang he was undermining and again later to his chosen victors' enemies), the second time causing Jason to take a wound he wouldn't have survived if rescuers from his homeworld hadn't found them.

reply:
Also a subversion from TOS:
** The Organians look like this for most of "Errand of Mercy". Spock describes the planet as a stagnant culture on and the planet seems to be populated by amiable old men who placidly allow the Klingons to conquer them, rebuking Kirk and Spock's efforts to inspire a resistance because they abhor violence so much they'd rather allow arbitrary executions than fight back. It's only at the end that we learn the Organians have simply ''pretended'' to be harmless (and executed, and humanoid) to make their [[AFormYouAreComfortableWith visitors feel at ease]]. When tensions come to a head, they revert to their luminous true forms and make both sides sit in the corner.

reply:
[[AC: Anime and Manga]]

* Despite being the Sin of Wrath, Meliodas from ''Manga/NanatsuNoTaizai'' is a TechnicalPacifist who chooses to be WillfullyWeak and not kill his opponents. While this mindset works out early on in the manga as he and his fellow Sins are vastly more powerful than their opponents, it becomes a deterrent when they encounter the Armored Giant. Not only is this demon so strong that only using their full strength and killing it is the only way to stop it, but killing it is also the [[MercyKill only merciful thing]] to relieve its suffering. Meliodas initially doesn't want to go this route and even hinders comrades of his that want to. It's only when the gravity of the whole matter is apparent to him that he decides to actually stop holding back.