Pacifism is a Pagan Value

Like it or not, Pacifism and especially Peace Activism is a Pagan value. Especially I believe, a Druid value (and I think that the insistence that because the iron age Celts were a warrior society, we Druids therefore must embrace warriorship is absurd). The obvious destruction and pollution to the environment that results from modern methods and weapons of warfare should be enough, I would think, to convince Pagans of this obvious position. But sometimes it takes more, so I direct you to this blog, by Druid Ali: http://meadowsweet-myrrh.blogspot.com which contains a series of articles relating to this idea of Pacifism as a Pagan value. She has really been hit with the Awen here, and I trust you will find these as enlightening as I did

.Here’s a sample: “When trying to understand a philosophy of pacifism or nonviolence, therefore, we can define the word “violence” broadly, without making the absurd claim that all destruction should or can be avoided. Personally, I define “violence” as: a rejection or denial of the unique and meaningful individuality of a being. Rejecting that another being has a unique and meaningful individual existence independent from our own can lead us to impose our wills or passions on them by force. Such force can be physical and cause physical injury or even death, but it can also be emotional, psychological or even spiritual. In her book Living With Honour, Emma Restall Orr talks about the Welsh and Gealic words for “face,” and invokes the notion of “being face-to-face” as at the heart of what honor means in Celtic society. An act of violence against another is an act of dishonor, refusing to come face-to-face, diminishing and disempowering others, alienating and isolating them and denying them relationship with us, denying our interconnection.”