A small wooden shield with a green sprout growing through a crack beside a larger metal shield.

Original artwork, not a still

Dwight MacDonald

Pacifism, to me, is primarily a way of actively struggling against injustice and inhumanity; My kind of pacifism may be called “non-violent resistance”.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The speaker defines pacifism through action against injustice rather than withdrawal from conflict. Resistance remains necessary, but violence is excluded from its method. Calling this a personal kind of pacifism also makes clear that the passage is explaining a position, not settling every possible definition of the term.

Context reviewed

Share this quote