#561, #562 Way of The Peacemaker

 Fun Fact #561

Way of the PeaceMaker

First being recorded around the 2nd century among, there have been groups advocating for alternatives to violence. Today we know these people as Pacifists,  but that was not always the case as historically they were called “Peace Makers” (not the firearm) in reference to the Christian Bible.

The way of The Peacemaker is an interesting one, but in short it calls for people to seek to create peace, and forgiveness wherever possible, with some groups calling for no violence under any circumstance, others believing only in self defense, and yet others which believe that violence to defend others can be justified.

  To help differentiate between the groups, French Peacemaker, Emile Arnud, created the term Pacifist in 1901 from the Latin word Pacific which means “Peace Making” to refer to those who only believe in personal self-defense or no violence at all. She also urged this term as she believed a non-Christian term would make Buddist and Hindu peacemakers feel more welcome working alongside the Christian denominations. While the word Pacifist was never officially adopted for either of these uses, it has stuck around and spread, becoming more famous today than the Peacemakers of old.

The Peaceable Kingdom by Edward Hicks in 1834 

Fun Fact #562

The Peace Churches

While many notable Peacemaker and Pacifist Groups have existed over the course of history, one group is among the most widespread and highly regarded: The Peace Churches. Until recently these were predominantly Christian churches with a consistent history of pacifism, and while I could talk about each of their member denominations, what's important to know is they hold the International Peace Committee each year where they coordinate their resources and hold each other accountable for their actions if they deviated from peace over the last year. 

Among these Churches “The Big Three” are The Anabaptists, The Mennonites, and The Quaker who each take turns hosting the yearly conferences as well as emergency meetings when requested. In addition to this they also came together to form an international Organization dedicated to responding faster to crises across the world known as CPT (Christian Peacemaker Teams) who respond, care, and negotiate for people in all cases regardless of the situation. The only large issue that pacifists have is CPT is known to have well trained bodyguard teams (predominantly Anabaptists) who believe violence to defend others is justified and are often deployed to some of the worst hotspots in the world. CPT today is still predominantly funded by The Big Three, although it's ultimately held to standards set by the entire Peace Committee.

The Deserter An Anti-war Protest painting by Boardman Robinson in 1916 featuring a firing squad made up of soldiers from both the Allies and Axis.