Those who deny the necessity of violence try to make themselves good by being harmless. There is a very important distinction between the peaceful and the harmless, for the peaceful are capable of violence and make the choice to not be so. The harmless are weak and 'will suffer what they must' per Thucydides.
This isn't to say that peace is bad. As you say elsewhere, there's a difference between starting fights vs. ending them. The strongest and most morally warranted peacemaker is a veteran, who knows both the how and the cost of violence.
Desiring peace and being a pacifist are very different things. Pacifists reject the necessity of violence.
Yeah, "Peaceful" just means you don't go around starting fights. Doesn't mean you aren't willing to finish one that someone starts with you.
A pacifist won't even defend itself, thinking that he has the higher moral ground ... as his head gets lopped off by his enemy.
I seem to recall Futurama nailing this. "Stop, you cannot pass!" "You're pacifists, what are you going to do to stop us?"
Those who deny the necessity of violence try to make themselves good by being harmless. There is a very important distinction between the peaceful and the harmless, for the peaceful are capable of violence and make the choice to not be so. The harmless are weak and 'will suffer what they must' per Thucydides.
This isn't to say that peace is bad. As you say elsewhere, there's a difference between starting fights vs. ending them. The strongest and most morally warranted peacemaker is a veteran, who knows both the how and the cost of violence.
Sic pacem, para bellum.