Accommodation and Radical Pacifism

You’re walking down the street, and a man approaches you and demands your wallet. You immediately give it and then ask him whether he also wants your coat. Or suppose you badly want an open position at work. When you find out that a coworker also wants it, you inform your supervisor that you no longer want the job and encourage her to give it to your colleague instead.

As the biblical verse “When a man takes your coat, offer him your shirt as well” (Luke 6:29) suggests, one way to deal with conflict is an extreme form of accommodation known as radical pacifism. Although it is often associated with antiwar movements (Bennett, 2003), radical pacifism embodies a broader philosophy about the nature of interpersonal connections between human beings and how conflict is best resolved. Those practicing radical pacifism believe in a moral obligation to behave in selfless and self-sacrificial ways that quickly end conflicts and that assist others. During interpersonal conflict, this means discovering what someone else wants and needs, then aiding that person in attaining these goals, even if it means sacrificing your own.

The practice of radical pacifism cuts across countries, ethnicities, and social classes; it is primarily rooted in the

religion of cultures. For example, in the Buddhist text Punnovada Sutta (Bodhi & Nanamoli translation, 1995), the Buddha asks his disciple Punna what he would do if someone attacked him with a knife. “I would think they were truly kind, for not taking my life.” “What if they kill you?” asks the Buddha. “I would be happy, because many disciples, disgusted by the body, sought to have their lives ended with a knife, but I was fortunate enough to have it happen without even seeking it!” Amish church elders embracing radical pacifism share a similar view: “Even if the result of our pacifism is death at the hands of an attacker during a violent conflict, so be it; death is not threatening to us as Christians. Hopefully the attacker will have at least had a glimpse of the love of Christ in our nonviolent response” (Pennsylvania Dutch Country Welcome Center, n.d.).

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