Jim Garrison, age 15, of Hutchinson, Kansas, for his question:

JUST WHAT IS PACIFISM?

Pacifism is opposition to war and other violence, expressed either in an organized political movement or as an individual ideology. Pacifism varies from a form that is absolute and doctrinal to a relative and more practical form.

Absolute pacifists are against all wars and against violence in any form whatsoever. Relative pacifists are selective of the wars and violences they oppose. Most absolute pacifists stress the immorality of the taking of one person's life by another person.

The philosophy of pacifism has been propounded throughout history on grounds of morality, divine will or economic and social utility. The term itself, however, did not become popular until early in the 20th century.

In attempting to prevent war, pacifists must achieve four principal goals: a climate of feeling favorable to peace must be established; the potential causes of conflict inherent in such factors as economic competition, the quest for power and fear of foreign domination, must be eliminated or minimized; means for the settlement of disputes must be provided, as in mediation, arbitration and trial procedures; and, finally, ways must be found to ensure observance of the settlements that are made.

Several distinctive approaches to achieving these goals have been advanced.

Members of some religious groups, such as the Mennonites and the Quakers, believe in absolute pacifism. They believe they can convert aggressors to peaceful ways by setting examples of loving, nonviolent behavior.

Many relative pacifists believe that peace can be maintained only by

a readiness to use force in certain circumstances. Proponents urge a

defensive combination of peace loving nations against violators of the

peace. The policy must be implemented by international machinery that

is able not only to make settlements but to enforce them as well.

Although organized peace movements did not appear until the 19th century, the modern search for a means of preventing war began with the rise of nation states at the end of the Middle Ages.

In the 14th century Dante proposed a world empire to abolish war. In the 15th century George of Podebrand, king of Bohemia, proposed an internal parliament and in the 16th century Henry IV, king of France made a similar suggestion.

The first peace society in history was organized in New York in 1815 by an American merchant named David Dodge, and another was organized in the same year in Massachusetts by a theologian named Noah Worcester.

The peace movement in the United States lost momentum during the American Civil War when many of its adherents maintained that preservation of the Union and the abolition of slavery had to be achieved at any cost.

Many new groups were organized toward the end of the 19th century.