"Everyone's a pacifist between wars. It's like being a vegetarian between meals"
About this Quote
Colman McCarthy’s statement draws a vivid analogy between pacifism and vegetarianism, highlighting the conditional or situational nature of many people’s values, especially concerning peace and violence. The comparison points to a tendency in human behavior, professing ideals, such as pacifism, when there is no immediate test of that principle, much as someone might claim to be vegetarian when there is no food on the table to tempt them otherwise. For McCarthy, pacifism is not merely an attitude one adopts during the absence of conflict; its true test and meaning are discovered when one is actually amidst the possibility or presence of war.
The phrase suggests a critique of superficial or convenient ethics. Declaring oneself a pacifist when there is no threat of war is easy; it costs nothing, demands nothing. Just as calling oneself a vegetarian without the presence of food or hunger does not challenge one’s resolve, so too does maintaining a stance of peace when peace is not under threat. The real challenge comes when values are tested by circumstances that make them difficult to uphold. Pacifism, therefore, requires consistency and courage, not just rhetoric during comfortable times.
McCarthy, a long-time advocate for nonviolence, uses this analogy to warn against hollow idealism. He implies that authentic commitment to peace means working toward it even as tensions rise, and especially in the face of pressures or provocations to go to war. Otherwise, pacifism is reduced to a fashionable label, lost the moment conflict becomes more than theoretical.
The statement also invites readers to examine their own beliefs and the situations in which those beliefs are truly binding. Are they conveniently held only in the absence of real sacrifice? Do they lead to action when circumstances challenge them? Ultimately, McCarthy calls for a deeper integrity, a pacifism that persists “between meals” and, crucially, during times of metaphorical and literal hunger for violence.
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