pacifism thoughts

One of my classes this semester is focusing on how Christianity relates and functions in a world of political, military, and economic superpowers. How does it interact with the government? How should it respond to conflicts, etc? It proves to be an interesting class, and I think it will stretch me a lot, both with the course content and format (5 people total in the class!)

I'm not exactly a patriotic type. Many, many things about America grate on my nerves and make me less than proud to be an American. And I'm becoming more and more of a pacifist. In an ideal world, pacifism makes sense. But in the imperfect world we have, marred by sin and evil, what do you do with that? How should pacifism respond to violent terrorism ... genocide ... brutal violation of human rights? What can be done to remedy the situation? Violence is not the solution, but is it possible to avoid it? What do you do with ruthless leaders who massacre millions? And horrible regimes? I know that our previous policies and actions have contributed to the conditions in today's world. We've screwed over countless peoples in the name of "freedom." But will we ever step up and acknowledge it, do something about it? What does the kingdom of heaven look like in our world today?

When did black and white become so gray?