Is violence necessary to maintain or have a moral society Essay

Is violence necessary to maintain or have a moral society - Essay Example Discussed in this paper are the differing standpoints with regard to the role of violence in maintaining a moral society. Violence is an immoral act Throughout the years, scholars struggled to explain the concept of morality. They tackled issues such as, â€Å"good and evil†, â€Å"origin of sin† among others in attempt to understand the complexity of morality. Pacifists view violence as an immoral act that results in further degradation of the society. Individuals with this standpoint believe in amicable resolution of conflicts whereby, opposing sides set their differences aside and work towards reaching a compromise. The process of conflict resolution is lengthy and riddled with many barriers; therefore, ensuring proper communication channels exist proves crucial in mitigating the conflict. Effective communication hinges on both parties listening to each other’s grievances without passing any judgment or exuding verbal or non-verbal mockery. It also entails dev eloping sensitivity to each other’s cultural background whereby, each party must make a conscious effort to avoid using language and actions that are automatically perceived by the other party as overt disregard for their culture. For example, throwing a shoe at person in the Arab culture symbolizes the highest level of disrespect; in 2008, a journalist threw his show at the former president G.W. Bush during his visit to Iraq for conflict resolution talks. The presence of a neutral third party charged with the responsibility of mediating the conflict enable feuding parties to address their concerns in a rational manner. For example, feuding countries rely on peace delegates to mediate their amicable conflict resolution talks in order to prevent the onset of war, which is likely to result in civilian casualty and immense destruction of property. Pacifists encourage the use of non-violent methods, which entail preventing the infliction of injury or harming others. These methods negate the use of physical force or verbal threats by encouraging the use of peaceful methods to foster lasting, positive political and social change. Pacifists bear in mind the negative repercussions of resorting to violence such as counter-violence. The vengeful nature of majority of humans compels them to engage in counter-violence aimed at retaliating against instigators of preceding violent acts. This perpetuates enmity failing to address initial problems that triggered violent outbursts. Individuals using non-violent methods have greater control over their message making these methods an effective form of protest. For example, in Mahtma Ghandi led the Non Cooperation Movement in 1920s, which entailed resignation from nominated positions in the legislative government and surrendering of titles with the sole intention of protesting oppression by the government. The media provides a platform for these protestors to express their grievances. However, dealing with the media might result in complications especially when conflicts exist between a minority group and large institutions such as the government. The latter have the power to censure the media; for example, the government might pass absurd statutes that restrict the freedom of the media. Such circumstances are responsible for triggering violent outbursts, which result in degradation of