Originally posted by Azrael
And as for 'you cannot maintain peace if you run away from a fight because someone WILL abuse your peacefullness'.... thats the next madness.

It's not 'next to madness' by any means, it's a simple recognition of human nature. There are some people in this world who have absolutely no problem with exploiting other's prejudices for their own gains, taking anything they please, and generally hurting anybody who gets in their way. Still don't beleive me? Look where being peaceful got Germany's Jewish population in the 1930s. Now imagine how different our world would be today if the United States had sat that one out. Now of course most of the people in this world just want to live their lives comfortably, freely, and with peace of mind The sad fact still remains that for this to be possible, people must be able and willing to defend themselves, and to defend others.