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A hundred years ago the trenches had been dug and British and German soldiers were engaged in bloody combat in Flanders and Gallipoli. Faced by the scale of the slaughter, many people turned to pacifism, the idea that all resistance to evil should be non-violent. It was not a new idea; some Eastern religions adopt it as their default position. But the deadly potency of weapons of mass destruction have reopened the debate in the West. Is pacifism a viable option in a world of nuclear weapons and drone aircraft?

Ernie Rea is joined by Pat Gaffney from the Catholic peace organisation Pax Christi; Jonathan Romain, Rabbi of Maidenhead Synagogue in Berkshire; and Major General Tim Cross who has seen active service in Northern Ireland, in Bosnia, and in Kuwait and Iraq during the First Gulf War and is now Chairman of the Christian Think Tank, Theos.

Produced by Nija Dalal-Small.