The belief that war is never justifiable, no matter how good the cause or how great the threat to one’s country. Pacifism springs either from religious faith, as in the case of Quakers, or from a humanist belief in the sanctity of life; the religious underpinning can be seen in works such as Tolstoy’s Christianity and Pacifism (1883). In its purest form it prohibits all use of violence, even in self-defence. From the 20th century many states respected the beliefs of pacifists by recognizing conscientious objection as a ground for refusing conscription.