During the 20th century America was involved in many conflicts that led to war or the use of weapons against other humans and nations. Although the vast majority of Americans have blindly accepted these actions throughout the century, more and more people consider war to be morally wrong. The reasons for this epiphany are based on a variety of things and include many other aspects related to war and killing examples include: due to moral and ethical principles, objection to war due to strong religious beliefs, objection to violence because of the same ideals as above, objection to the government's use of force, and objection to the use of weapons of mass destruction. Many of the core beliefs of conscientious objection derive from the teachings or beliefs of pacifism. Pacifism has been a system of thought and life for hundreds of years, and in the 20th century, more opposition and pacifist movements arose across the nation than at any other time. Pacifism and conscientious objection in the United States have been moral issues that have been questioned due to participants' beliefs that killing, war, and the act of violence are wrong and immoral. To begin to understand how conscientious objection works, it is important to have a clear vision of what pacifism is. The roots of pacifism date back literally hundreds of years. Virtually all messiahs of all major world religions preached pacifism, including: Allah and Muhammad from the Muslim Koran, Jesus and God from the Bible used by Catholics, Christians and Quakers, and in the Jewish Torah. Other teachers of pacifism include: Plato and Socrates. The moral and ethical principles of pacifism and conscientious objection have been present throughout the history of the United States. There have been known objectors in every single war America has been involved in in some way, including: the French and Indian War, the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Civil War, the Spanish-American War, the Mexican-American War, World War I. , World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Persian Gulf War, and in the ongoing war against “terrorism.” Pacifism is the refusal to participate in any violent action and/or murder. This may stem from the belief that all life is sacred and that it is morally wrong to take the life of another person.