Happy Christmas (War is Over)

I've been mulling over the thoughts of pacifism and, I guess, un-pacifism over the past week.
In the space of less than two days: A discussion about why pacifism is the 'right' way of thinking about engagement in world affairs, the example of Dirk Willems, the discussion over rice rolls of why engagement of oppressors in a Ghandi/Martin Luther King Jr. type manner is the only truly effective method of ceasing strife and promoting shalom. Followed by a rally to support UN resolutions to send troops into the Sudan (OK, so those resolutions have been there for over a year now, but still...)... ironic in that many many many young, impressionable student-types were there, raising their fists in the air and yelling at the appropriate times without thinking, "Hey, troops means warfare means possible (gasp!) Western casualties means possibly people I know means possibly (oh my!) me"... despite Sen Dallaire's skirting around the issue that involvement in Darfur would require sacrifice, would require manpower and troops, would require Western deaths (despite the fact that we have already let half a million Darfurians die, but that's another matter, I suppose some would say)... again, discussing this over herbal tea afterwards, the realization that perhaps pacifism is an easy stance to take in the West, that perhaps when God demands that we defend the defenceless, He means it, that perhaps the assumption that we hold that the corpses in the West hold more value than corpses in the developing world (which we prove over and over again... see Somalia, see Rwanda, see Vietnam, see the teetering in Iraq and Afghanistan...) prevents us from really administering justice. That perhaps pacifism tries to split that 'mean, Old Testament YHWH' from the 'gracious and merciful Jesus', which denies God His dignity, His wrath and His righteousness... That perhaps fear, and categorization of others as "them", and us as "we" makes it easier for "us" to shun the other... This was furthermore followed the same day with the centrality of Jesus, and then, the next day, a discussion with a mission-minded friend about how we poorly prioritize our lives (I owe a huge, long-deferred debt of respect and admiration to this man... yeah, you know who you are...)
Which brings up a larger question: many who think globally consider themselves "global citizens" (sometimes, in my moments of conceit, I would like to think that of myself as well), though it brings back the question: Do we truly consider ourselves fellow brothers with those in the South, in the East? Is it as easy to, say, pay some more taxes to help out more Canadians or volunteer at a local soup kitchen, as it is to actually go and help those who actually starve and are tortured? It shakes me to the core when we, as sophisticated, urban, educated professionals, consider ourselves so enlightened, so engaged, so politically savvy, yet, like the mandarins, sit with our hands folded and nod our heads ever so slightly to demonstrate that we care, that we want to make a difference, while the rice paddy farmers starve and die....