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The
Legacy of Philip Berrigan
By Ellen M. O'Shea
On
December 6th Philip Berrigan died in Baltimore, Maryland
surrounded
by family and friends.
I
write this piece knowing that it is an auspicious moment in
history.
Philip Berrigan has died at the moment that the corporate empire
has handed power back to Henry Kissinger.
Two
old men come into our collective view, both warriors, one a man of
peace and nonviolent resistance, the other an evil man, a war criminal
and mass murderer. Phil Berrigan
was once charged with trying
to kidnap Henry Kissinger, a trumped up charge by those afraid of
the growing leadership of the Berrigan brothers in the anti-war movement.
Two
powerful warriors: one for peace and one for death. Phil's death is
auspicious in that it gives us a chance to tell the story of a life-long
resistance fighter at the very time that the corporate media
is glorifying war and death. The
coverage of Phil Berrigans life
will hopefully teach us to live our lives with courage during these
dark days.
I
was a young person when I first saw Phillip and Daniel Berrigan speak. I was a student at Oregon State University.
It was the late 60's. The Vietnam War blazing and the U.S. military
was bringing back
40,000 young U.S. men a year in body bags. Thousands of people were
dying in Southeast Asia. I
had lost several high school mates in
one year. One young man was
shot down over Vietnam (he was a 20
year
old fighter pilot) and is still missing in action.
Students
had many questions about what was happening.
The corporate media
was slinging the same old 'we have to save Vietnam from Godless communism"
propaganda at us. Truth was
hard to find even in the classroom. OSU administrators immediately "removed"
any professor who
would teach us the truthful history of SE Asia. The Berrigans came
to the campus to talk to us. We
asked how could we learn if the admini-
stration of the college would not allow it?
Phil said that we should
stop giving our power to authorities.
He told us that on campuses
all over the US and Europe students were organizing "teach-ins". The Berrigan Brothers told us to organize ourselves,
to teach ourselves. And so it began. At first OSU professors and staff members
were afraid to help us. History teachers were the first to be removed.
The
student antiwar movement began to grow.
We were not allowed to use
OSU buildings. We used buildings
on the parameters of the campus (mostly
churches and coffee shops). English
teachers and Math teachers
came forward to give us materials to read.
They even had the
audacity to pass these materials out in their classes and many lost
their jobs.
I
had one other encounter with Phil Berrigan.
In 1969 or 70...I happened
to visit some friends in very rural Oregon.
In this cabin sat
Phil on the lam...sentenced to prison for destroying draft records. He was not running away from his sentence.
It was an important
part of spiritual practice to accept the sentence, as a witness
for peace and resistance. He
was instead buying time to put his
affairs in order. I was a young
person and did not listen well. I
did not understand who this person was.
I did understand that
under
no circumstances would I talk about his presence in that cabin. He
was to be protected at all cost by a diverse and eclectic resistance
movement. Only later did I begin
to read his words and understand
my own place in the movement.
This
is the legacy of Phil and Dan Berrigan.
Authoritarian
oppressive
structures and laws - organizations, buildings, weapons, were
never an insurmountable obstacle to them.
They spoke and lived lives
of peaceful resistance against evil.
We in the movement to end the
world dominance of the bush regime could learn some things from these
two peace warriors. We argue
amongst ourselves about what it
means
to stand up against oppression. About
whether destroying buildings
or machines, blocking streets and roads, tying ourselves to old
trees, and moving blockades and barriers are an act of violence or
an act of resistance.
In
an interview by Father John Dear called "The Life of Resistance,
a conversation
with Phil Berrigan" he explains the meaning of nonviolent
resistance and asks each of us to access thoughtfully, carefully,
and with discipline what we will do to stop the growing worldwide
oppression.
Before
you read his words, some context: Berrigan
was a Christian - a
peace-loving follower of Jesus Christ.
His words are flowered with references
to the Bible and to Christian peaceful doctrine. He does however
understand fully that anti-Christians have taken over the "church"
to spread war, greed and hatred. One of the primary goals of
the
Berrigan brothers was to stir the conscience of their fellow religionists,
their church and even the U.S. government and attempting
to shift church and state from a death-driven to a life-affirming
course.
The
words of Phil Berrigan 1993:
"Nonviolence
in the best sense is a strict and definitive social justice. It means putting into practice the one law
isolated by Paul in
the letter to the Romans. He
said, "you will have fulfilled the law
if you bear the burdens of one another."
We are expected to do good,
to do justice in our lives and we're expected to resist evil. The
scriptures, especially the New Testament, make it very clear that
evil
has to do with systemic evil, with major institutions, which are the
habitat of the principalities and powers.
And the state is the main
power and principality, especially an imperial state, our own government."
Phillip
Berrigan believed that if a law were immoral that it was the work
of a true Christian to break it and to stand in witness to the true
law of God: to love one another and love one's enemy's by standing
against injustice. Again, in an interview with Father John Dear
(1993), Phil defines the difference between moral and spiritual law
and moral obligation to resist.
"One
way to look at our responsibility is from the angle of law. We don't
know anything about this law that we have.
People purport to be
Christians don't know anything about the biblical treatment of law and
the fact that human law is always under the judgement of God because
it's a sign of rebellion against God.
Nuclear
weapons are legal, right across the board, from making and processing
them to running them through Pantex down in Amarillo, Texas
and deploying them. It's all
legal, every step of the way. What
does this say about law? What
does it say that we legalize every
measure that could destroy the world?
What does it mean that it
is legal to destroy the world through toxic poisoning?
It
says something about law. It's
like the law under which Christ was
crucified. The rulers said,
"We have a law and under this law, he
has to die." He was executed,
legally."
Murray
Polner and Jim O'Grady wrote a biography on the Berrigans entitled,
"Disarmed and Dangerous: The Radical Life and Times of Daniel
and Philip Berrigan." and documented how the Berrigans viewed resistance
and the religious life.
"Their
most celebrated and publicized action was probably the
Catonsville
raid, which Dan immortalized in his play, The Trial of the
Catonsville Nine. In May 1968, nine activists invaded a Maryland Selective
Service Board, snatched up draft records, carried them outside
in wire mesh baskets, and set them ablaze with homemade napalm.
During the trial, Dan's lawyer Harrop Freeman, a Quaker professor
of law at Cornell University (and WRL member and benefactor),
asked if what Dan had done was carrying out the "philosophy
of the Jesuit order." Dan replied, " ...If that is not accepted
as a substantial part of my action, then the action is
eviscerated
of all meaning; and I should be committed for insanity."
When
the Jesuit and longtime pacifist Richard McSorley asked whether those
who were jailed could "do more for peace in jail than being outside,"
Phil answered that Plowshares had done more than Gandhi. Polner
and O'Grady comment, "Others might respond by saying that to Gandhi,
civil disobedience was a last resort, to be attempted after all
else had failed, and that rather than resort to clandestine plotting,
Gandhi had sent advance warning to his adversaries."
Just
before he passed over, Phillip
Berrigan sent these words to those
who would resist evil and the spread of world dominance at this time:
·
that it is right and good to question our God, to plead for justice
for
all that inhabit the earth
·
that it is urgent to feel this; injustice done to any is injustice done
to all
·
that we must never weary of exposing and resisting such injustice
·
that what victories we see are smaller than the mustard seeds Jesus
praised,
and they need such tender nurture
·
that it is vital to celebrate each victory - especially the victory
of
sisterhood and brotherhood embodied in loving, nonviolent community.
Chronology
of Phillip Berrigans Life
from
the Baltimore Indymedia website:
http://baltimore.indymedia.org/feature/display/2296/index.php
Philip
Berrigan, 1923-2002
Born:
October 5, 1923, Minnesota Iron Range, near Bemidji to Frieda Fromhart
and Thomas Berrigan
1943-1945:
Served in WWII, artillery officer, Europe.
1949:
Graduated from Holy Cross College.
1955:
Ordained a Catholic Priest in the Josephite Order, specializing in
inner city ministry.
1956-1963:
Taught at St. Augustine's high school, New Orleans, a segregated
all black school.
1962
(or 3?): First priest to ride in a Civil Rights movement Freedom Ride.
1963-1965:
Taught at a Josephite seminary, Newburgh, NY.
1966:
Published first book, No More Strangers.
1966:
Served at St. Peter Claver parish, Baltimore, MD.
October
27, 1967: Poured blood on draft files in Baltimore with 3 others.
Known as the "Baltimore Four."
May
17, 1968: Burned draft files in Catonsville, MD with 8 others, including
his brother, Fr. Daniel Berrigan. Action known as the "Catonsville
Nine." Convicted of destruction of US property, destruction
of Selective Service records, and interference with the Selective
Service Act of 1967. Sentenced to prison.
1970:
Married Elizabeth McAlister, an activist nun, Religious of the Sacred
Heart of Mary.
1970:
Became a fugitive when appeals failed. Captured and returned to prison.
1971:
Named co-conspirator by J. Edgar Hoover and Harrisburg grand jury
while in prison. Charged with plotting to kidnap Henry Kissinger and
blow up the utility tunnels of US Capitol buildings. Convicted only
of violating prison rules for smuggling out letters.
1973:
Co-founded Jonah House community of war resisters in Baltimore, MD.
April
1, 1974: Birth of Frida Berrigan at Jonah House.
April
17, 1975: Birth of Jerry Berrigan at Jonah House.
1975:
End of Vietnam War and beginning of focus on weapons of mass destruction
and changing U.S. nuclear policy. Actions included pouring
of blood and digging of graves at the White House and Pentagon
resulted in several jail terms ranging up to six months.
1975:
Atlantic Life Community conceptualized as East Coast
counterpart
to Pacific Life Community.
1976:
First of summer community building sessions; led to triannual Faith
& Resistance Retreats in DC.
September
9, 1980: Poured blood and hammered with 7 others on Mark 12A
warheads at a GE nuclear missile plant, King of Prussia, PA. Charged
with conspiracy, burglary, and criminal mischief; convicted and
imprisoned. Action known as the "Plowshares Eight;" began
the international
Plowshares movement.
1980-1999:
Participated in 5 more Plowshares actions, resulting in ~7 years
of imprisonment.
November
5, 1981: Birth of Kate Berrigan at Jonah House.
1989:
Published The Times' Discipline, on the Jonah House experience, with
Elizabeth McAlister.
1996:
Published autobiography, Fighting the Lamb's War.
December
14, 2001: Released from Elkton, OH prison after nearly a year
of imprisonment for his final Plowshares action.
July
12, 2002: Underwent hip replacement surgery at Good Samaritan Hospital,
Baltimore, MD.
October
8, 2002: Diagnosed with adenocarcinoma, cancer in the liver and
kidney.
December
6, 2002: Died at home in Baltimore, surrounded by family and community.
References
Father
John Dear (1993) The Life of Resistance: A Conversation with Phillip
Berrigan,
viewed on the internet December 7, 2002 at
http://www.fatherjohndear.org/pdfs/berrigan.pdf
Johnson,
Becky "Philip Berrigan, Anti-war activist, dies at home in Baltimore".
Viewed on the web on Dec. 6, 2002.
http://baltimore.indymedia.org/feature/display/2296/index.php
Polner,
Murray & O'Grady, Jim (1998) Disarmed and Dangerous: The Radical
Life and Times of Daniel and Philip Berrigan, Brothers in Religious
Faith and Civil Disobedience,
ISBN: 0813334497
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