1/30/2008

John Dear's statement on eternal law of nonviolence

Jarrod McKenna from Peace Tree says people are trying to get Fr. John Dear nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize. Here's a statement he made before being sentenced for civil disobedience at Sen. Domenici's office. I found it 1/22/2008 on CommonDreams.org:
It’s a powerful experience to stand before a judge and be sentenced to jail for saying No to war, injustice and nuclear weapons, something I highly recommend for all peacemakers. In these days of war, poverty, nuclear weapons, global warming, and violence of every description, I think it’s a blessing to be in trouble with the empire for practicing nonviolence, for daring to offer a word of peace, for serving the God of peace.
...
This morning, I think of Mahatma Gandhi as he stood before a judge on March 18, 1922. “Non-cooperation with evil is as much a duty as cooperation with good,” he said. I think this war is evil, and every effort to legalize this war and our weapons of mass destruction is evil, so I will continue to resist this evil war in a spirit of Christian nonviolence, love and truth. Accordingly, I will not pay any fine, nor will I undertake any community service; my whole life is community service. I can not cooperate with this unjust system which continues to kill sisters and brothers in Iraq and elsewhere.
...
But I take my case to a higher court, and plead before the ultimate judge, the God of peace, for us all: “Give us a new world without war, poverty or nuclear weapons, a new world where one and all live by your eternal law of nonviolence. Help us to end this war and abolish war forever. Thank you, God of peace, for hearing my plea. Amen.”

No comments: