Fighting the Lamb's War: Skirmishes With the American Empire : The Autobiography of Philip Berrigan

Rating:
Summary: UNNERVING, PROPHETIC NON DRAMATIC telling of a life
Review: Philip Berrigan,who beacame {in}famous for being the first Catholic priest jailed ON PRINCIPLE{for his destroying of draft files in Baltimore in 1967},has penned a sort of autobiography. Philip Berrigan has always been a huge burr in the side of everyone in power:religious superiors,wardens, govenment officials{his encounter with Rober McNamara during the war is telling}et,al. He has courage that is beyond my comprehension,continually going forth to non violently protest the ongoing nuclear threat{often by hammering a submarine,or desnt the hollow nose cone od a missle, the pouring blood as a symbol over the objects] For these protest, he has served the majority of the past 30 years in tough penitentaries.What would make this talented handsome intelligent man do such things? The story that he tells, almost mundanely is captivating. Childhood on the Iron range in Minnesota,Stern Irish father and sweet,loving german mother,brood of brothers,athlete,decorated soldier in WWII[they didnt give medals out for laying in foxholes},the he joined the only Roman Catholic order dedicated to serving Black americans, the josephites.{S.S.J} His older brother Daniel,Jesuit priest and famous poet and peace activist,was his role model on this. Throughot the momoir, Phillip Berrigan recounts the good life and hrad times of the next 35 years of his life. His eventual leaving the priesthood, his marriage to Elizabeth McCallister{a former nun , which coused much idiotic tounge wagging back then},his three daughters, his life in Jonah House in Baltimore,Md.{a kind of catholic woker house}, and his dogged, relentless pursuit of the Gospel truth as he sees it. Whether or not one agrees with Berrigan{and in the current climate, thew number of sympathizers must have shruken dramatically}, his almost sisyphusian struggle is admirable. Time alone will decide whethere or not Philip Berrigan has been a prophet or not. What he is is a courageous,honorable man who is willing to put his life, NOT YOURS, on the line for his beliefs. Now that is quite extraordianry.Good book, well written{if almost purposely low-keyed},simply astonishing story.

Rating:
Summary: Living the Passion of Christ
Review: The perfect antidote to Mel Gibson's version of Christian values. Phil Berrigan was a typical product of the depression--family of dirt poor immigrants, went into the army to fight Hitler and do his patriotic duty--but then came home and entered the seminary. His first posting was to inner City Washington DC, where he encountered racism and poverty up close. Rather than just put in his time, and then turn his back, serving out his priesthood in a comfortable middle class white community and give an occasional sermon about poverty, Berrigan engaged the poor children he was working with as brothers in Christ, and asked why.

His quest for answers continued as he was posted in the deep south (Louisiana) in the late 50's, early 60's...Emmett Till through the Freedom Rides. He concluded that racism was a violation of Christ's principle that all men are brothers--and said so.

Forced out of the deep south, he relocated to Baltimore--still a racially divided city, where Blacks were in poverty. As the Vietnam War escalated, Berrigan saw that the racism and poverty he experienced daily were inextricably linked to this country's increasing military industrial complex, and its position of world domination/exploitation.

As a Christian, Berrigan felt he had no choice but to resist this injustice, demand that the world put aside militarism, and treat all of mankind as brothers in Christ. He joined civil rights movements, and the anti-war movement--always maintaining that non-violent resistance was not only the right tactic, but was the only course open to a practicing Christian in America.

He poured blood on draft files, burned them with napalm, and spent six years in high security prisons as a result. While imprisoned, the FBI charged him (along with his brother, Daniel Berrigan and his by then wife, Elizabeth McAllister) with plotting to bomb the White House and kidnap Kissinger himself.

Berrigan freely admitted to discussions about making a citizens arrest of Kissinger for war crimes, but denied all other charges. He was ultimately acquitted of all charges.

For the rest of his life, Phillip Berrigan resisted the military. A founder of the Catholic Ploughshares movement, he consistently sought to beat swords (nuclear weapons) into ploughshares. As he explains at length, he did not expect his actions to cowl the US government into abandoning its nuclear program. Rather, he was acting on his conscience.

Reading his autobiography makes one ashamed of all of the excuses we each make on a daily basis of why we can't act better--too busy, might affect my job, I have kids, and on and on. Berrigan let none of this stop him. He married, raised three kids, and spent most of his adult life in prison, on bail awaiting trial, or on parole.

His courage is magnificent. His dedication to living a life of conscience is inspirational. But above all, Berrigan's version of Christ and Christian duty is one of universal love and respect. If these principles were lived by everyone, we would live in a far better world than that of Mel Gibson and his glorification of pain and violent sacrifice.

Berrigan lived the life (as he put it) of a Catholic attempting to become a Christian. Whatever one's beliefs, Berrigan's was a life worth understanding.

Rating:
Summary: Living the Passion of Christ
Review: The perfect antidote to Mel Gibson's version of Christian values. Phil Berrigan was a typical product of the depression--family of dirt poor immigrants, went into the army to fight Hitler and do his patriotic duty--but then came home and entered the seminary. His first posting was to inner City Washington DC, where he encountered racism and poverty up close. Rather than just put in his time, and then turn his back, serving out his priesthood in a comfortable middle class white community and give an occasional sermon about poverty, Berrigan engaged the poor children he was working with as brothers in Christ, and asked why.

His quest for answers continued as he was posted in the deep south (Louisiana) in the late 50's, early 60's...Emmett Till through the Freedom Rides. He concluded that racism was a violation of Christ's principle that all men are brothers--and said so.

Forced out of the deep south, he relocated to Baltimore--still a racially divided city, where Blacks were in poverty. As the Vietnam War escalated, Berrigan saw that the racism and poverty he experienced daily were inextricably linked to this country's increasing military industrial complex, and its position of world domination/exploitation.

As a Christian, Berrigan felt he had no choice but to resist this injustice, demand that the world put aside militarism, and treat all of mankind as brothers in Christ. He joined civil rights movements, and the anti-war movement--always maintaining that non-violent resistance was not only the right tactic, but was the only course open to a practicing Christian in America.

He poured blood on draft files, burned them with napalm, and spent six years in high security prisons as a result. While imprisoned, the FBI charged him (along with his brother, Daniel Berrigan and his by then wife, Elizabeth McAllister) with plotting to bomb the White House and kidnap Kissinger himself.

Berrigan freely admitted to discussions about making a citizens arrest of Kissinger for war crimes, but denied all other charges. He was ultimately acquitted of all charges.

For the rest of his life, Phillip Berrigan resisted the military. A founder of the Catholic Ploughshares movement, he consistently sought to beat swords (nuclear weapons) into ploughshares. As he explains at length, he did not expect his actions to cowl the US government into abandoning its nuclear program. Rather, he was acting on his conscience.

Reading his autobiography makes one ashamed of all of the excuses we each make on a daily basis of why we can't act better--too busy, might affect my job, I have kids, and on and on. Berrigan let none of this stop him. He married, raised three kids, and spent most of his adult life in prison, on bail awaiting trial, or on parole.

His courage is magnificent. His dedication to living a life of conscience is inspirational. But above all, Berrigan's version of Christ and Christian duty is one of universal love and respect. If these principles were lived by everyone, we would live in a far better world than that of Mel Gibson and his glorification of pain and violent sacrifice.

Berrigan lived the life (as he put it) of a Catholic attempting to become a Christian. Whatever one's beliefs, Berrigan's was a life worth understanding.

Rating:
Summary: A wonderful book about a wonderful man
Review: This book is an autobiography by Phillip Berrigan, a man that hated war and murder by nations and people. He fought for peace and justice but the state continually locked him up in prison for his beliefs. But that did not stop him from spreading the word of the Gospel and being and activist for peace, against war, invuluntary inlistment into the army and nuclear weapons.