Anti-war activist Philip Berrigan dies with 'conviction'

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ^ | December 7, 2002 | The Associated Press

[Cicero]

I don't feel too bitter about the Berrigan brothers, although they were certainly mischievous and deluded. I hope that at the end he was not too misled by confidence in his own righteousness to make a good confession.

[Illbay]

"I die with the conviction, held since 1968 and Catonsville, that nuclear weapons are the scourge of the earth; to mine for them, manufacture them, deploy them, use them, is a curse against God, the human family, and the earth itself."

A list of things that AREN'T a "curse against God, the human family, and the earth itself" includes mortar shells, artillery of all kinds, SAMs, heat-seeking missiles, machine gun rounds, "full metal jacket" rounds, nerve gas, napalm and other incindiaries, and rocket propelled grenades, to name just a few.

It's funny how the Left loves to focus on individual targets as "outrageous" and "beyond the pale." Nuclear weapons are no more a "curse against God" as the many other armaments the Bible speaks of. The difference is the INTENT of the person or nation wielding the weapons, not the weapons themselves.

Guns, bombs (even nuclear ones), tanks, helicopter gunships, jet fighters, B1 bombers and all the arsenal of modern war are "evil things" when used by evil people.

But when they are the arsenal of a free people intent on maintaining their freedoms in the face of evildoers, however, they are BEAUTIFUL things.

"And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?" [Joel 2:11]

[tallhappy]

The coverage of this is crazy.

Last night I turned on the radio and caught the tail end of the ABC news report. The anchorette said, "and to repeat our top story...". My ears perked up because usually this means a relatively significant event has taken place -- a big story.

So she says this guy had died. That was their big top story worth repeating at the end of the broadcast in case anyone missed it.

[Fintan]

Where do these people get the $$ to live and travel etc.

Follow the cash.

I too have often wondered how high-profile anti-captialists, leftists and socialists live so well. Be interesting to find out...

[Valin]

True you have to go back a couple of years to the 'beats' to see who the leaders were. Actually if you want you can take it back to the bohemians of the 18th century.

[pabianice]

I assume 'dying with conviction' is distinct from 'not sure you're dying'...

[ikka]

He was such a good priest that he married a nun.

He directly gave aid and comfort to our enemies and covered for them. Did he protest Pol Pot? The Cultural Revolution? The killing of half a million on Rwanda? Not that I heard of.

Goodbye, useful idiot.

[joesnuffy]

God is his Judge now...if he died outside the Mercy of Our Lord Jesus Christ..
I do not bear him any more malice..but for the grace of God go I
( I being one of those Vietnam combat vets he and his ilk spit on some 35 yrs ago)

[Atomic Vomit]

Berrigan was born Oct. 5, 1923, and served as an artillery officer in World War II. He was ordained a Catholic priest in the Josephite Order in 1955

So, he infiltrated the church at the age of 32 during the early height of the Cold War.

I wonder how many others like him did at the same time?

He was communist before he was "Catholic".

Mr. Atomic Vomit

[gcruse]

Good riddance.

[mombonn]

More of the hippie generation dying off.

I'm of the same generation. The first time I PROTESTED was in 1998, at the March for Justice. Don't paint all survivors of the 60's with the same broad brush.

There were a lot of us geezers there.

[sneakypete]

Ah, but if you are a pacifist, you feel so self righteous.

He wasn't a pacifist. He was a radical Marxist.

[sneakypete]

Burn in hell hippie.

He wasn't a hippie. He was a radical Marxist. Hippies mostly wanted to have fun and be left alone. His goal was Marxist world domination.

[bert]

American Taliban.

[don-o]

I'm of the same generation. The first time I PROTESTED was in 1998, at the March for Justice. Don't paint all survivors of the 60's

There are many of us who marched against the VietNam war in '68, who now march on January 22.

[livius]

Actually, I always thought that, deluded though he was, Philip was a lot more honorable than his brother, Daniel. He even left the priesthood legitimately and married - and in fact, had three children, which was more than most Catholics a lot younger than he bothered to have.

Philip believed in what he was doing, although I certainly think he was wrong in what he believed. Daniel, on the other hand, was a media swan, and would have done anything that got him headlines and groupies.

A few prayers for the deceased might be in order; God is even now "sorting them out."

[I_Love_My_Husband]

You were a commie in 1998? Of course you're with all those other dumb hippie geezers!

[Mark17]

He wasn't a pacifist. He was a radical Marxist.

I have no doubt that is true. Do you suppose he went around masqerading as a pacifist, just to fool em?

[Little Bill]

I hated the both of them, I still do, I hope it was slow and painful. The misery that these people caused is beyond comprehention, He who turns his eyes from the Lord.....