Pickup Carries Peace Activist, Fr. Berrigan's Coffin

Yahoo News ^ | December 9, 2002 | Foster Pflug

[NYer]

BALTIMORE (AP) _ Carrying puppets, signs and roses, hundreds accompanied a pickup truck carrying the coffin of peace activist Philip Berrigan as it wound its way Monday through the rough neighborhood where he once served as a priest.

Family members stood in the back of the truck along with the plain wooden coffin, hand-painted with red roses, as bagpipers played ``Amazing Grace'' while the procession marched to the funeral at St. Peter Claver Catholic Church in west Baltimore. ``He was bigger than life _ extremely human and heroic and committed,'' said actor Martin Sheen, who marched in the funeral parade. ``He was a great inspiration and a mentor to me and others.''

Berrigan, a former Roman Catholic priest who staged some of the most dramatic anti-war protests of the 1960s, died of cancer Friday at age 79. He staged some of the most dramatic anti-war protests of the 1960s and was arrested at least 100 times, serving a total of 11 years in prison for his anti-war activities. He led the ``Catonsville 9,'' a group that doused a small bonfire of Selective Service draft records in homemade napalm at a parking lot in the Baltimore suburb on May 17, 1968. His brother, the Rev. Daniel Berrigan, also was a member of the group.

Some mourners carried sticks topped with cloth birds with tattered wings, while others sang Christian hymns and Buddhist monks chanted and beat drums. Ched Myers, 47, an activist, writer and teacher from Los Angeles, said Berrigan was ``a historic pioneer in the act of civil disobedience.''

In the church, mourners held signs reading ``Arm the world with hugs,'' ``Wage Peace,'' and ``Plowshares versus Depleted Uranium,'' a reference to the name of Berrigan's Plowshares for Peace. ``He was a great prophet of peace,'' said the Rev. John Dear, 43, a Jesuit priest who lives in Cimarron, N.M. ``He spoke the truth against war.''

[Redbob]

Yes, Doonesbury's hippy priest was based on William Sloan Coffin, who was the Yale Chaplain in '65 - when Gary Trudeau (and I) were freshmen there.

I remember Coffin as a nice guy, entertaining, thoughful, and even actually devout - not exactly what you expect when you hear "activist priest."

Berrigan, OTOH,...

[saminfl]

He and I might have disagreed on a lot, but that doesn't make him an evil person.

Actually, I believe he was a communist bent on destroying our country. I also believe that the only good communist is a deceased communist.

[BikerNYC]

He didn't hate America, he wanted America to be better (the way he thought better should be). The Vietnam War was very controversial and everyone who was against our participation in it was not a traitor. There were good arguments on both sides of that issue.

[Redbob]

Yeah, he lived by his "faith" alrighty - his faith in socialism/communism, his faith in collective action in lieu of individual responsibility, his faith in "turning the other cheek" to the likes of Stalin, Hitler, Mao, Ho Chi Minh - anything to avoid actually taking up arms in defense of one's home, family, country, or way of life.

Yup, Berrigan was one admirable guy, OK.
</sarcasm>

[BikerNYC]

I have a feeling you will only be happy if you live in a country in which everyone believes exactly what you believe. What an exciting place that's going to be.

[saminfl]

I have a feeling you will only be happy if you live in a country in which everyone believes exactly what you believe. What an exciting place that's going to be.

Not everyone who doesn't believe what I believe wants to enslave me. I have a feeling you may be a useful idiot.

[BikerNYC]

I have a feeling you may be a useful idiot.

At least I'm useful.

[mg39]

Berrigan protested the Vietnam War, a war which McNamara and then even Kissinger said did not matter in the end, and later on he protested torture and murder in Latin American, conducted by goons trained by our military. If that sounds like the kind of person who wants to "enslave" you, then I suggest you pick up the dictionary and learn what "enslave" means.

[saminfl]

Berrigan protested the Vietnam War, a war which McNamara and then even Kissinger said did not matter in the end, and later on he protested torture and murder in Latin American, conducted by goons trained by our military. If that sounds like the kind of person who wants to "enslave" you, then I suggest you pick up the dictionary and learn what "enslave" means.

All communists will use any means to appear credible. In my view, protesting the Vietnam war was giving aid and comfort to the enemy. Ask any former POW what he thinks of the protesters.

[saminfl]

I also meant to say, by appearing credible, they gain the sympathy and support from the "Useful Idiots."

[Renatus]

``He was a great prophet of peace,''

He was a goofball.

[mg39]

"Ask any former POW what he thinks of the protesters."

Ask the families of the dead American soldiers what they thought of the protesters.

[saminfl]

Ask the families of the dead American soldiers what they thought of the protesters.

You can't be implying that the families appreciated the protesters telling them their kids died for nothing can you? You are sick.

[sinkspur]

He was a goofball.

That could be your epitaph too, you know.

This place has gotten so damn hateful lately.

[sinkspur]

You can't be implying that the families appreciated the protesters telling them their kids died for nothing can you?

What, exactly, DID their kids die for, in Vietnam?

[mg39]

"You can't be implying that the families appreciated the protesters telling them their kids died for nothing can you? You are sick."

No, the truth that all those Americans (and Vietnamese, Camboidans, Laotians, etc) died for nothing is what's really sick. You can attack the messenger all you want, but it does nothing to change the message.

[saminfl]

Okay, Mr. Clymer, here is what I think they died for. Rightly or wrongly, they died because they were doing a task for their country. The protestors didn't care for their country, they waved Viet Cong flags and called each other, "comrade." The point I was making which you obviously missed was that no family is going to be friendly with anyone telling them their kid died for nothing. You just wanted to interject your opinion about the war. Try to wake up.

[saminfl]

No, the truth that all those Americans (and Vietnamese, Camboidans, Laotians, etc) died for nothing is what's really sick. You can attack the messenger all you want, but it does nothing to change the message.

Actually, you could say the Vietnamese, Cambodians and Laotians may have died anyway in the re-education camps and from Pol Pot, etc. That wouldn't have mattered to you though.

[sinkspur]

You just wanted to interject your opinion about the war. Try to wake up.

Where did I do that? I just asked you a question to slow you down. You were making an ass of yourself.