Liberation from Fear
A New Book on Philip Berrigan Is a Must-Read
“A Ministry of Risk” is a new book on Philip Berrigan that gathers his “writings on peace and nonviolence.” It’s edited by Brad Wolf, who has helped to lead the ongoing “Merchants of Death” war crimes tribunal against the vast profiteering of America’s military-industrial complex. (Full disclosure: I participated in the tribunal and blurbed the book.)
The Berrigan brothers, Phil and Dan, fought courageously against war and for peace, coming from a deeply felt Catholicism centered in Christ’s teachings, e.g. blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. I previously wrote about Dan Berrigan and his spirited protest against the Vietnam War as part of the Catonsville Nine. Phil was equally devoted to peace, being a Christian witness against America’s deep-seated culture of war and other forms of violence.
Phil wrote with great eloquence about the need to change America, and his short entry on “Liberation from Fear” in 1969 from New Politics vividly shows the brilliance of his insights. I’ve written before about the salience of fear in America and the need to counter it. Given my own peculiar interests, I’ve cited a powerful saying from “Dune” that “fear is the mind-killer” as well as the words of Master Po from “Kung Fu” that “fear is the only darkness.”
This is what Phil Berrigan had to say about fear, love, and the need for a revolution in America, not, hopefully, a violent revolution, but a complete change in values:
As for myself [wrote Berrigan], I fail to see how a society can be thrown into revolution except through massive civil disobedience, which in the case of America means that domestic and foreign business is rendered unprofitable, and hence inoperable. And I fail to see how extensive civil disobedience can be an effective factor unless the movement is built of people who are less concerned about power and more about justice; who are fearless but not rash; who are disciplined but not bureaucratic; who are patient but not dilatory; who are moral but not moralistic—in private and in public.
But above all, a movement must be built of those who would risk the jaws of the Beast, not in the prospect of being torn alive but rather in trust of their own weapons—truth, justice, freedom, love. Revolution is a time of personal and public purification if it is truly revolution, and the liberation principally sought after is a liberation from fear. Doesn’t Scripture say something about perfect love casting out fear? Which may suggest that the chief obstacle to revolution is fear, or the fear to love. And revolution without vast resources of love will be a bloodbath and, at best, a mere shift in power.
These words pulse with meaning and insight. America needs a revolution, and one based on love is the one least likely to end in a violent bloodbath. Marianne Williamson, to her credit, campaigned on a message of love four years ago to counter the fear she saw being stoked by candidates like Donald Trump. She wasn’t wrong about this.
What a massive civil revolt would require is to shut down the Corporate Owned News. As long as the propaganda megaphones are running 24/7, the US population will be too divided to take collective action. The oligarchs own the news and they make sure the public is divided and at each other's throats. It's why I have said for years, "People unite, left and right". Until the public gets over the manufactured hatred that they have been subjected to since the 1990s (when the news finally died for good) we will just have Red vs. Blue. The wealthy always uses divide and conquer as their primary strategy to maintain control.
Did anybody here at BV know that today ~ March 15, aka “The Ides of March” ~ is “International Day To Combat Islamophobia”?
In the event You didn’t, read Caitlin Johnson’s “Genocidal Psychopaths Celebrate International Day To Combat Islamophobia” at https://www.caitlinjohnst.one/p/genocidal-psychopaths-celebrate-international . And read what President Biden, Vice President Harris, and Secretary of State Blinken have to say about Islamophobia today.
And keep a barf bag close at hand.
Caitlin concludes as follows:
“This is so creepy. It’s one of those things where the more you look at it, the creepier it becomes. They [Biden, Harris, and Blinken] are condemning Islamophobia and denouncing hate crimes against Muslims at the exact same time as they are helping Israel create a mountain of Palestinian corpses in a genocidal onslaught whose entire premise is that Palestinians are the wrong race and the wrong religion. They are proclaiming their love for the Muslim while plunging a knife into his throat.
“But that’s exactly who Democrats are. Their actions don’t matter, only their feelings matter. It didn’t matter that Obama expanded all of Bush’s most depraved wars and butchered Muslim populations using bombs and proxy militias throughout his entire administration, all that mattered was that he spoke eloquently and expressed compassion when the cameras were on. It doesn’t matter that Biden is directly backing a genocidal campaign which has probably killed far more people than the official death counts acknowledge, it matters that he condemns Islamophobia and that White House sources keep feeding the press stories about how privately ‘frustrated’ he is with Benjamin Netanyahu. The whole thing’s just a vehicle through which the more progressively-minded half of the American public can support the murderous agendas of the US empire while still feeling nice about themselves.
“REPUBLICANS ARE THE OPENLY FASCISTIC THUGS OF THE US EMPIRE, WHILE DEMOCRATS ARE THE PSYCHOPATHIC PR MANAGERS RUNNING AROUND PHOTOSHOPPING SMILEY FACES ON THE FASCISM. REPUBLICANS ARE THE DOPEY GOON SQUAD, WHILE DEMOCRATS ARE THE CRIMINAL MASTERMIND. REPUBLICANS ARE THE BLUNT INSTRUMENT, WHILE DEMOCRATS ARE THE POISON SYRINGE. REPUBLICANS KILL MUSLIMS WHILE SAYING THEY HATE MUSLIMS, WHILE DEMOCRATS KILL MUSLIMS WHILE SAYING THEY LOVE THEM.
“DEMOCRATS ARE THE GRINNING PLASTIC MASK THAT SITS ON TOP OF THE SNARLING, BLOOD-SPATTERED FACE OF THE US EMPIRE. THEY PURPORT TO STAND IN SOLIDARITY WITH WORKERS, WITH MARGINALIZED GROUPS, WITH WOMEN AND WITH THE POOR, AND THEY CLAIM TO OPPOSE RACISM, INJUSTICE AND TYRANNY, BUT WHEN IT COMES RIGHT DOWN TO IT THEIR REAL PURPOSE IS TO PUT A NICE FACE ON THE MOST MURDEROUS AND TYRANNICAL REGIME ON THIS PLANET.” [EMPHASIS added.]
Any American who does not fear for the future of this Nation that they ~ and, more importantly, their Children ~ are about to confront will get exactly what they deserve.
The Real Question is: How can that Fear be most effectively transformed into Action to change that future before it is too late to do and/or change anything? And more importantly: What sort of Changes need to be made to America’s system of government and governance to prevent that future from happening?
Or is it already too late?
Again, yet, and still the ultimate Question remains: “Will America survive to celebrate its 250th birthday on July 4, 2026, 841 days from today? And if it does, will the American Peoples be in any mood or condition to celebrate anything?”
Or is there a better Question? As in “CAN America survive…?” And if so, How?
Or is the best Question “SHOULD America survive…?” And if so, Why?