Can any of you
place before you a single child, smiling
squirming in your arms; and say
The death of this child is a fact of modern war; I
accede
to that death. I regret it of course
but what can one do? We have to destroy
in order to save; villages, women, children.
The system traps us all . . .
The system; horrible word! Can the system
trap the conscience of a free man? Traps are for
animals; freedom is for men. I cannot speak
for you but I will not wait upon Caesar
to instruct me in God’s word. I am a man. I can read:
If a man will save his life, let him lose it.
I say to you, love your enemies, do good to those who
hate you.
Whatever you do to the least of these my brothers,
you do to me.
Blessed are you who suffer persecution for justice’s
sake…
– Fr. Daniel Berrigan, 1969, via Fr. Emannuel Charles McCarthy.
8:52 am on August 2, 2006