The Nonviolent Jesus

Today I speak with one of the great peacemakers of our time, my friend Zoughbi Zoughbi of Bethlehem, Palestine.Zoughbi is a lifelong Catholic Palestinian activist, organizer and teacher of Gospel nonviolence. Long ago he founded the Wi’am Center, the Palestinian Conflict Transformation Center in the center of Bethlehem. Wi'am is widely recognized as a place of nonviolent conflict resolution that helps Palestinians in the day to day struggle for justice and peace (www.alaslah.org) For the last few years, he has also served as the president of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation, which is the oldest peace group in the world (www.ifor.org). Whenever you think you are working too hard for justice and peace, remember Zoughbi!“This is the first time in history that Bethlehem and Jerusalem are separated, that you cannot travel between them,” he says. “We are living in reservations, separated from each other. Bethlehem is becoming a smaller reservation surrounded by 23 settlements and many outposts. The West Bank is a prison; Gaza is a concentration camp. Every day, we see more prisoners, houses being demolished, state violence, settler violence, environmental violence. The situation is moving from worse to the worst.”“I want my people to live their life and know their rights, to work for a culture of acceptance, to resolve conflict nonviolently. We are exposing the atrocities of the Occupation, and ask people to be in solidarity for us. We are all global citizens of a global world. I want all Christian brothers and sisters to walk in our shoes. Come and visit! Stop aiding and supporting Israel, its weapons, wars and occupation. "I don't want the Holy Land to become a museum without people.” When asked about the International Fellowship of Reconciliation, he says, “Our dream is to educate all children in the world in peace and nonviolence, to get all religious leaders to preach the refusal of war, terrorism and violence, to get everyone to work for a world without war and nuclear weapons.” Zoughbi reminds us of how Jesus was during Roman occupation: “Jesus was soft on people, but hard on the system,” he concludes. “He asks us to love each other and to struggle against injustice…. Be the salt, the yeast and the light… Hope for me is a form of nonviolent struggle. We are going to become the Beloved Community one day!” Listen to the voice of a Palestinian peacemaker in Bethlehem speaking words of encouragement for all of us and be transformed!beatitudescenter.orghttps://substack.com/@fatherjohndear 🌻, John

This week my guest is my friend peace activist Ann Wright. She is a retired US Army Colonel who worked in the military for 29 years, 13 on active duty and 16 in the Army Reserves, as well as a retired US state department official. In March 2003, when the US started massively bombing Iraq, she was one of three state department officials to publicly resign in protest of the US war on Iraq. Since then, she has become a full-time activist working to end war, often working with organizations such as Veterans for Peace, CODEPINK, International Peace Bureau, World Beyond War, NO to NATO, Hawaii Peace and Justice, and many other groups. She travels full time to places of conflict around the world, such as Iran, North Korea, Yemen, Afghanistan, Nicaragua, Palestine, Cuba--to see the effects of US warmaking. She also speaks out and writes about the need to resist war and pursue peace. She has been a coordinator with the Gaza Freedom Flotilla for 16 years and was jailed in Israeli prisons twice for being on Gaza flotillas. Visit: www.voicesofconscience.com We discuss her public resignation over the US war on Iraq, and her work for peace in Afghanistan and Palestine and the abolition of nuclear weapons. “I just could not be a part of what I knew was going to be a horrific death of so many people in Iraq,” she tells me about her resignation. “Never underestimate the power of trying to get people together to do something that will galvanize the rest of our community and the country. It's our own conscience we have to watch out for. We have to be able to say: ‘I've done what I could to try to stop the violence in our world.’ Be consistent and keep moving!” Join us with this incredibly brave, resolute and inspiring peace activist! beatitudescenter.org 🌻, John

This week I speak with Mike Farrell, best known as "Captain B.J. Hunnicutt", one of the stars of the hit TV show "M*A*S*H" in the 1970's, and later "Providence". He is also a writer, director and producer of TV films and has also appeared in several movies, and many, many other television roles. For three years he served as first vice president of the Screen Actors Guild, and as a member of the Guild’s national board of directors.During our conversation, I am constantly impressed by his openheartedness and humanity.I met Mike in 1990, protesting US military aid to El Salvador.Mike is President of Death Penalty Focus, Co-Chair Emeritus of Human Rights Watch in California, and serves as spokesperson for Concern America, a refugee relief and development organization. He has traveled the globe for the last 40 years with international peace and human rights delegations.In his work to stop the US wars in Iraq, he co-founded Artists United to Win Without War. A life-long opponent of the death penalty, he has led Death Penalty Focus for 37 years, since 1988, and speaks, debates, writes and campaigns across the country in opposition to state killing.He helped lead the 2021 campaign to abolish the death penalty in California, which can only happen by a statewide vote, and came within 2% of succeeding. Their 2016 proposition just barely lost too.He is the author of a great memoir which I recommend called, “Just Call Me Mike: A Journey to Actor and Activist.”We talk about his beginnings at the Manhattan Project, a halfway house, and his work at Operation Bootstrap in LA.He tells us about his TV debates with Anita Bryant about gay rights, and his work in El Salvador when the bishops were assassinated and the camps he visited at the Thai-Cambodian border during the reign of Khmer Rouge.He also recounts many of his life changing experiences from when he first visited Death Row in Tennessee in 1975 to his involvement with Death Penalty Focus.Mike is still hopeful about abolishing the death penalty, and how the youth in this country are becoming more aware and becoming activists.When asked about his personal faith, he shares the three things that all human beings want and need: listen to this incredibly personal and openhearted conversation and learn from this amazing actor, activist and human being!More episodes, zooms and information: beatitudescenter.orgDeath Penalty Focus: https://deathpenalty.orgMore information on the nonviolent Jesus can also be found on https://fatherjohndear.substack.com/

In this episode I speak with Charlene Howard, the executive director of the national Catholic peace movement Pax Christi USA, and I ask her about Pax Christi’s ongoing work for justice, disarmament and peace:Charlene describes herself as a "5th generation African American Catholic":She is also a catechist, and a longtime teacher in the Archdiocese of Washington Catholic Schools. She holds a master’s degree in Catechesis and Religious Education from Catholic University and is a graduate and former faculty member of the Institute for Black Catholic Studies Imani Catechetical Program at Xavier University of Louisiana.We discuss organizing Pax Christi groups and actions, getting connected with other like-minded peace and justice church activists, taking on a variety of issues, and how we can practice and teach the nonviolence of Jesus.“One light can dispel the darkness,” Charlene says. “That’s what we’re trying to do—be a light in the darkness. There's a lot of hard things happening in this country, but there's a lot of light too. Don't be fooled into thinking that we are not gaining ground for the good and for peace, because we are.”She encourages us to get involved and stay involved, and take to heart Pope Leo’s January 1, 2026, World Day of Peace message, “Peace Be With You All: Toward an Unarmed and Disarming Peace.”Pope Leo writes: “The peace of the risen Jesus is unarmed, because his was an unarmed struggle in the midst of concrete historical, political and social circumstances,” and “Christians must together bear prophetic witness to this novelty.”Charlene says, “and let’s speak truth to power!”Listen in and be inspired to pursue the peace of Christ.God bless you!—Fr. Johnhttps://paxchristiusa.org/2024/07/09/pax-christi-usa-welcomes-new-executive-director-charlene-howard/www.paxchristiusa.orgbeatitudescenter.orgPope Leo’s World Day of Peace message here.https://www.vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/messages/peace/documents/20251208-messaggio-pace.html

This week we have created a special one hour year end episode of highlights of just some of our guests that have contributed to The Nonviolent Jesus podcast this year.Our first year of weekly podcasts has been a whirlwind: so many great stories, personal experiences, deep spiritual (and theological) insights and most of all, words of hope and inspiration which we hope you have and will enjoy, many are worth and 2nd and 3rd listening.It is an astonishing collection of visionaries, teachers and peacemakers.You will hear short segments, usually 2-3 minutes each featuring, in order:Martin SheenHelen PrejeanRichard Rohr,Joan ChittisterBrian McLaren,Bryan Stevenson,Cornel West,Charles McCarthy,Stanley HauerwasJohn FugelsangPaul ChappellKathy KellySimone CampbellJamie RaskinJoan BaezWe want to thank you, our listeners, subscribers and donors, for your generous spirit in supporting this weekly podcast and we look forward to a new year with more amazing guests that will lead us to being followers of the nonviolent Jesus.Go to BeatitudesCenter.org for more about The Nonviolent Jesus and other programs we offer. Just last month we have started a Substack account under FatherJohnDear as well, which we will be building on this coming year.We’re starting 2026 with Robert Ellsberg talking about the saints, and don't forget to mark Dr. King’s upcoming birthday holiday with a special conversation with his assistant Rev. Andrew Young on Monday, January 19th.We really appreciate every one of you and hope you are being blessed and encouraged by this podcast.Happy New Year, God bless you and keep following the nonviolent Jesus!Onward in peace, 🌻 John