Inspiring Nonviolent Change: Father John Dear Advocates for Justice During Lecture

By Ellie Simmers | Assistant Editor

Speaking to a full sanctuary inside Snidow Chapel, Father John Dear, an internationally recognized advocate for non-violence and peace, did not shy away from challenging topics. 

Dear’s message was clear as he called on students and community members alike to embrace nonviolence as a way of life. He described the current state of the world as plagued with violence and emphasized that true change comes from courageous and persistent nonviolent action toward justice.

Dear’s lecture, “The Ministries of Peace and Nonviolence,” centered around the idea that nonviolence is not just a tactic, but rather, a way of life, which, for Dear, it has been.

After witnessing Israel’s invasion and bombing of Lebanon during his Holy Land pilgrimage, Dear devoted his life to nonviolence. 

Dear’s commitment to the cause is evident in his extensive work, which includes serving as a Red Cross chaplain coordinator after 9/11, serving as the director of The Fellowship of Reconciliation, the largest interfaith peace organization in the United States, and engaging in countless acts of civil disobedience – leading to his arrest 85 times. 

A key aspect of Dear’s understanding of nonviolence lies in his interpretation of the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3-12). 

These biblical pronouncements by Jesus outline the qualities and attitudes valued in the Kingdom of God. 

Father Dear grappled with the traditional interpretation of this passage until he encountered a translation from the original Aramaic, which offered a significantly different perspective. 

Rather than the passage reading, “Blessed are the poor in spirit…Blessed are those who mourn… Blessed are the meek…,” the original translation of the text reads, “Arise, get up, get moving, start walking, and walk forth those who are poor in spirit…those who mourn…the meek…” This active interpretation of the Beatitudes is a cornerstone of Dear’s activism, shaping his call to action and his protests, such as those against George W. Bush and the Iraq War.

In his lecture, Dear laid out 8 points on how to live a nonviolent lifestyle and actively work towards the transformation of society:

1. Be contemplatives of peace and nonviolence

“Let your heart slowly be disarmed,” said Dear, emphasizing the importance of moving beyond the numbness and moving closer to the God of universal love and peace, regardless of one’s religion.

2. Be practitioners of nonviolence

“We are not cooperating with violence and silence in our relationships and in the country and the world,” Dear proclaimed, urging the audience to make nonviolence a way of life in all aspects. 

Dear calls on individuals to break the cycle of violence through mindfulness of their actions, decisions, and relationships.  

3. Be students and teachers of nonviolence

“We’re so in tune with violence, it’s considered normal. The whole culture has to change,” he states, asserting the need for continuous education and teaching on nonviolence, including studying the works of great philosophers of peace like Gandhi or Martin Luther King Jr. 

4. Be activists of nonviolence

“We all have to be involved in the grassroots movement. There’s so much happening and so much to do,” said Dear, detailing not only the impact an individual’s action can have on a movement, but on their own life as well. 

5. Be prophets of peace and nonviolence

Father Dear stressed the importance of speaking out against injustice, war, and violence, urging individuals to act as ‘prophets of nonviolence’ and proclaim peace and love to all. 

To illustrate this, Dear offered the audience an example of a proclamation: “Stop all the wars! Beginning with the US-backed funded Israeli genocide in Palestine…Stop the growing authoritarianism and fascism. Uphold voting rights, civil rights, diversity, and equality for everyone…Stop all environmental destruction…Let’s be outrageous for justice and stop the suffering of creation.”

6. Envision a world of nonviolence

Dear called on the audience to cultivate their imaginations and envision a nonviolent, peaceful world, encouraging them to draw inspiration from abolitionists. 

Dear proclaimed, “A new world is coming. A new world of peace and justice and disarmament and respect for creation. We can give our lives to this mission and help each other reclaim the imagination of what we could be,” declaring the audience as the heirs of the abolitionist movement. 

7. Proclaim the coming of the Kingdom of God

Dear urged a transformative approach, suggesting that individuals should live as if their ideal world of peace and justice were already a present reality, actively bringing it into being rather than passively waiting for its arrival.  

“They were living in a different way,” said Dear, referring to Mother Teresa and Desmond Tutu. “They were way beyond anger and fear and worry and anxiety. And they were grieving and they were rejoicing,” showcasing how they were living their lives as if the Kingdom of God was true. 

8. Cultivate and live in hope

“When I was a kid, my teacher said to me, ‘If you want to be hopeful, you have to do hopeful things,’” said Dear, imploring the audience to remain faithful, to continue practicing nonviolence, to step out and speak up, and to make good trouble when necessary.

Father Dear concluded his lecture with a powerful warning, a final call to engagement: “The greatest threat to peace is not violence itself, but our indifference to it.” 

He urged the audience to reject apathy and embrace the active pursuit of justice and nonviolence, calling them“outrageous for justice.” 

To learn more about Father John Dear and his work with nonviolence and peace, visit https://johndear.org/