t h e SPRING 2007 VOLUME 6.1 o f ss ii ggnno f ppJournal ee of theaa Catholic cc Peace Fellowshipee

The Life and Witness of Ben Salmon The remarkable story of a husband, father and Catholic resister of the Great War

Fr. Emmanuel Charles McCarthy on Benedict XVI and God’s “way of being”

An Air Force veteran on Catholics killing Catholics

CPF goes to Rome

A scientist looks at the ethics of recruiting practices ts h e i gnof p e a c e contents S P R I N G 2 0 0 7 · V O L 6 . 1 4-5 Peace Briefs News compiled by the CPF staff. 6-8 Friendly Fire Jonathan Lace, a conscientious objector from the U.S. Air Force, ED I T O R Michael J. Baxter reminds us of the oath we take when baptized into the Body of Christ. 9-16 The Life and Witness of Ben Salmon The CPF staff tells the story MA N A G I N G ED I T O R of one of only four Catholic American conscientious objectors during the First World War. Mike Griffin 17 The Cardinal’s Letter Backs War From the Archives of the Archdiocese ASSOCIATE EDITORS of Baltimore, Cardinal Gibbons’ letter to President Wilson offered full support for the war effort. Brenna Cussen 18-19 Ben Salmon and The Catholic Worker Excerpts from Salmon’s David Griffith letter reprinted in the controversial January 1942 issue of the periodical. Mary Margaret C. Nussbaum Benjamin Peters 20 Remembering Dad An interview with Ben’s daughter, Sr. Elizabeth Salmon, MM. Margaret Pfeil 21 Ought a Husband, a Father...? Ben Peters reflects on Salmon’s decision Joel Schorn and his duty as a family man. Michael Schorsch 22 Informed Consent? John Caraher compares the “all volunteer” military recruiting practices to the standards used in the ethical conduct of scientific research involving human subjects. EDITORIAL BOARD Frederick C. Bauerschmidt 23 Coming Home A poem of American mourning, by Maxwell Corydon Wheat, Jr. Tom Cornell Jim Forest 24-25 Benedict XVI Hails Nonviolence Fr. Emmanuel Charles McCarthy Michael Garvey offers his thoughts on the pope’s Angelus Address. Kelly Johnson 26 CPF Goes to Rome Michael Griffin, managing editor of The Sign of Peace, Jeremy Langford outlines CPF’s objectives as he, Iraq War vet Joshua Casteel, and CPF co-founder Tom Cornell Bill Ofenloch prepare to meet Vatican officials. Patrick O’Neill Shawn T. Storer Julianne Wiley Mark and Louise Zwick letters I am 20 years old and was honor- ing it clear that soldiers have the WEB TEAM ably discharged from the Navy on right to selective conscientious Jim Bilek t h Nate Wills, csc February 12 as a conscientious objection and... must evaluate the Justin Wozniak objector (CO). My beliefs about war justice of each war for themselves. crystallized while on deployment. I -Charles McCarthy didn't have very many resources at The Sign of Peace is published my disposal to go about applying for I began listening to Warcast for periodically throughout the year. CO status. However, I was able to Catholics a couple of weeks ago, Subscription is $5 per issue. find websites like yours that offered and was pleased to hear Joshua To submit letters to the editor, address changes, manuscript invaluable support and information. Casteel on the last installment. Like submissions, or questions, contact: I...have begun looking at a possi- Joshua, I am a member of I r a q ble vocation as a priest in the Veterans Against the War. Church. I admit I wasn't a very Although I have not applied for CO The Sign of Peace strong or devout Catholic before status since returning from Iraq (I'm BOX 4232 going through the often-confusing due to retire in two months and SOUTH BEND, IN 46634 struggle of trying to find what I don't want anything to slow the TEL: 574.232.2811 Email: believe in. I now feel I have been process), my experience of this war [email protected] brought closer to God and the teach- has caused me not only to leave the ings of Jesus more than ever. Thank military and to speak out against you for all that you are doing in and this war and its corporatism, but it out of the Church….God Bless. also has led me to join the Secular Cover art by Fr. William Hart -Daniel Baker Franciscans and work for peace and McNichols, with permission. justice within our faith. I was impressed by Mike Griffin’s -Andy article, “A Soldier's Decision” in Visit us at America magazine....We should start Please send letters to our P.O. Box or www.catholicpeacefellowship.org a petition to pressure the bishops to to [email protected] add a section to the Catechism mak- The Theology of “No”

he most recent results of the Yearbook of American Churches have just been pub- lished. The Yearbook marks the rise in numbers for the mega-churches across Tthe land, yet it reports that there still really is only one mega-church. Catholics in the United States grew another two percent in 2006 and now number nearly seventy million. The second largest religious group, the Southern Baptists, came in at just over sixteen million. And it doesn’t stop there. Other statistics show that Catholics are over-represent- ed at some of the highest levels of power. Five of nine Supreme Court Justices are Catholic. The Congress, the Administration, and the military also teem with sons and daughters of Rome. Has this ushered in the long-awaited “Catholic moment” when the Church’s wis- dom finally coincides with U.S. policies?

No, it’s business as usual here in America. The number of children slaughtered in abortion is holding steady, the country’s death chambers are in regular use, and we have passed yet another anniversary (March 19, Feast of St. Joseph) of an aggressive war that the Vatican has labeled “illegal, immoral, and unjust.” Yet that war could not have been launched without the massive cooperation of Catholics. We are close to one- third of the military, over thirty percent of military brass. And that brass has its own kept Catholic theologians, who did their duty by telling us to rally behind the push for war in Iraq. To be sure, many Catholic voices did raise concern. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops raised “grave moral questions” and lobbied the Bush Administration, and the U.S. Cardinals visited Condoleeza Rice and supported the last-minute plea by Cardinal Pio Laghi to President Bush. All of these were fine efforts to exercise Catholic influence. Yet the moment has come to say that in times such as these, our only real power lies in our ability to say “No”; in our ability to say, “Not with our bodies will you pur- sue your agenda of violence and greed.” So why the reluctance of so many Catholics to speak such a “No” at this critical point?

There is a great story that Tom Cornell tells from his younger years that might shed some light on this question. He knew a landlord who happened also to be a Communist. The fellow was charging exorbitant rents. Tom chal- lenged him: “How can you square your actions with your rhetoric of social equality for all people?’ “Oh, that’s for when the revolution comes,” replied the Communist. “But it’s not here yet.” Many of us Catholics act in the same manner. “Sure, peace is the mark of the Kingdom of God, but the Kingdom is not here yet.” This view reduces the Sermon on the Mount and its hard sayings to a marginal ethic that is not meant to be practiced here and now. “Say ‘no’ to warmaking in a risky way?” we ask. “That’s for when the Kingdom comes.” It is clear that Christ anticipated our response—He constantly reaffirmed that the Kingdom of God is at hand; the Kingdom of God is within us, among us, in our midst—here, there, now, and then. Let us live it!

Ben Salmon—the central figure in this issue of The Sign of Peace—is a shining example of one who chose to live in the Kingdom now. So great was his commitment to the Kingdom, he referred to himself as a member of “the army of Peace.” Following Salmon’s lead, the Catholic Peace Fellowship has adopted the ancient Christian military symbol, known as the chi-rho (pictured above left), in its new logo. Originally associated with the Emperor Constantine’s victory at the Battle of the Milvian Bridge in 313 AD, we hope to claim this symbol as the standard of a different army—the army of Peace, the army of Christ—and to follow Christ's example of waging war on any form of evil. And in the words of Salmon, “The surest way to overcome the Evil of War is by the Good of Peace, a steadfast refusal to ‘render evil for evil.’” We urge you to reflect on Ben Salmon’s great “No,” and to take his exam- ple of holiness to heart.

—The Editors Peace Briefs News Compiled by the CPF Staff

Judge Declares Mistrial in CO Court Martial the Capitol to the The February 7th court martial of Lt. Ehren Watada, Supreme Court and the first commissioned officer to publicly refuse ending at the U.S. deployment to the Iraq War and occupation, came to an Federal District abrupt halt when the military judge nullified the C o u r t h o u s e . Stipulation of Facts accepted by the prosecution and the Throughout the defense a week before the trial commenced. The judge morning, others granted the prosecution's motion for a mistrial, with a entered the court- new trial set for March 19, 2007—the fourth anniver- house to file habeas corpus petitions and await the pres- sary of the resumption of declared war in Iraq. entation of the prisoners. According to Eric Seitz, Lt. Watada's attorney, “The mis- After filing a motion with the Chief Judge of the trial is very likely to have the consequence of ending Federal Court, activists gathered inside the atrium of this case because double jeopardy may prevent the gov- the courthouse and began reading the litany of prison- ernment from proceeding with a retrial.” ers. Many dropped banners reading “Shut Down Military judge Lt. Col. John Head had gone to Guantánamo” from the balconies overlooking the atri- extraordinary lengths to try to keep Watada from um. Forty people representing detainees tried to enter achieving his objective of “put- the courthouse for their “day in court.” They were ting the war on trial,” ruling that denied access and proceeded to block the entrance to Watada's motivations for refus- the building, which they occupied for several hours. A ing to deploy with his unit were total of ninety activists were arrested. “irrelevant” and that no witness- There were over one hundred protests held through- es could testify on the illegality out the world to mark the day. The protests were organ- of the war. ized by Witness Against Torture, a group of Christians Prosecutors wanted Lt. Col. that marched to Guantánamo prison in December 2005. Head to find that Watada had agreed to pretrial stipulations that he had violated his duty Iraq Veteran, Prisoner of Conscience when he refused to show up for Agustín Aguayo, a 35-year-old Army medic and con- Watada movement to Iraq in June 2006. scientious objector (CO), was convicted on March 6, Though Watada acknowledged 2007 of desertion and missing movement. Although he that he failed to deploy with his unit, he made clear that faced a maximum of seven years in prison, Agustín was he believed his duty, under his oath and military law, sentenced to eight months in the brig for following his was to refuse to participate in an illegal war. The judge, conscience and refusing to participate in war. realizing there was confusion, declared the mistrial, say- Nearly three years ago, Agustín applied for a CO dis- ing “the stipulation amounted to a confession” although charge from the Army and later served a full year in Watada had “intended to plead not guilty.” Iraq, all the while refusing to load his weapon. Now Even though faced with the issue of double jeopardy, Agustín's wife, mother, and two eleven-year-old daugh- which prohibits a person from being tried twice for the ters are leading a grassroots campaign for justice and same crime, the prosecution is free to go forward on the freedom for him and all GI war resisters. charges it set aside in the now-nullified agreement. In a “I don’t think it is acceptable to God for humans to new trial, however, Watada might be allowed to explain destroy each other in this senseless war,” said Aguayo in his motivations to a jury. a press conference before he turned himself in to authorities. “Some people would call me a coward, but I can tell them that I was there, and I did my job, and I Catholic Workers Try to Shut Down was not afraid. But I cannot be there anymore. I cannot Guantánamo: Declare Int’l Day of Action support the destruction of life.” On January 11, 2007, the fifth anniversary of the first prisoners being brought to Guantánamo, two hun- dred men and women dressed in hoods and orange Vatican Says Death Penalty Violates Gospel jumpsuits, representing the prisoners of Guantánamo, Teaching of Forgiveness joined by three-hundred supporters, marched through The Holy See says that it is difficult to justify the use the streets of Washington, D.C., winding a path from of the death penalty today and warns that the practice

4 T H E S I G N O F P E A C E · S P R I N G 2 0 0 7 is an affront to human dignity and “the evangelical ers in Congress to support the prompt withdrawal of all teaching of forgiveness.” The declaration was issued American military forces and bases from Iraq. Staying during the course of a world congress on the death in Iraq will not work and is not worth the price.” penalty in Paris in February. A 1995 law, the Military Whistleblower Act, enables The paper stated, “The Holy See takes this occasion military personnel to express their opinions in protect- to welcome and affirm again its support for all initia- ed communication directly to Congress. tives aimed at defending the inherent and inviolable value of all human life from conception to natural death,” and said every decision to use the death penalty U.S. Religious Leaders Travel to Iran carried “numerous risks,” including “the danger of pun- From February 17-25, a delegation of Christian lead- ishing innocent persons” and the possibility of “pro- ers from the United States visited Iran to meet with moting violent forms of revenge rather than a true Iranian religious and political leaders in the hope of sense of social justice.” improving relations between Iran and the U.S. The del- It also noted concerns raised in many parts of the egation, which consisted of leaders from from United world over “recent executions,” likely referring to the Methodist, Episcopal, Catholic, Baptist, Evangelical, hanging of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and Quaker, and Mennonite traditions, believe that military other former officials of Iraq. action is not the answer to current problems. A capital execution, it said, is “a clear offense against During the visit, delegates met with Iranian citizens, the inviolability of human life” and can contribute to “a various Muslim and Christian leaders, and government culture of violence and death.” officials, including former President Khatami and cur- rent President Ahmadinejad. The meeting with President Ahmadinejad was the first time an American GI Rights Update delegation had met in Iran with an Iranian president January 2007 was one of the busiest months yet for since the Islamic revolution in 1979. President CPF's branch of the GI Rights Hotline, which takes calls Ahmadinejad insisted that Iran has no intention to from Indiana, Ohio, and parts of Michigan and Illinois. acquire or use nuclear weapons. “I have no reservation During one stretch, we received calls from fifteen to about conducting talks with American officials if we see twenty distinct callers each day, far more than usual. some goodwill,” he said. The last few months have also seen an increase in the The American delegation calls on its government to rate of inquiries about conscientious objection (CO). welcome a similar group of Iranian religious leaders to However, few of these service members actually com- the United States. They also call upon both the U.S. and plete applications for CO dis- Iranian governments to immediately engage in direct, charges. This is in part face-to-face talks, to cease using language that defines because the application the other using “enemy” images, and promote more process is so arduous, and in people-to-people exchanges that include religious lead- part because many of these ers, members of Parliament/Congress, and civil society. soldiers are opposed to fight- ing only in unjust wars, which makes them selective Iraqi Catholics Making More Sacrifices conscientious objectors (SCOs), and disqualifies them Christians in Iraq have been asked by their bishops to from being discharged under current regulations. Those witness to the peace of Christ in their behavior and atti- interested in promoting national legislation to protect tudes and to add Lenten sacrifices to the daily priva- the rights of SCOs should contact the Center on tions they already experience as an offering to God. Conscience and War (www.centeronconscience.org). Such privations include lack of drinking water, food, medicines, and electricity—a direct result of the two U.S. invasions and the twelve years of sanctions placed Over 1,000 GIs Sign ‘Appeal for Redress’ on Iraq, both of which targeted civilian infrastructure. 1,270 active-duty and reserve members of the U.S. “We have asked our faithful to offer. . .[their] difficul- military have petitioned Congress to withdraw ties to God so that he will keep present the fate of Iraq, American troops from Iraq. “Just because we volun- its children, its sick, its elderly, and peace and security,” teered for the military doesn't mean we volunteered to said Auxiliary Bishop Warduni of Baghdad. put our lives in unnecessary harm and to carry out mis- Because of danger, masses are no longer celebrated sions that are illogical and immoral,” says Marine Sgt. regularly. For Lenten celebrations, the prelate said, “We Liam Madden, who helped found the organization have asked our faithful to meet in homes to do little called ‘Appeal for Redress.’ Stations of the Cross, to pray the Rosary or Vespers The appeal calls for a full withdrawal of the troops with the help of a committed layman or subdeacon.” from Iraq: “As a patriotic American proud to serve the Nevertheless, the Church in Iraq is “full of hope in nation in uniform, I respectfully urge my political lead- the Lord,” he said.

T H E S I G N O F P E A C E · S P R I N G 2 0 0 7 5 On Catholics killing Catholics Friendly Fire

B Y J O N A T H A N D. L A C E

s a theologian, a veteran, and a conscientious another. In the New Testament, the metaphor of the objector, I believe that Catholics should refrain Church being the “body of Christ” is used by St. Paul. Afrom military service because such service allows According to him, followers of Christ are existentially for the idolatrous possibility of Christians violating interwoven into each other’s lives: “...there may be no their Baptismal oath by killing other Christians. How discord in the body...the members may have the same did I come to this conclusion? To answer this question, care for one another. If one member suffers, all suffer let us look at Baptism as it is described in the New together; if one member is honored, all rejoice together” Testament and early Christian literature. (1 Cor 12: 25-6). This image of the body has a direct connection to the Eucharist: “Because there is one bread, we who are many are one body, for we all partake Family Ties of the one bread” (1 Cor 10:17). St. Augustine makes At Baptism, Catholics confess their faith in the this member-Eucharist connection in his sermon Trinitarian God and pledge their loyalty to Jesus as addressed to catechumens: “If, then, you are Christ’s Lord. They become “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a body and his members, it is your symbol that lies on the holy nation...the people of God” (1 Peter 2). As twenty- Lord’s altar—what you receive is a symbol of yourself” first century Americans living in a democracy, we some- (272). According to this line of thinking, the utmost times miss the political overtones these statements reverence given to the Eucharist by Catholics at Mass would have carried to those who first heard them. In a should be given to each other; we become what we eat, single sentence, with enormous political implications, the body of Christ. Paul tells the Philippians that their “citizenship is in Understood in the light of the loyalty to Christ and heaven” (3:20). The second century Letter to Diognetus union with other Christians, the Baptismal oath tran- confirms this radical understanding of Christian identi- scends, though does not terminate, all other loyalties, ty: “They live in their own countries, but only as relationships, and measures of justice. sojourners; they bear their share in all things as citizens, and they endure all hardships as strangers. Every for- eign country is a fatherland to them, and every father- What This Means Today land is foreign” (5:5). Such language downplays tradi- Last year, the Lebanese Catholic community tional and modern ideals of patriotism. For this reason, expressed concern at the American support for the most Romans looked upon Christianity with suspicion Israeli offensive in Lebanon. The U.S. Bishops repeated- and initially classified it as a religio illicita (an illegal ly appealed to the Bush Administration to call for a cult); it appeared to be a subtle form of treason which cease-fire; in addition to the general humanitarian crisis threatened the stability of the empire by relativizing all it created, the Israeli offensive was destroying the lives other commitments. After all, Christianity’s Founder and livelihood of Catholics. Cardinal McCarrick, retired taught that loyalty to him ran deeper than family archbishop of Washington, described a “lesson in frus- bonds: “He who loves father or mother...son or daugh- tration.” After his August meeting with two Muslim ter more than me is not worthy of me” (Mt 10:37). leaders from Beirut was cancelled to due to warnings of People who subscribed to such radical claims were an impending Israeli attack, he said, “Lebanon has the understandably seen as spreading a hubris that threat- largest Christian population in the Middle East and ened the “family values” of Greco-Roman culture, not to we’re losing that. . . .The people are going to leave mention the status of Caesar as “Lord.” because they cannot work. There is no gas for the cars; In addition to pledging loyalty to Christ, at Baptism, there isn’t food to eat. We don’t know how they are Catholics become members of the Church and one going to open the schools” (Catholic News Service, “U.S. Cardinal describes ‘lesson in frustration’ in Lebanon Jonathan Lace teaches Theology at Seton Hall Preparatory visit” August 10, 2006). Indeed, the wars of recent years school in New Jersey. He is an Air Force veteran, honorably dis - and decades have hurt the Church not only in Lebanon, charged for conscientious objection. He has an M.T.S. from but throughout the region, leading to an unprecedented Emory University, and was received into the Catholic Church exodus of native Catholics from the Middle East. Easter 2006. That there are Catholics in Lebanon, Iraq, Palestine,

6 T H E S I G N O F P E A C E · S P R I N G 2 0 0 7 and elsewhere in the Middle East should not be news to Citizens of Heaven most Catholics in the United States. However, the fact Early in the third century A.D., the aforementioned that American Catholics have inadvertently aided in the Origen of Alexandria responded to charges made seven- destruction of native Middle Eastern Catholic commu- ty years earlier by the social critic, Celsus, who claimed nities should at least be scandalous to most Catholics. that Christians neglected the public welfare of the The fact that it is not is a sure sign that the Baptismal Roman empire. He criticized Christians, declaring “...if oath has in some way been compromised; an illusion all were to do the same as you [Christians]...the affairs made harder to discern by the terrorist attacks of Sept. of the earth would fall into the hands of the wildest and 11th. It seems that mutual “Eucharistic” reverence most lawless barbarians...” (Against Celsus, IV.68). inherent in Catholic identity has been superseded by Origen’s response? If everyone acted like Christians, secular loyalties which ought to be secondary to the there would simply be no barbarians. To the critique Baptismal oath: an elusive idolatry. that Christians did not serve the common good through The teaching of the Church does not sufficiently military service, but should, Origen’s response deserves address the possibility of a full rendering: Catholics killing other Catholics in defense of what “And to those ene- their respective states con- mies of our faith who sider to be their own “com- require us to bear arms mon goods.” This is my cri- for the commonwealth, tique of the “Just War” and to slay men, we can teaching contained in the reply: ‘Do not those Catechism. As a strategy who are priests at cer- which prioritizes the mini- tain shrines and those mum use of force, the Just who attend on certain War theory is a remarkable gods, as you account contribution to the them, keep their hands advancement of interna- free from blood, that tional policy-making and they may with hands military planning. unstained and free However, Church teaching from human blood seems to assume that this offer the appointed doctrine is compatible with sacrifices to your gods; the Baptismal oath and and even when war is doesn’t question whether or upon you, you never not such a measure of jus- enlist the priests in the tice can be reconciled with a army. If that, then, is a more specific theological laudable custom, how understanding of the much more so, that Church as a sacramentally while others are united society in its own engaged in battle, these right. Paul rebuked the Icon of Jesus’ Baptism, too should engage as Corinthians for daring to Constantinople, c. 1050-1100 the priests and minis- settle their disputes before ters of God, keeping secular courts: “To have lawsuits at all with one another their hands pure, and wrestling in prayers to is a defeat for you” (1 Cor 6:7). What would he say God on behalf of those who are fighting in a about them killing each other to promote a “common righteous cause. . . .We do take our part in pub- good?” lic affairs, when along with righteous prayers Does the Catholic responsibility to promote the com- we join self-denying exercises and medita- mon good trump the Eucharistic call to be “members of tions, which teach us to despise pleasures, and one another?” If so, Catholics have inadvertently made not to be led away by them. And none fight an idol of the state by allowing it to relativize their better for the emperor than we do. We do not Baptism. The priority of the Baptismal oath is precisely indeed fight under him, although he require it; why early Christian thinkers, such as Irenaeus, Origen, but we fight on his behalf, forming a special Hippolytus, and Tertullian, found it difficult to recon- army—an army of piety—by offering our cile military service with membership in the Church: prayers to God’” (Against Celsus, IV.73). pledging loyalty to the defense of a system which does not have a universalized concept of “neighbor” could For Origen, Christians did work for the common jeopardize the oath itself. good—by keeping their hands free from bloodshed (like

T H E S I G N O F P E A C E · S P R I N G 2 0 0 7 7 all good pagan priests) Does the Catholic scends (not terminates) all other loyalties, relation- and praying for the suc- ships, and measures of justice. Thus, a Catholic may cess of “just” military esponsibility to live as a citizen of his or her respective nation, but not campaigns. While his promote the common to the extent that doing so violates the Baptismal oath. defense was more con- At the very least, being members of one another and cerned with bloodshed in good trump the confessing Jesus as Lord means that Christians should general and notwith- Eucharistic call to be not kill each other in service to the state, a possibility standing whatever else for which military service allows. Promoting the com- may be said about his “members of one mon good as understood politically is, indeed, a good account of promoting another?” If so, thing. But it is not so good when doing so comes at the the common good, two expense of the common good of the Church. things are clear: 1) by Catholics have inadver- According to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops avoiding military service, in their 1968 letter Human Life In Our Day, some teach- Christians avoid blood- tently made an idol of ings of the Church are “noninfallible” and there are shed and therefore the the state by allowing it “Licit Norms Of Dissent” from those teachings. The possibility of killing each current Just War theory is one example of noninfallible other and 2) the to relativize their teaching and an example of how the Church’s leader- Baptismal oath tran- Baptism. ship is still slow to (using the Holy Father’s word) “real- scends other measures of ize” the priority of the Baptismal oath in the promotion justice, relativizing them without denying their necessi- of the common good. And it is the lack of consideration ty in the world. Origen did not deny the fact that the of this matter in current Just War teachings that is Roman legions could undertake “just” campaigns, but problematic to Catholic identity. Do nations have a he refused to allow the justice of such efforts to rela- natural right to military force to ensure security and tivize the sacramental union of Christians. justice? Yes. Does the Church recognize this? Yes— but not at the expense of her allegiance to her Lord in her members. The Church may not be able to stop Living Our Baptism nations from attacking each other, but it should at least The Baptismal oath made by Catholics to follow be able to prevent its own “dismemberment.” Jesus as Lord and live as members of one another tran-

ADVERTISEMENT Death and Taxes Federal income tax forms have now been sent to working people around the country. When that package arrives in the mailbox of a peacemaker, the link between “me” and the war in Iraq hits close to home. If taxes are owed, what should one do? Approximately half of every tax dollar paid to the U.S. government pays for war. That percentage includes spending for current wars and past wars (including the relevant interest on the debt) and the weapons systems for future wars. Tax refusal can take many forms—some legal, some acts of civil disobe- dience. One option is to live below the taxable level. For example, for a sin- gle person, $8,750; for a married couple with one child, $20,900; with two children, $24,300; with three, $27,700. Some also take further deductions and credits that result in no taxes owed; some earn income “off the books,” some refuse to file at all, others refuse to pay a percentage of what is due. Most war tax resisters redirect the money not sent to the IRS to life-affirming causes. The National War Tax Resistance Coordinating Committee has many resources to help people decide whether and how they would like to resist paying taxes for war. Please see the website at www.nwtrcc.org or call Ruth Benn at 1-800-269-7464 to receive more information. Now you can advertise books, events and resources in The Sign of Peace at affordable rates. Contact us for details.

8 T H E S I G N O F P E A C E · S P R I N G 2 0 0 7 The Life and Witness of Ben Salmon Ben Salmon (far right) at Fort Douglas, Utah in 1919, along with other COs (left to right) Mayer Bernstein, Thomas Shotkin, and Jacob Schneider. B Y TH E S T A F F O F T H E C A T H O L I C P E A C E F E L L O W S H I P

Two Letters wholeheartedly and unreservedly are my brothers. God is ‘our father n April 6, 1917, President the decree of that legislative author- who art in heaven.’ The command- Wilson declared war on ity proclaiming this country to be in ment ‘Thou shalt not kill’ is uncon- OGermany and the Central a state of war.” “We stand ready,” ditional and inexorable.” “Both by Powers. On the following day, the Gibbons assured Wilson, “we and all precept and example,” Salmon presidential war declaration was rat- the flock committed to our keeping, explained to Wilson, “the lowly ified by Congress, so bringing the to cooperate in every way possible Nazarene taught us the doctrine of nation into the First World War, or, with our President and our national non-resistance, and so convinced as it was called at the time, the government, to the end that the was He of the soundness of that Great War. great and holy cause of liberty may doctrine that he sealed His belief On April 18, 1917, James triumph, and that our beloved coun- with death on the cross. . . . This let- Cardinal Gibbons, Archbishop of try may emerge from this hour of ter is not written in a contumelious Baltimore and de facto head of the test stronger and nobler than ever. spirit. But, when human law con- Catholic Church in the United Our people, as ever, will rise as one flicts with Divine law, my duty is States, sent a letter to President man to serve the nation.” clear. Conscience, my infallible Wilson declaring that Catholics On June 5, 1917, Ben Salmon, a guide, impels me to tell you that would support the war effort (see Catholic layman, a husband, and a prison, death, or both, are infinitely page 17). “Moved to the very depths father of three children, also sent a preferable to joining any branch of of our hearts,” he wrote, “by the stir- letter to President Wilson; but the Army.” ring appeal of the President of the Salmon was stating his refusal to Here we have two different let- United States and by the action of submit to conscription. “Regardless ters, written by two different our national Congress, we accept of nationality,” he wrote, “all men Catholics, stating two different

A WORD ON OUR SOURCES Once the subject of national dispute, the case of Ben Salmon faded from memory until it was recalled in the pages of The Catholic Worker: first, in 1937, in an article on conscientious objection, then again in 1942, when the paper published Salmon’s letter to President Wilson dated October 19, 1919 (see pages 16-17). Salmon’s letter was read by sociologist Gordon Zahn, whose studies of German Catholics during World War II, such as Franz Jägerstätter, have provided inspiration for Catholic peace activists. Zahn himself was a World War II conscientious objector, performing alternative service at Camp Simon in New Hampshire. Needless to say, Zahn took moral support from Salmon’s witness. In 1983, Zahn passed on Salmon’s “An Open Letter to President Wilson” to a graduate student by the name of Torin Finney at the University of Massachusetts in Boston. At Zahn’s urging, Finney dug up the articles in The Catholic Worker, from which he learned that Salmon had a wife and three children. Finney managed to contact Salmon’s son, Charles, a priest in the Archdiocese of Denver, and two daughters— Elizabeth (born Geraldine), a Maryknoll sister, and Margaret, of Wheat Ridge, Colorado. Mr. Finney then wrote Unsung Hero of the Great War: The Life and Witness of Ben Salmon (Paulist Press, 1989). His sources also included the thick file on Salmon located in archives of the American Civil Liberties Union in Princeton, N.J., and the autobiographies of Ammon A. Hennacy and Howard W. Moore, a consci- entious objector who was imprisoned with Salmon during WWI. The facts of the story presented in this article are taken largely from Mr. Finney’s fine book, which we heartily recommend. We also draw on Robert Ellsberg’s popular book All Saints, a daily reflection on the lives of 365 holy people (Crossroad, 1997). Finally, we also found a great source of family photos in Elaine Sugent, whom we thank.

T H E S I G N O F P E A C E · S P R I N G 2 0 0 7 9 stances toward the nation’s entry Gibbons and the War Council, which in Denver, Colorado in 1889. He into the Great War, leading to two has been told by many historians of was the third of four children, with different stories of faith and action, U.S. Catholicism, in the following an older sister, Mary, an older service and sacrifice, life and death. pages we tell the little-known story brother, Jack, and a younger broth- of Ben Salmon. In doing so, we rely er, Joe. His parents were Irish- heavily on the biography written by Canadian immigrants, both Two Stories Torin Finney, aptly entitled Unsung Catholic. It was his mother, The story that began with Hero of the Great War: The Life and Catherine, who took him to Mass Cardinal Gibbons’ letter every Sunday at Holy to President Wilson con- Family Roman Catholic tinued in the months to Church, enrolled him in follow with the founding Catholic schools, and pro- of the National Catholic vided him with an exam- War Council. The purpose ple of faithfulness that of the War Council was to influenced him in his mobilize the Catholic pop- youth. His first exposure ulation to perform “war to the military was during work,” as it was called at the Spanish American the time. The tasks taken War, when he and his up by the National brother nursed a wounded Catholic War Council veteran who was housed included recruiting priests in the Salmon home. Like for the military chaplain- most boys, he reveled in cy, establishing war coun- the war stories he heard, cils on the diocesan and but his mother was known parish levels, founding to have a dim view of mili- Catholic chapters of the tary life which may have Boy Scouts of America, affected him. In any case, raising money for the war in his early teens, Salmon effort, tending to the (and this is taken from his graves of fallen soldiers Ben is first row, far left, with brothers John and Joe, own written recollec- overseas, sending social his sister Mary and cousin Ellen. tion) “began to wonder workers overseas for post- how the Catholic Church war “relief work,” and amassing a Witness of Ben Salmon (Paulist Press, reconciled war with the command, comprehensive documentary record 1989) [see box]. And we do so for ‘Thou shalt not kill.’” of Catholic war and relief work for some of the same reasons that In 1907, after attending night posterity (which can still be found in Finney wrote his excellent biogra- school for a few years, Salmon took a basement room in Mullen Library phy: as he writes in the epilogue, to a full-time job as an office clerk with at the Catholic University of tell a story that “challenges us to the Colorado and Southern America). Eventually, after a series take a closer look at our own willing- Railroad. It was during these years of transformations, the War Council ness—or unwillingness—to obey that he was gradually transformed became the National Conference of the call of God in our lives.” In other into a labor “agitator” (his word). Catholic Bishops and the United words, our purpose in re-telling the Colorado had been the site of bitter States Catholic Conference, the story of Ben Salmon is not only to labor struggles connected with the predecessor organizations to the provide information about an formation of the Western United States Conference of exceptional life in the past, but also Federation of Miners in 1892. The Catholic Bishops which now oper- to provide inspiration and encour- state militia was frequently dis- ates in Washington, D.C. For this agement in the present, so that patched to break the strikes. reason, the story of the founding Catholics and others of this day and Strikers, strike-breakers, and law- and work of the War Council is often age may be inspired and encouraged men alike were killed. The most told as a prelude to the rise of pro- to follow Salmon’s lead by resisting, notorious clashes occurred in gressive Catholicism in the United out of loyalty to God and con- Telluride, Colorado in 1901, and States, indeed, as a turning point in science, the nation at war. Cripple Creek, Colorado in 1904, U.S. Catholic history, when the not long before Salmon first went to Church made a crucial step toward work. Moreover, at this time the entering into the mainstream of the Early Life country was being swept by the sin- nation. First, some facts about his early life. gle-tax movement, as conceived by But rather than tell the story of Benjamin Joseph Salmon was born Henry George in his widely popular

1 0 T H E S I G N O F P E A C E · S P R I N G 2 0 0 7 and revolutionary book Progress and tice. But these were but a prelude to George Creel, recounted his Poverty (1879). Starting with the the struggle to come. agency’s work in a book entitled premise that land is the true source How We Advertised America). And of all wealth and productivity, then, on June 15, Congress passed George and his followers held that The Great War in America the Espionage Act, which imposed a the cure for economic injustice lay Many Americans voted for fine of $10,000 and/or twenty years in eliminating all taxes except land Woodrow Wilson in 1916 because in prison on anyone engaging in tax. The details of single-tax theory they regarded him as the one presi- activities “detrimental to the war (which, in the age of cyber-space, dential candidate who would keep effort,” such as making public state- seems quaint at best) are not impor- the United States out of the war. ments against the war, distributing tant for our purposes. What is Therefore, many Americans were anti-war literature, or promoting important is that Salmon was shocked when Wilson declared war a draft resistance. Hundreds were deeply involved in the single-tax few months after his election. Yet arrested. Thousands were moni- movement, and he embraced the despite the formidable opposition, tored and harassed. A number of radical economic vision of its leader- on May 18, 1917, the Selective anti-war newspapers were censored ship and also, coupled with this, a Service law was put into effect, (including The Masses, a monthly sharply critical view of the state requiring all able-bodied men magazine which employed a young which, as he saw it, exercised its between the ages of twenty-one and journalist by the name of Dorothy authority in order to enforce the thirty-one to register at local induc- Day). In 1918, the legality of these economic injustices of the status tion centers within thirty days. An measures was upheld by the quo. His view was gruesomely con- impressive array of liberal and radi- Supreme Court, which found that firmed on Easter Night in 1914, cal leftist groups rose quickly to freedom of speech may be curbed when striking coal miners were oppose the draft and the war, but when, in the memorable phrase of attacked by the National Guard in these groups were quickly and effec- Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, it Ludlow, Colorado, leaving a dozen tively silenced. For one thing, the poses a “clear and present danger” miners dead, plus thirteen of their president’s description of the war as to national security. children and one pregnant woman. an effort “to make the world safe for The Ludlow Massacre, as it was democracy” generated quick and called, left Salmon outraged. In widespread support. For another, Salmon Takes His Stand 1915, he stepped up his activism for the Wilson administration formed Salmon was one of those who the union, which cost him his job, the Committee for Public voted for Wilson to keep the nation and for the single-tax, which led Information (CPI) in order to out of the war. And he was one of him to run for the Colorado State manipulate the press and generate those bitterly disappointed by the legislature (he lost). Both efforts he popular support for the war. (Soon president’s declaration of war, by saw as part of the struggle for jus- after the war, the head of the CPI, his “change of colors,” as Salmon put it. So it is not surprising that when Salmon registered for the draft on June 5, 1917 (complying with the deadline set a few weeks before), he wrote the president a let- ter of protest that same day. Not long after, he stepped out of his leadership role in the single-tax movement and took on a new role as secretary of the Denver branch of the People’s Council of America for Democracy and Peace, a national anti-war organization led by leftist activists and intellectuals. He wrote more letters to President Wilson, gave speeches from soap-boxes, and distributed anti-war pamphlets, including one entitled “Ours Is the Land of Tyranny and Injustice,” which was censored by the Postmaster General in the fall of 1917. That same fall, he married Ben is on the left side of photo, standing behind his mother Catherine. Elizabeth Smith, whom he had met

T H E S I G N O F P E A C E · S P R I N G 2 0 0 7 1 1 months in the Denver County Jail. He appealed and was released again on $2500 bond, paid by a friend. On May 16, 1918, Salmon received a draft notice out of the blue, requir- ing him to report for training three days later. He protested, claiming that his case was being adjudicated in the courts and that he had a dependent wife and mother. The Draft Board conceded that the situ- ation was fraught with “irregulari- ties,” but insisted that he must report on May 20. Salmon refused, and sent a messenger to inform the draft board of his decision. That afternoon, he was arrested by the Denver municipal police. With no Ben is on the far right, seated. The others in the picture (left to right): Ben's mother, Catherine opportunity to consult with his Reardon Salmon, brother Joe, father Michael Anthony, brother John (standing). attorneys, he was immediately turned over to military authorities nine years before while working for trial. The next day, Salmon distrib- and placed in solitary confinement the railroad, but a conventional uted a tract he wrote entitled at Fort Logan, Colorado. married life was not in store for the “Killing the Wrong Men.” The gist newlyweds. Salmon was acquiring a of the article was captured in the reputation as a radical activist, not title. “If killing has to be insisted Prison and Court-Martial only around Denver, but nationally upon,” he contended, “those On the morning of May 21, 1918, too. On November 6, 1917, The responsible for wars—kings, presi- Salmon was roused out of his cell New York Times described him as a dents, Kaisers, etc.,—should be and dragged before the post com- “spy suspect,” probably on the basis made to fight each other and not mander. The commander demand- of his letters to Wilson which the drag millions of innocent youths ed that Salmon join the work crew Postmaster had forwarded to the into a game where they would be on the base. Salmon refused, insist- papers. Then, on Christmas Day, he compelled to slaughter each other.” ing that he was not a soldier. He received the Army Questionnaire The letter earned him expulsion was put back into the guardhouse asking for information needed to from the Knights of Columbus and all his belongings were taken. process his draft registration. He chapter of his parish. The episode That evening, as Salmon was returned it to his local Draft Board was reported in a newspaper article brought into the mess hall, the new the next day with a letter stating his describing him as a “slacker,” the recruits chanted, “Get a rope! Get a refusal to fill out the form. His let- standard epithet for draft resisters rope!” One of the guards handed ter concluded: “Let those that at the time. Salmon had quickly him a copy of a newspaper in which believe in wholesale violation of the become Denver’s most publicized new inductees were quoted as say- commandment ‘Thou shalt not kill’ opponent of the war. On January 7, ing that if he ever appeared in make a profession of faith by joining he sent a telegram to the National Denver again, they would “tie the army of war. I am in the army of Civil Liberties Union in New York Salmon by the neck to the next train Peace, and in this army I intend to City explaining his refusal to comply to Fort Logan.” The next day, live and die.” with the draft law and asking for Salmon was put on a military train assistance. Three days later came to Camp Funston, Kansas. After the reply: “Supreme Court has held about two weeks there, he was Arrest, Trial, Conviction conscription constitutional. No use informed that he would be tried by On January 5, 1918, two Denver fighting.” He fought anyway. court-martial for “desertion and policemen came to Salmon’s home Salmon’s trial was held on March propaganda.” Salmon protested to arrest him. Members of the local 30, 1918. His attorneys argued that that he had never actually been Draft Board, some of whom knew of the Army Questionnaire was uncon- inducted, but his argument fell on him and his beliefs, told him it was stitutional because it violated their deaf ears. On June 12, he was in his best interest to complete the client’s First Amendment right to transported to Camp Pawnee, Army Questionnaire. Salmon free exercise of religion. The argu- Kansas, where he was placed in refused. He was arrested and ment was to no avail. He was con- detention for three weeks. From released on $2500 bond, pending victed and sentenced to nine there, on July 2, he was transferred

1 2 T H E S I G N O F P E A C E · S P R I N G 2 0 0 7 to Camp Dodge, Iowa, where he placed in the post guard- appeared before a Review house with several hun- Board assigned to hear the dred conscientious objec- claims of all conscientious tors. Initially, he worked objectors in federal custody. in the prison commissary. The Board found him sincere But after several weeks of and offered him a farm fur- reflection, he determined lough and commutation of his that he would not continue sentence in Denver, if he would working, so as not, as he cooperate with military author- later put it, “to aid the ities. Encouraged by the rul- killing machine.” For ing, Salmon nevertheless refusing to work, and for refused to cooperate with the organizing a protest of the military in any way. misappropriation of funds On July 24, at Camp Dodge, that he discovered while Salmon was court-martialed. working on the kitchen With no legal counsel available, financial records, he was Salmon presented his own placed in the solitary con- defense by arguing (1) that he finement cellblock, dubbed had been inducted illegally, (2) by prisoners as “the Hole.” that he was responsible for a This was on December 13, dependent wife and mother, 1918. and (3) that conscription vio- “The Hole” consisted of lated the First and Fifth several rows of small, five- Amendments of the Ben in Washington D.C. on July 11, 1921. by-nine-foot cells located Constitution. The court lis- over the prison sewer sys- tened and then, without taking a Soon, he was transferred to a fifth tem. The cells were damp and dark. recess, found him guilty of desertion place of federal incarceration, Fort Many lacked a bed or blankets. and propaganda: “desertion,” for Leavenworth, to begin his sentence There were no toilets, only openings refusing to report for training, and of twenty-five years at hard labor. located at one end of the cell floor. “propaganda,” for distributing his He arrived at Leavenworth on The diet was restricted to bread and June 5 letter to President Wilson to October 9, 1918, his first wedding water. At night, the prisoners were some Hutterite Brethren also being anniversary. Just over a month visited by bedbugs and rats. The held at the camp. He was sentenced later, on November 11, Armistice stench from the flow of sewage was to death, but then, without explana- was declared and the war in Europe constant. Salmon suffered physical- tion, the sentence was commuted to was over. But Ben Salmon’s prison ly. He suffered emotionally too, for twenty-five years of hard labor at sentence was just beginning. in January of 1919, he learned of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. the death of his brother Joe a However, in late August, Salmon month or so before. While Joe had was offered a position as first-class More Refusals, Hardships been traveling to visit Ben in sergeant and legal clerk at Camp At Leavenworth, Salmon was Leavenworth, he got caught in a Dodge. If he accepted, he was told, blizzard and contracted pneumonia. his twenty-five year sentence would Ben spent more than five months in be reversed. When he received this The Hole, until April 29, when he offer, he wrote to his wife telling her “Let those that believe in and the other “absolutists,” as the the news. On September 6, she wholesale violation of the total resisters were called, were replied, telling him that she had moved into regular cellblocks. given birth to their first son, commandment ‘Thou shalt not On June 23, 1919, the Fort Charles. She closed her letter by kill’ make a profession of faith Leavenworth absolutists were hand- pleading with him to accept the cuffed, loaded on to a military train, offer. Needless to say, her news and by joining the army of war. I and sent to Fort Douglas, Utah. The her plea sent him into deep conflict. am in the army of Peace, and fort consisted of ten acres of long, After weeks of inner turmoil, he wooden barracks surrounded by decided not to accept the military’s in this army I intend to live seven-foot-high barbed-wire fences, offer, on the grounds that such non- with towers at four corners and combatant service would entail and die.” guards manning the towers with cooperating with an institution that loaded machine guns. In mid- was “antithetical to Christianity.” August, these 142 remaining abso-

T H E S I G N O F P E A C E · S P R I N G 2 0 0 7 1 3 er to the American Civil Liberties jails, but the priest demurred. The “Christ’s doctrine to overcome Union (ACLU) in New York, telling next day, two priests came from Salt them of his refusal to work and his Lake City to hear his confession and evil with good” stands as failed legal efforts up to that give him communion. One dis- point—and of his plans to refuse agreed with him nevertheless and “the most effective solution for preparing and eating food, as he said so. The other supported him, saw even these acts as forms of tacit and was transferred to Oregon after individual and societary ills cooperation with the military sys- his sympathies became known. On tem he abhorred. July 25, Salmon was transferred to that has ever been formulated. Salmon began his hunger strike the infirmary and force-fed. On on July 13, 1920. Four days later, July 28, he was taken to Ogden, It is a practical policy, because he wrote a letter to the Secretary of Utah. And on July 31, he was trans- War, Newton D. Baker, among oth- ferred once again, this time to Christ is God, and God is the ers, stating, “I have missed my Washington, D.C., and was placed in meals for four days, and I will con- a wing of St. Elizabeth’s Catholic supreme personification of tinue to starve until released by a Hospital for the Insane. discharge from prison or by death.” practicality.” He went on to insist, “I am not demented, but I tell you that unless Hospitalized and Released you relieve me of the assistance that By the time Salmon was taken to lutists were ordered to work. Only a my imprisonment gives to mili- Washington, his case had been handful complied. The rest were tarism, you will thereby cause my taken on by the ACLU, which sent placed in solitary confinement with death from starvation, for I cannot protest appeals to the War a bread-and-water diet for two honestly continue to support Mars Department and contacted the weeks. Salmon was among them, [the Roman god of war] as I have in press. On August 4 and 5, a story on for which his sentence was extended the past, since I now fully realize Salmon appeared in The New York another eighteen months. that even the tiny bit of assistance Times, and, in the weeks to follow, it Conditions at Fort Douglas were that I was rendering in the way of gained national attention. The harsh: “starvation, beatings, cold accepting your food, was too much.” ACLU contacted prominent church- baths in zero weather, bayoneting, He contended that “Christ’s doc- men, including Monsignor John were the order of the day,” Salmon trine to overcome evil with good” Ryan of Catholic University, who later recalled, belittling them as stands as “the most effective solu- agreed to see what he could do. On “petty persecutions.” In October, he tion for individual and societary ills October 2, his health deteriorating, wrote “An Open Letter to President that has ever been formulated. It is Salmon was presented with an Wilson,” detailing the mistreatment a practical policy, because Christ is application for a writ of habeas cor- of conscientious objectors in prison God, and God is the supreme per- pus. On October 19, his case was and calling on Wilson to release the sonification of practicality.” After argued in the District of Columbia objectors still being held, now stoutly decrying the way he and Superior Court, but on October 27, almost a year after the end of the other conscientious objectors were the application for the writ was war (see pages 16-17). In early being treated by the military, he turned down. He resolved to take December, a request for clemency declared, “My life, my family, every- his case to the Supreme Court. At was submitted to the War thing is now in the hands of God. this point, Salmon’s cause was Department by John Salmon on His will be done.” championed by several papers and behalf of his younger brother, Ben. The hunger strike continued as groups, including, remarkably, some The request was refused. Salmon the days turned into weeks and the of the members of the Knights of spent another Christmas in prison. weeks turned into months. On July Columbus chapter that had had him 18, Salmon received a letter from expelled. On November 13, Salmon his mother pleading with him to eat. was moved from St. Elizabeth’s to Hunger Strike On July 23, Salmon, believing that Walter Reed Government Hospital, In the early months of 1920, he was near death, sent for a priest, where his mail was censored, his vis- Salmon spent much of his time writ- but the priest refused to hear his itors were barred, and he was not ing letters. He wrote one to the confession, or give him communion, allowed to use the phone to contact Secretary of the War Department or anoint him, claiming that his his attorneys. Letters continued to denouncing his incarceration. He refusal was suicidal and thus a mor- pour into the War Department, and wrote another to an attorney in tal sin in the eyes of God and the in mid-November, Monsignor Ryan Washington, D.C., seeking assis- Church. Salmon responded that his spoke directly with the Secretary of tance in applying for a writ of refusal was no different than that of War. On November 24, the situa- habeas corpus. He wrote yet anoth- the Irish hunger strikers in British tion was resolved. The War

1 4 T H E S I G N O F P E A C E · S P R I N G 2 0 0 7 Department granted pardons to joined him in Melrose Park, Illinois. dren, one of whom, Charles, became thirty-three conscientious objectors The next year, their second child, a priest in Denver, while another, remaining in federal custody. On Margaret, was born, and a couple of Geraldine, became a Maryknoll sis- November 26, the day after years after that, they had their third ter, taking for her religious name Thanksgiving, Salmon gathered his child, Geraldine. By this time, Elizabeth (in memory of her moth- belongings, signed his release Salmon went to work at the er). Again, he was a faithful papers, was handed a Dishonorable Lindbergh Airport in Chicago—not Catholic. Discharge from the Army, and a great job, but the best he could do For Salmon, being a faithful walked out of Walter Reed Hospital with a Dishonorable Discharge form Catholic meant allowing the Light of a free man. the Army. When the Great Christ to guide every aspect of his Depression hit in 1929, the Salmon life, particularly, of course, when it family’s economic difficulties wors- came to the command of Christ to The Aftermath ened. Late in the year 1931, Ben love our enemies and to conquer evil When Ben Salmon was released contracted pneumonia, and, like his with good. And this meant chal- in late November of 1920, his story brother Joe, never recovered. He lenging the teaching of the Church was featured in almost every major stayed at home. On February 15, when it came to the morality of war. newspaper in the country. It was a 1932, attended by his wife and three What is remarkable about Salmon is remarkable story indeed: from the children, Ben Salmon died. that he investigated and challenged time he had taken his initial stand Church teaching so thoroughly and in June of 1917, Salmon had been conscientiously, with such intellec- arrested, tried, and convicted in a A Faithful Catholic tual honesty and seriousness. These civilian court; he had been convicted Ben Salmon was a faithful qualities marked Salmon’s thinking by a military court as well, even Catholic. He was baptized as an and acting throughout his ordeal, though he had never been properly infant and he grew up fortified by but nowhere were they so clearly inducted into the military, he had the Sacraments. As a youth, he was demonstrated as in the 200-page been sent to military prison, where placed in Catholic schools. As a statement (single spaced) that he he had endured serious hardships young man, he joined the Knights of wrote while held at the insane asy- for refusing to cooperate with his Columbus in his home parish (until lum at St. Elizabeth’s Hospital in imprisonment, including extended he was expelled for war resistance). Washington, D.C. in October of periods of solitary confinement; all When he wrote to President Wilson 1920. of this culminated in a hunger strike to announce that he would be resist- The purpose of Salmon’s state- that dragged on, due to a regime of ing military conscription, he cited ment was to give an account of his forced feeding, for 135 days. It was the commandment “thou shalt not ordeal since he had declared his the hunger strike, and the adverse kill,” and the teaching and example resistance to the war more than publicity it brought for the War of Jesus. At his arrest, trial, and three years before. He opens with a Department, that led to Salmon’s conviction, he defended his stand by review of his original stand, his eventual release. Not that all the referring to his duty to keep the arrest, trial, and conviction, his sub- publicity was in favor of Salmon; to commandments and to follow the sequent incarceration, his refusal to the contrary, several veterans teachings of Christ. In military cooperate with military authorities, groups, particularly those located in prison, he understood his sufferings and his encounters with the priest- his hometown, promised retaliation to be a share in the sufferings of chaplains who tried to dissuade him against “Denver’s notorious slack- Christ. He received priest-chaplains from his course. Then he launches er,” as he was often called in the who visited him in prison, even if into a lengthy intellectual defense of press. The threat of further hostili- they were there only to try to talk his conscientious objection to the ty kept Salmon away from Denver. him out of his war resistance. He war, based on political, humanitari- Moreover, his relationship with his was released from federal custody at an, and religious grounds. wife was strained, owing apparently the urging of Church leaders. For Regarding the political and humani- to his decision years before not to the remainder of his life, he prayed tarian grounds, he was rehearsing accept the military’s offer of release his daily prayers, stayed close to the from memory many of the argu- in return for taking on non-combat- Sacraments, and kept the Lenten ments he had developed before his ant duties. At any rate, Salmon fast each year, including a three-day incarceration. But when it came to decided to move to Chicago, where fast at the Easter Triduum. His chil- the religious arguments against the his older sister Mary lived, and to go dren were educated in Catholic war, Salmon was able to work to work for the American Freedom schools. Finally, he was buried in directly with several texts. He obvi- Foundation, which was affiliated the Church after a Mass for the ously had access to scripture, for his with the ACLU. Sometime the fol- Dead. His wife, for her part, statement includes direct quota- lowing year, in 1922, his wife remained a faithful Catholic until tions from Daniel, Matthew, and Elizabeth, and their son Charles, her death, as did the Salmon chil- Romans. But he was also able (with

T H E S I G N O F P E A C E · S P R I N G 2 0 0 7 1 5 the help of one of his guards at the to determine when war is neces- ly died for the Faith—martyrs, in hospital and two secretaries of the sary,’ because it is never necessary.” other words—but also those willing Knights of Columbus) to gain access While his argument might be to die for the Faith whose sentences to the article, “War,” from T h e contested by just-war theorists, it is were not carried out and who then Catholic Encyclopedia. Written by a based on two uncontested Catholic underwent great suffering for their Father Macksey, S.J., Professor of premises: that Christ taught us not witness—the seizure of property, Ethics and Natural Right at the to kill, and that the state has no imprisonment, exile. With this Gregorian University in Rome, the right and thus no power to issue a understanding, Salmon surely quali- article presents the standard command to the contrary of Christ’s fies as a confessor. Originally sen- Catholic teaching on the morality of teachings. tenced to death, his sentence was war. Salmon quoted the article at To state this argument in posi- commuted to twenty-five years in great length (more than nine, sin- tive terms, Christ has provided us prison, two and a half years of which gle-spaced pages worth, meticulous- with all the means necessary to he served before being released—all ly numbering the lines—496 lines overcome evil. We are, in the words due to his unswerving commitment in all), and then methodically, yet of St. Paul, to “overcome evil with to Christ. tortuously, rebutted every impor- good” (Rom. 12:21). And Salmon We believe it is important to tell tant tenet of Macksey’s article, an went on to explain the “philosophy” the story of Ben Salmon for the exercise that took scores of pages of entailed in Paul’s teaching in a pas- same reason the stories of confes- sage that is worth quoting at length: sors of ages past are told by the Church: to serve as an inspiration In light of Cardinal Gibbons’ let- “In ordinary affairs of life, for Christians in this day and age, to we apply this philosophy. For embolden those now seeking to fol- ter to President Wilson pledging instance, we do not attempt to low Christ, to point out a path that overcome lying with lies; we may be taken. Catholic support for the war overcome it with truth. We do In introducing Unsung Hero of the not try to overcome curses with Great War, Finney describes Ben effort, Salmon’s critique was cer- curses, but we overcome with Salmon as “a vivid character in the silence or with words of friend- drama of ‘the war to end all wars.’” tainly not unfounded. ship. . . . Sickness is not over- Needless to say, the drama of wars come with sickness; it is over- waged to end war continues. As Nor, regrettably, is it unfounded come with health. If I cut my Salmon wrote in his statement of finger, the remedy is not to cut October 1920, “Today, we find the today, when Catholic prelates another finger, but to succor scene that preceded Christ’s death the original wound. Anger is reenacted. When He began to and lay people cast their support overcome with meekness, pride become unpopular, His prophecy by humility. And the successful that all would be scandalized came for this nation at war. way to overcome the evil of war true. One denied Him, another is by the good of peace, a stead- betrayed Him, nearly all of the disci- fast refusal to ‘render evil for ples fled. And so it is today in the single-spaced typescript. evil.’” question of wholesale murder.” In Salmon’s rebuttals are too light of Cardinal Gibbons’ letter to detailed to go into at length, but his This is the argument of a man President Wilson pledging Catholic central claim is that just war theo- out of step with his times, at odds support for the war effort, Salmon’s rists do not take seriously the teach- with a nation at war, and at odds critique was not unfounded. ing of Christ. “Man is anterior to with his Church’s support of that Nor, regrettably, is it unfounded the state,” he wrote at one point. war. But it is at the same time, today, when Catholic prelates and And “since God has forbidden him unquestionably, the argument of a lay people cast their support for this to kill, the State cannot confer the faithful Catholic. nation at war. But along with right to kill, and therefore the Salmon’s stinging critique comes his power to order its citizens to slaugh- encouraging example, showing us ter their fellow men is not vested Ben Salmon, Confessor that we are not fated to reenact the with the State. God alone can issue But this argument is more than roles of Peter, Judas, Pilate or such an order. Either Christ is a liar the argument of a faithful Catholic. Caiaphas, disclosing the possibility or war is never necessary, and very It is also the argument of a “confes- that we ourselves can follow the way properly assuming that Christ told sor.” This term is often associated of the cross, and become, like Ben the truth, it follows that the State is with the persecution of the Church Salmon, confessors of the Faith. without (and here he quotes from in ancient times, as a way to desig- Father Macksey) ‘judicial authority nate, not only those who had actual-

1 6 T H E S I G N O F P E A C E · S P R I N G 2 0 0 7 The Cardinal’s Letter Backs War

From the Archives of the Archdiocese of Baltimore April 18, 1917

Mr. President:

The Archbishops of the United States, at their Annual Meeting in the Catholic University at Washington, April the eighteenth, unanimously resolved to address to you the following letter, signed by all the Archbishops who were present, the six remaining Archbishops being unavoidably absent from the meeting.

Standing firmly upon our solid Catholic tradition and history from the very foundation of this Nation, we reaffirm in this hour of stress and trial, our most sacred and sincere loyalty and patriotism toward our Country, our Government and our Flag. Moved to the very depths of our hearts by the stirring appeal of the President of the United States and by the action of our national Congress, we accept whole heartedly and unreservedly the decree of that legislative authority proclaiming this Country to be in a state of war. We have prayed that we might be spared the dire necessity of entering the conflict. But now that war has been declared, we bow in obedience to the summons to bear our part in it with fidelity, with courage and with the spirit of sacrifice which, as loyal citizens we are bound to manifest for the defense of the most sacred rights and the welfare of the whole nation. Acknowledging gladly the gratitude we have always felt for the protection of our spiritual liberty and the freedom of our Catholic institutions under the flag, we pledge our devotion and our strength in the maintenance of our country’s glorious leadership in those possessions and principles which have been America’s proudest boast. Inspired neither by hate nor fear, but by the holy sentiments of truest patriotic fervor and zeal, we stand ready, we and all the flock committed to our keeping, to cooperate in every way possible with our President and our national Government, to the end that the great and holy cause of liberty may tri- umph, and that our beloved country may emerge from this hour of test, stronger and nobler than ever. Our people, now as ever, will rise as one man to serve the Nation. Our priests and consecrated women will once again, as in every former trial of our Country, win by their bravery, their heroism and their service, new admiration and approval. We are all true Americans, ready as our age, our ability and our condition permit, to do whatever is in us to do, for the preservation, the progress and the triumph of our beloved country. May God direct and guide our President and our Government, that out of this trying crisis in our national life, may at length come a closer union among all the citizens of America, and that an enduring and blessed peace may crown the sacrifices which war inevitably entails.

James Cardinal Gibbons, Chairman. William Cardinal O’Connell, Archbishop of Boston. John Ireland, Archbishop of Saint Paul. John J. Glennon, Archbishop of Saint Louis. Sebastian G. Messmer, Archbishop of Milwaukee. Henry Moeller, Archbishop of Cincinnati. Edward J. Hanna, Archbishop of San Francisco. George W. Mundelein, Archbishop of Chicago.

T H E S I G N O F P E A C E · S P R I N G 2 0 0 7 1 7 In its famous stand against the ‘Good War,’ The Catholic Worker invokes the ‘Great War’ objector Salmon and The Catholic Worker

The following excerpts are taken from Ben Salmon’s “An Creed forbids its members from participation in war. Open Letter to President Wilson,” originally published by Clergy and laity will dispute this declaration now, but the Baltimore Amnesty League in 1920, and reprinted in some day will admit that my attitude is correct and The Catholic Worker in January 1942. Salmon wrote the practical. I am a Catholic, or as some would have it, a letter on October 14, 1919, while he was still in prison, Roman Catholic; not an apostate, but what is known in after the war had ended. the Church as a “practical Catholic.” I am a member of St. Catherine’s parish, Denver, Colorado, and was a onsider...the case of conscientious objectors. member of the Knights of Columbus until expelled for They have taken precisely the same position publishing an article against war. Expulsion from the “Cthat you took in several addresses. ‘The Knights of Columbus does not in any manner affect example of America must be a specific example of one’s communion with the Church. peace,’ you said immediately after the sinking of the “My religious stand is based on God’s command, Lusitania. On February 2, 1916, at Kansas City, you ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill.’ Some argue that ‘in olden times said: ‘We can show our friendship for the world and our God commanded men to slay the enemy.’ Well, God may devotion for the principles of humanity better and more command us to do one thing at one time and another effectively by keeping out of this struggle than by get- thing at another. That is His affair. But there has been ting into it.’ On September 3, 1919 you said at St. Louis: no command from Him for thousands of years that per- “The seed of war in the modern world is industrial and mits deviation from the command ‘Thou Shalt Not Kill.’ commercial rivalry. This war was a commercial and Christ reiterated this command on many occasions. industrial war. It was not a political war.’ In these state- “The Catholic who tries to justify the taking of ments you have voiced the opinions and convictions of human life by quoting from the Old Testament, as do conscientious objectors. . . the compilers of the Catholic Encyclopedia in the case of capital punishment, might with equal force argue in eligious objectors are such through their faith favor of divorce. But though the Old Testament sanc- in God. They believe the best way to preserve tions divorce the Catholic Church properly insists that “Rthe nation’s honor is to avoid dishonoring Christ’s prohibition takes God; the best way to conquer an enemy is to treat him precedence. So consis- as God prescribes. The religious tent Catholics will not objector helps his let Old Testament quo- country more in tations lead them into one hour than a the war game. regiment of mil- “In Matthew 7:12, itary men could we are told, ‘All things in a hundred that you would that years, for God men do unto you do holds the destiny even so unto them, of nations in the for this is the Law palm of His hand. and the Prophets.’ To serve Him is to Do we want other ensure the coun- nations to wage war try’s future. . . against us? Suppose our do not statesmen err, do belong to a we want other “Ireligious sect nations charitably whose ministers to show us the error oppose war, but I of our ways, or do we want them to belong to one whose annihilate us because our representatives, rather, ‘mis

1 8 T H E S I G N O F P E A C E · S P R I N G 2 0 0 7 representatives,’ blundered? Christ tells us not to resist evil. Should we obey or ignore Him? If His policy is cor- he ‘war to end war’ has been won. . . .We were rect then war is wrong. If ‘overcome evil with good’ is “Ttold the war would crush militarism. We find not a practical method for handling national and indi- the world super-militarized. In place of disarmament, vidual ruptures then Christ is wrong and the Temple of nations are armed to the teeth and expending larger Christianity falls. sums than ever for preparedness. There is but one solu- “When the government orders me to do what is tion to the war problem: an uncompromising refusal to righteous, I will obey with pleasure. But when I am kill, and a willingness to suffer anything, even death, ordered to do what is iniquitous it is my duty to dis- rather than kill God’s children. The conscientious objec- obey. If the state requires a citizen to violate God’s law tors have led the way. Time will tell how many have the he must ignore that state. Loyalty to God is loyalty to wisdom and courage to follow. . . your country. The trailblazers of Christianity flaunted themselves in the face of pagan emperors and openly hen I was in solitary confinement at Fort paid homage to the living God. The religious conscien- Leavenworth, my brother Joseph came tious objector, ignoring pagans, refuses to yield to mili- “W3,000 miles to visit me but was not per- tarism’s decrees. . . mitted to do so. As I stood in that dark hole, I thanked God for religion, for nothing else restrained me from seeking an opportunity to murder Colonel Rice. Joe e conscientious objectors thought of the went to Chicago and wrote to Colonel Rice, again asking verdict of conscience and followed it. The permission to visit me. I was told that unless I went to “Wresult was that we were not only sneered work permission would be denied me. Joe came anyway at, but we were imprisoned and tortured. And a too and after several unsuccessful attempts was finally large percentage of our group were actually murdered in allowed to see me for ten minutes on Christmas Eve. the process of wreaking vengeance upon us for having The strain of that long and needless prohibition weak- accepted ‘the verdict of a conscience.’ ened him. He contracted a cold in the severe storm that “We have been called cowards who make a subterfuge raged as he came to prison for the last time. He died ten of ‘conscience.’ You are aware of facts which show the days later. Through his intercession may God be merci- contrary. You know that we were offered safe bomb- ful to those who so wickedly and so unnecessarily perse- proof positions in non-combatant branches of the cuted the men whose only crime was a steadfast refusal Army. On our refusal of these we were offered farm fur- to commit wholesale murder. loughs. We declined because acceptance would have “When Frank Burke, one of our conscientious objec- made us nonetheless participants in the killing game. tors, became sick a few months ago, he was told at the Personal safety was no attraction. . . hospital: ‘If you were not a CO you would get decent treatment.’ Two days later he paid the supreme penalty for godliness. He died in terrible agony. . . n our military prisons ruined health is a certain- ty and death is highly probable. Disease and r. President: If you have the tiniest flame “Iemaciation registered a hundred percent toll of chivalry and justice within your breast, among conscientious objectors. Many lost their minds. “Myou will consider the godliness of the The percentage of deaths was greater than in the Army. move and declare a general amnesty. The Army was the safest place for the man ‘afraid to fight’. . .

T H E S I G N O F P E A C E · S P R I N G 2 0 0 7 1 9 The Sign of Peace Interviews Sister Elizabeth Salmon, MM Remembering Dad

On January 10, CPF got in contact with Sr. Elizabeth mother prayed about him and for him. Salmon (born Geraldine Salmon in 1925, five years after her father Ben’s release from military custody.) Sr. SOP: Over the years, how did your mom remember Elizabeth is now a Maryknoll sister based in Nicaragua. your dad’s objection and the sufferings that followed?

Sign of Peace: Tell us a little about family life growing Elizabeth: As I said, our mom had been so criticized up. Would you say you were a “typical” Catholic family? and downgraded by her family, except her kindly father (Samuel Charles Smith) who was, I think, the only one Sr. Elizabeth: Yes, I think I'd say we were a typical who understood what our father’s reasoning and Catholic family. My Mother had great actions meant. Because of that she faith and it surely rubbed off on us. remained quiet about her own suffer- We said the Rosary as often together ings but upheld our father's position in the evenings as we could. Not often strongly. Her family wanted her to enough, though, for our mother! We divorce our dad and she opposed the remembered our dad each time in very notion of this. prayer and for what he stood. Although at the time we didn't under- SOP: Were you old enough to stand what he stood for—other than remember how your dad reflected on justice and peace (which I say now)— what happened? but then it was, for what Daddy did! Our mother didn’t explain too much, Elizabeth: Sorry, I was not. I only since she was quite persecuted by her remember sitting on his lap singing own brother and three sisters and she to him, “When It's Springtime in the didn't want us to have to undergo any Rockies,” a song he loved, when I was of that. Our youngest brother had maybe six years old. We were at our brain damage at birth, so of course we home in Melrose Park, west Chicago. remembered little Johnnie also, along He was with another visitor who I with the litany of other needs. I later learned was the second of the remember being sad at not having a four Catholic conscientious objectors father as all our friends had, but our Ben with his hands on his daughter (COs) who had been imprisoned mother surely made up for that in Margaret’s shoulders (first sentenced to death) for their many ways. objection. I'll bet our mother kept in touch with the other CO, but I have no other clue except SOP: Your brother became a priest, right? In an order? a surmise. It was our cousin Paul (next to Margaret in the picture) who remembered the other CO who also Elizabeth: Yes. Although he had gone to the Jesuits in lived in Chicago after being let out of prison. Regis, Denver (graduated summa cum laude), he entered the diocesan. He was rather young, only twenty-four SOP: Did your dad ever talk about his ouster from the years old, to serve in many parishes around Denver. Knights of Columbus? Then he served out in Crook & Ilif, Colorado. The last thirty years he was a Chaplain at the Gardens of St. Elizabeth: That I wouldn't know, but I heard that he Elizabeth for Senior Citizens in north Denver. used the K of C stationery in jail to write his life story and about his bitterness toward all war! SOP: Do you trace your own vocation to your dad? SOP: Did he ever seek to rejoin? Elizabeth: Although I was already at Maryknoll when I went down to the Catholic Worker there in New York to Elizabeth: I think he did not as they prevented his find out from the letters that our Dad had written to return to Denver after being let out of prison. He had Dorothy Day, just what he was up to—I'm sure his to settle down in Chicago, where his sister Mary lived determination and deep faith influenced us all as my and where my sister and brother and I were born.

2 0 T H E S I G N O F P E A C E · S P R I N G 2 0 0 7 Ought a Husband, a Father. . . ?

B Y B E N J A M I N P E T E R S

enjamin Joseph Salmon more uncomfortable—especial- was exceptional. One of ly for those of us with young Bonly four Catholic consci- families of our own. Looking at entious objectors who refused Salmon from the view of the participation in the United normal American life of daily States military in World War I, but “necessary” cooperation his refusal to enlist in the army with evil, his radical insistence began with his December 26, to only return good for evil does 1917 letter to his local draft not seem rational—rather, it board in which he declared, seems like the fanaticism of a “Let those that believe in zealot, who would forsake even wholesale violation of the com- his family for the cause. mandment ‘Thou shalt not kill’ This was how Salmon was make a profession of their faith viewed by most in his day, and by joining the army of war. I am how he could be viewed today. in the army of Peace, and in this Yet Salmon’s witness is army I intend to live and die.” rational when viewed within Exceptional words, though the long tradition of Christians sadly uncommon words. who have given up everything Yet as a man, Ben Salmon to follow Jesus. It is rational in possessed a quite ordinary and the view of the Gospels, who quite common “state in life”: record the call to give up every- he was a husband and father. thing to take up the Cross with Just before his imprisonment, Ben with Elizabeth Smith Salmon on their wedding day. the Lord. It is rational in the Salmon’s wife gave birth to a view of the first Christian mar- baby girl. Knowing this made tyrs, many of whom were mar- from Ben’s Letter to President Wilson his many refusals all the more ried, and who knew that mar- painful. When Salmon refused “I could have obtained a fourth class clas- riage is a school to acquire holi- to take the offer of non-com- sification by answering the questionnaire, ness, not to avoid it. And it is batant status, it was against the for I had dependents—a wife and widowed rational in the view of later pleas of his wife. He knew that mother. Such classification was tantamount objectors, like Franz his young family would also to exemption. . .” Jägerstätter in Nazi Germany. suffer from his refusal. “I was sentenced on August 10, 1918 to Pressed by reminders of his wife Even more difficult was his twenty-five years at hard labor in and three daughters, hunger strike. Again, Salmon’s Leavenworth. Execution of the sentence Jägerstätter insisted that it was family begged him to change was delayed from day to day. Finally, on better for their father to be a his mind. Hearing such pleas September 5, I was offered remission of the martyr than to be a liar. and knowing he could end them entire sentence and a first class sergeantcy Indeed, Ben Salmon would surely was more torturous than in non-combatant service as clerk in the not respond to compromised all the forced feedings. Sitting 19th Train Headquarters. My wife was in morality with more compro- alone in his cell, he pondered the hospital and begged me to accept the mised morality: “We do not his family. offer. Baby Charles was born the following attempt to overcome lying with When we realize his family day. I wanted to please my wife. Moreover lies; we overcome it with truth.” responsibilities, Salmon’s she and the baby and my widowed mother The truth was, and is, that the refusal touches us more deeply, were dependent on me for support. I assure soul belongs to God. We give yet at the same time makes us you, Mr. President, it was not cowardice our hearts, our bodies, and our lives to one another in mar- Ben Peters is a Ph.D candidate at that caused me to choose twenty-five years riage, knowing all the while the University of Dayton. He and in prison in preference to the safe and easy course.” that, ultimately, we are claimed his wife Liza will soon be the par - for God. ents of two.

T H E S I G N O F P E A C E · S P R I N G 2 0 0 7 2 1 Debunking the myth of an “all-volunteer” military Informed Consent?

B Y J O H N C A R A H E R

he principle of informed consent is central to the effects of military training proposing to duplicate “boot ethical conduct of scientific research involving camp” in a study. Wouldn’t a typical IRB consider expos- Thuman subjects. The World Medical Association ing subjects to these often-severe psychological stresses Declaration of Helsinki, paragraph 22, begins, “In any too unethical to approve the study at all? At the very research on human beings, each potential subject must least, the consent form would be a lengthy, fascinating be adequately informed of the aims, methods, sources document! And this only scratches the surface of the of funding, any possible conflicts of interest, institu- risks of military service. tional affiliations of the researcher, the anticipated ben- How would we react if a leading university routinely efits and potential risks of the study and the discomfort enticed human subjects into participation in hazardous it may entail.” This sounds like a very reasonable stan- research without fully informing them of the risks? dard by which to judge whether a subject has the infor- Would we say, “They knew this was experimental mation required to be a true volunteer for some poten- research. When they signed up for the study and the tially hazardous treatment. It is instructive to apply this $500 check they should have thought of that.” kind of standard to assess the “informed consent” given There is no doubt that unanticipated harms may by members of the “all-volunteer” Armed Forces. result from an experimental procedure. Provided the Even with an honest recruiter, it is exceedingly researchers conscientiously informed volunteers of the unlikely that “the anticipated benefits and potential foreseeable risks, who would condemn them for occa- risks” of military service “and the discomfort it may sional surprise adverse outcomes? entail” receive much attention beyond signing bonuses, But if researchers routinely failed to inform volun- educational benefits and promises about advanced teers of the known hazards, including some estimate of training that might lead to civilian careers. Yes, most the likelihood and severity of each hazard, we would recruits have some notion that being in the military rightly condemn their actions as deeply unethical, per- involves elevated risk of death or injury. But how many haps even criminal. And we would place the burden of learn that they are more likely to become psychological informing volunteers squarely on the shoulders of casualties than to die in combat? How many learn how those researchers. They are the ones with the expertise much more likely they are to lose a limb than their life? and information. The volunteers necessarily trust those How many are told what the divorce rate is in military recruiting them for any required information. They can- families? not be expected to guess all the “right questions” to ask Compare the standard for military recruiting under in order to know about the most significant risks. A which so many Americans are content to say, “They vol- comprehensive list of the potential risks and benefits of unteered—they knew what they were signing up for,” to study participation, including details of the likelihood the one we would apply to a volunteer in a medical or and personal ramifications of each outcome, is the very psychological study. Every research institution has least the researchers must provide volunteers in order something known as an Institutional Review Board for us to regard their participation as reflecting (IRB). The IRB reviews proposals for research involving informed consent. human or animal subjects, with a strong emphasis on Why do we not hold military recruiters to a similar ensuring that the experiments meet the institution’s standard? Is not informed consent a necessary condi- ethical standards. This includes vetting the consent tion for a military whose members have truly “volun- form human subjects must sign in order to volunteer teered”? It is not hard to understand the pragmatic for a study. arguments against having something like a comprehen- Imagine a psychology researcher interested in the sive “consent form” for our military recruits to sign. But if we cannot maintain an “all-volunteer” military under John Caraher is an Assistant Professor of Physics and Astronomy conditions of informed consent, should that not be an at DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana, where he recent - occasion for us to reconsider the size, composition, ly taught a Winter Term course, "War and Conscience." He cur - nature, and use of the military, rather than an excuse to rently resides in Crawfordsville, IN, with his wife, Lynn, and maintain it at the expense of our trusting youth? their sons Jim and Brian.

2 2 T H E S I G N O F P E A C E · S P R I N G 2 0 0 7 Coming Home

B Y M A X W E L L C O R Y D O N W H E A T , J R .

“Intelligence gathered by this and other governments leaves no doubt that the Iraq regime continues to possess lifeguard at health club pool, and conceal some of the most lethal weapons ever lifts weights, devised.” going to be a physical trainer. Joins Marine Corps Reserve George W. Bush to pay for studies at Southern Illinois University— President of the United States All lidded down inside casket State of the Union Address carefully, caringly covered with The American Flag January 28, 2003 21-year-old Marine Corps Corporal Gallatin, Tennessee. Nurses dying mother with his humor, In catacombs of military transports dresses in clown costume for nieces’ birthdays. destined for Dover Air Force Base, History buff, reads fat books about generals, loves, beliefs, ideals, plans: presidents, the Revolutionary War— Hancock Community College, All lidded down inside casket University of Miami, carefully, caringly covered with The American Flag New York Police Academy, weddings, children, 24-year-old Coast Guard Petty Officer barbeques, baseball, bass fishing— Northport, New York. All lidded down inside caskets Wife, three months pregnant. carefully, caringly covered with The American Flag Wants to be a policeman like his father. “. . . the kind of person that you fall in love with 25-year-old Marine Corps Corporal the minute that you meet him,” a friend says— St. George, Maine. All lidded down inside casket Sailor, rock climber, stargazer. carefully, caringly covered with The American Flag On dance floor, “. . . like a magnet.” Loves lobsters, mussels— A father, a mother grieve for their only son, an All lidded down inside casket Army Specialist. carefully, caringly covered with The American Flag “He wanted to be an engineer,” the father remembers. 30-year-old Army Private First Class “He wanted to set up his own business when he got Tuba City, Arizona. out. “. . . young, a single mother and capable.” And I says, ‘Amigo, I’m waiting for you to get out Her boy, 4—her girl, 3. so we can put up our own business.’ Woman proud of her Hopi heritage— And all that, well, you know, is history.” All lidded down inside casket carefully, caringly covered with The American Flag The Major General carefully, caringly folds The American Flag, 20-year-old Marine Corps Corporal places the nation’s ensign into the mother’s hands La Harpe, Illinois. High school football, basketball player,

T H E S I G N O F P E A C E · S P R I N G 2 0 0 7 2 3 Benedict XVI Hails Nonviolence

B Y F R . E M M A N U E L C H A R L E S M C C A R T H Y

ope Benedict XVI is recognized as an eminent the- ological scholar by his academic colleagues, Pregardless of their denominational association. In his Angelus Address, “On The Revolution of Love,” he superbly crafts a statement on Jesus’ teaching on the nonviolent love of friends and enemies and on its being “the nucleus of the Christian revolution,” and hence, central to a correct understanding of the Gospel. For those who spend the time with it that it deserves, it will be an illumination of a truth hidden or obscured, per- haps since their Baptism. Consider Benedict’s words on how nonviolent Christlike love operates: “The revolution of love. . . changes the world without making noise.” At one level this could mean that the Gospel revolution of Christlike Image by Rita Corbin nonviolence and love of enemies changes the world without the noise of war or violent revolution—both of and a smoldering wick he shall not quench, which are always suffused with the noise of weapons, Until he establishes righteousness on the noise of propaganda, the noise that drowns out dia- earth; logue, the noise that overrides the voice of conscience, the coastlands will wait for his teaching” the noise that numbs the faculty of empathy. Such an (Isaiah 42:1-4). intepretation would be acceptable. But, “the revolution of love…which changes the Below are some excerpts from the writings of the world without making noise,” reaches infinitely beyond renowned Catholic Biblical scholar, Rev. John L. this interpretation. It proceeds to the very core of who McKenzie, on the Hymn of the Suffering Servant that Jesus was and the revolution He started, and in which help reveal its intimate connection with Jesus and His He invites us to participate, namely, the revolution that Way: the Pope says “is not afraid to confront evil with the weapons of love and truth alone.” In Benedict’s address, “The number of allusions to this passage “the revolution of love. . . which changes the world with- [Hymn of the Suffering Servant] in the New out making noise,” is a direct reference to the counter- Testament is difficult to count. But they are violence, revolutionary Hymn of the Suffering Servant enough to establish the thesis that this pas- (Isaiah 42:1-4; 49:1-6; 50:4-9; 52:13-53:12), the summit sage had a central position in the proclama- of salvific nonviolent love in the Hebrew Scriptures: tion of Jesus. The early Church attributed the proclamation of this theme to Jesus himself “Here is my servant whom I uphold, and no convincing reason has been urged to my chosen one with whom I am pleased, show that it should be attributed to another. It upon whom I have put my spirit; is as deeply embedded in the Gospels as any- he shall bring forth righteousness to the thing else; to repeat what I have said in other nations, connections, if this theme is not the work of Not crying out, nor shouting, Jesus himself then we know nothing of his not making his voice heard in the streets. words or his person.” A bruised reed he shall not break, “It is remarkable that the words at the baptism Emmanuel Charles McCarthy is a priest of the Byzantine Rite of of Jesus (Mt 3:17; Mk 1: 11; Lk 3:22) are the Catholic Church. A co-founder of Pax Christi-USA, Fr. almost an exact quotation of Isaiah 42:1.” McCarthy was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his life's work on behalf of peace within and among people. “It remains true that Jesus demands that his

2 4 T H E S I G N O F P E A C E · S P R I N G 2 0 0 7 Below is a translation of the address Benedict XVI disciples identify themselves with him as the delivered on Feb. 18, 2007, before reciting the midday Suffering Servant.” Angelus in St. Peter's Square. * * * “As Suffering Servant, Jesus experienced Dear Brothers and Sisters! This Sunday’s Gospel nothing, we have noticed, which is not part of has one of the most typical, yet most difficult teach- the human condition. And he thus placed his ings of Jesus: Love your enemies (Luke 6:27). It is achievement within the reach of all people.” taken from the Gospel of Luke, but it is also found in Matthew’s Gospel (5:44), in the context of the pro- “The Suffering Servant theme is the peak of grammatic discourse that begins with the famous faith in the Old Testament, the supreme affir- Beatitudes. Jesus delivered this address in Galilee, at mation of God’s power. When we meet the the beginning of his public ministry: It was something theme of the Suffering Servant as proclaimed of a “manifesto” presented to everyone, which Christ in the New Testament, we are at the very cen- asked his disciples to accept, thus proposing to them ter of the Christian revolution.” in radical terms a model for their lives. But what is the meaning of his teaching? Why does The purpose of these quoted reflections on the Old Jesus ask us to love our very enemies, that is, ask a Testament theme of the Suffering Servant and its rela- love that exceeds human capacities? What is certain is tion to the New Testament proclamation of Jesus is to that Christ’s proposal is realistic, because it takes into try to insure that the momentousness of what Pope account that in the world there is too much violence, Benedict is proclaiming, regarding Gospel nonviolence too much injustice, and that this situation cannot be and love of enemies, is not recklessly brushed-off with overcome without positing more love, more kindness. the usual well-nurtured flippancy, “Oh, that stuff is This “more” comes from God: It is his mercy that has only spiritual cotton candy, a bit of unrealistic piety.” become flesh in Jesus and that alone can redress the Let me assure my readers, first, that a full year’s doctor- balance of the world from evil to good, beginning from al level university theology course could be built around that small and decisive “world” which is man’s heart. this address. Secondly, if this is an easily dismissible This page of the Gospel is rightly considered the piece of sweet theological fluff, it is the first such piece “magna carta” of Christian nonviolence; it does not that the former Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, twenty-five- consist in surrendering to evil—as claims a false inter- year Prefect of the Congregation of Doctrine and Faith, pretation of “turn the other cheek” (Luke 6:29)—but has presented for public consumption in the last four in responding to evil with good (Romans 12:17-21), decades! and thus breaking the chain of injustice. It is thus Do give this address much thought and prayer. In a understood that nonviolence, for Christians, is not world where the tools of violence and enmity are the mere tactical behavior but a person’s way of being, the tools of choice for ushering in a “better future,” where attitude of one who is convinced of God’s love and these tools have been so technologically honed that a power, who is not afraid to confront evil with the few people can generate degrees of destruction and des- weapons of love and truth alone. Loving the enemy is olation that in the past would have required thousands the nucleus of the “Christian revolution,” a revolution of people years to inflict, where the production and sell- not based on strategies of economic, political or media ing of these tools is the most lucrative business on the power. The revolution of love, a love that does not planet, and where practically all of this is done with base itself definitively in human resources, but in the “God” as its source and/or supporter, is it not time for gift of God, that is obtained only and unreservedly in Christians and their Churches to teach what Jesus his merciful goodness. Herein lies the novelty of the taught and to struggle to live what Jesus struggled to Gospel, which changes the world without making live in relation to violence and enmity? Has not the full- noise. ness of time arrived for one of the world’s major reli- Herein lies the heroism of the “little ones,” who gions to say an absolute and never-ending “No” to vio- believe in the love of God and spread it even at the lence and enmity, on the basis that they are in radical cost of life. Dear brothers and sisters: Lent, which opposition to the Way and Will and Reality of God? Is it begins this Wednesday, with the rite of the distribu- not time for Christians and their Churches, in tion of ashes, is the favorable time in which all Benedict’s words, to choose as their “way of being, the Christians are invited to convert ever more deeply to attitude of one who is convinced of God’s love and the love of Christ. power, who is not afraid to confront evil with the Let us ask the Virgin Mary, the docile disciple of the weapons of love and truth alone?” Why should Redeemer, to help us to allow ourselves to be con- Christians and their Churches be the first to so witness quered without reservations by that love, to learn to to this truth about God by choosing this “way of being”? love as he loved us, to be merciful as our heavenly Because their Founder, their Lord and Savior, so wit- Father is merciful (Luke 6:36). nessed to this truth about God and His Way by this very same “way of being.”

T H E S I G N O F P E A C E · S P R I N G 2 0 0 7 2 5 A Pilgrimage of Conscience CPF Goes to Rome

B Y M I C H A E L G R I F F I N

s we go to press, I am preparing to help lead a • To urge Church leaders to call for the legal Catholic Peace Fellowship (CPF) journey to protection of selective conscientious objec- ARome. The next issue of The Sign of Peace will tors. Absent such protection, we will urge include a more comprehensive review of our efforts. that the Church advise pastors and youth This “pilgrimage” was initiated with the desire to leaders to counsel extreme caution toward share with Church officials our experience working with enlistment, as that would mean giving one’s conscientious objectors and to push for even stronger conscience over to the state. ecclesial support for them and their opposition to war. The delegation also includes Tom Cornell (who with The mission of CPF has never been extractible from Jim Forest co-founded CPF in 1964) and Joshua the mission of the Church. We are unapologetically Casteel, Iraq War veteran and Catholic conscientious ecclesial. Our hope is where the hope of the Church is: objector. in Christ Jesus. On this we should be clear. When we While in Rome, we will mark with prayer and promote the rights of conscience, this is no attenuated mourning the anniversary of the opening phase— secular notion of “getting to do what I feel like.” “Shock and Awe”—of the Iraq Invasion, launched on Rather, we take as our own the words of the Second the Feast of St. Joseph, March 19, 2003. We will have Vatican Council: “Deep within his conscience man dis- several meetings with Vatican officials as well as with covers a law which he has not laid upon himself but leaders of lay movements like which he must obey. Its voice, Sant’Egidio. And we will travel ever calling him to love and to do to Assisi to help lead a peace what is good and to avoid evil, conference. sounds in his heart at the right As we go, we remember moment” (Gaudium et spes, 16). Dorothy Day, who made a pil- We also recall the words of grimage to Rome during the John Paul II, addressing the way Second Vatican Council. We will of conscience in a sin-sick society ask the Congregation for the accustomed to violence: “When Causes of Saints to remember conscience, this bright lamp of her, too, when we drop by their the soul (cf. Mt 6:22-23), calls offices for an update on her ‘evil good and good evil’ (Is 5:20), cause and that of Franz Jägerstätter, the Catholic lay- it is already on the path to the most alarming corrup- man who refused to fight for Nazi Germany when tion and the darkest moral blindness” (Evangelium drafted. vitae, 24). We travel with four objectives: So in a sense we go to Rome simply to make con- crete that which Rome has already pronounced—and • To ask for even clearer public statements pronounced much more eloquently than we have. that conscientious objection is a central tool Again, John Paul II in Evangelium vitae: “And yet all the through which the Church can resist war and conditioning and efforts to enforce silence fail to stifle be a sign of peace. the voice of the Lord echoing in the conscience of every individual: it is always from this intimate sanctu- • To ask for a future addendum to the ary of the conscience that a new journey of love, Catechism section on war, making clear that openness and service to human life can begin” (24). just war doctrine is more than “a tool for statecraft” and can be applied by soldiers. Warcast for Catholics • To address problems that arise when the A podcast dedicated to a discussion of chaplains are supposed to act both as agents of the military and as ministers of the war and peace in the Catholic tradition. Church. found at www.catholicpeacefellowship.org

2 6 T H E S I G N O F P E A C E · S P R I N G 2 0 0 7 2007 ST. MARCELLUS AWARD

The fourth annual St. Marcellus Award will go to CPF’s cofounders Jim “We don't counsel conscientious Forest and Tom Cornell. The award reads as follows: objection, non-cooperation, resistance, interference with the In grateful recognition of their creative and energetic leadership Selective Service, or anything else. in founding the Catholic Peace Fellowship in 1964, and of their We counsel young men.” encouragement and guidance in -Tom Cornell re-founding it in 2001. Steadfast in their commitment to resisting war, clear-sighted in their convic- tion to the peace of Christ and to seeing Christ in others, especially “The Sacraments, the Gospels, those discerning their con- sciences, never afraid to take the the stories of the Saints, the arduous course of direct action ability of friends and strangers when necessary—they also took up the equally arduous task of St. Marcellus was a Roman to risk everything rather than education and counseling, and so Centurion who realized take part in murder. . . all these brought a personalist approach to that Christianity was not Catholic anti-war activity. And compatible with service in things helped to keep us going.” they did so with intelligence, the Roman army. He was grace, wisdom, and (always beheaded in 298 for his -Jim Forest important) with humor. refusal to serve. We thank the Sponsors of The Sign of Peace

The Barnidge Family Helen Liguori Tom Beaudoin, Santa Clara University Jim Lodwick Harold Berliner Brother Robert Ludwig Will Bogdanowicz Tim and Beverly Musser Daniel and Sidney Callahan Martin and Melissa Nussbaum Richard and Ann Cussen The Sacramento Catholic Worker Paula Dodd Aiello St. Edward’s Univeristy Campus Ministry Fairfield University Campus Ministry John Seddelmeyer Fr. Anthony Gallagher Josie Setzler Mark Holloway Kathy Tabatowski Susan Lee, Oklahoma CPF Jeremy Wells, Brazos Books Anonymous donor Anonymous donor

If you are interested in becoming a sponsor of The Sign of Peace, please contact us at [email protected] or at (574) 232-2811. PRESORTED PO Box 4232 FIRST CLASS MAIL South Bend, IN U.S. POSTAGE PAID 46634 MILFORD, IN PERMIT NO. 8

Dominus vobiscum (May the Lord be with you) Joshua Casteel, Tom Cornell, and Michael Griffin in St. Peter’s Square