This week I speak with Art Laffin, long-time peace activist, author, and Catholic Worker. Art was a member of the Covenant Peace community in Connecticut in the 1970s, then joined the Dorothy Day Catholic Worker in Washington, D.C. in the late 1970s, where he still lives with his wife and son. He has been active in the faith-based nonviolent movements for peace, social justice, disarmament, and human rights. Find out why he has been imprisoned for nonviolent actions with the plowshares movement. He is also the author of a new edition of The Risk of the Cross: Living Gospel Nonviolence in the Nuclear Age, co-editor of Swords into Plowshares, and co-editor of Arise and Witness: Poems by Anne Montgomery, About Faith, Prison, War Zones, and Nonviolent Resistance. He tshares his experiences with his mentors and friends, Fr. Richard McSorley, Dan and Phil Berrigan and Henri Nouwen, and what they taught him how "everything makes a difference". He speaks about the Plowshares movement, his actions and time in prison, as well as keeping a peace vigil every Monday morning at the Pentagon—since 1990! " People ask, 'What difference does it make?'" We ask, “What happens if we're not there?" Hear how the words of Jesus have inspired Art to renounce all forms of violence and killing, and how he has responded in his life as an activist and Catholic Worker. Speaking about the upcoming 80th anniversary of the U.S. atomic bombings of Hiroshima on August 6th and Nagasaki on August 9th, he also tells us why we need to heed the cry of the Hibakusha: “Humanity and weapons cannot co-exist. We need to heed Jesus' gospel call to nonviolence. We need to hear Dr. King’s message just before he was killed: “The choice is no longer violence or nonviolence; it’s nonviolence or non-existence.” What is the solution to standing for life where it is threatened and has activist and founder of the Catholic Worker Dorothy Day influenced him? How does Jesus open up a new nonviolent history so we don't lose heart? Listen in to Art Laffin, take heart, and be encouraged to be a doer of the Word, and to carry on the long haul of Gospel nonviolence and universal love! beatitudescenter.org catholicworker.org
