Laws of Heaven: Catholic Activists Today

by Michael Gallagher

Overview

In this remarkable book about religion and politics today, Commonweal writer Michael Gallagher asks the question, How does one adhere to an essentially simple faith in a complex society that lacks moral leadership not only in its government, but also in its religious institutions? Laws of Heaven answers by exploring the lives of twelve extraordinary men and women whose controversial beliefs have led them to challenge their church and government as well as to frequently place their lives on the line. Here you will meet some of contemporary America's bravest and most unusual citizens: Marietta Jaegar, whose young daughter was brutally murdered by a serial killer, and who has become a dedicated anti-death penalty and peace activist; Charlie Liteky, who, relinquishing the Medal of Honor and the pension that accompanies it, fasted regularly in order to protest U.S. support of the Contras in Nicaragua; Elizabeth McAlister, who, like her husband, Philip Berrigan, repeatedly took part in acts of civil disobedience to protest American reliance on nuclear weapons; William P. Ford, a Wall Street attorney whose life was turned upside down when his sister was killed in El Salvador. Laws of Heaven is a challenging and provocative contribution to our understanding of the world in which we live. The lives of its twelve subjects force us to confront our own values and to ask how far we would be willing to go for what we believe in.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781725239340
Publisher:	Wipf & Stock Publishers
Publication date:	01/26/2018
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	334
File size:	34 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Michael Gallagher is a former Jesuit seminarian and an ex-paratrooper who spent many years working within the Catholic Church as the film critic for the U.S. Catholic Conference. He has written extensively about religion, literature, and film for such periodicals as Commonweal, Newsday, Sports Illustrated, The National Catholic Reporter, and the Cleveland Plain Dealer. He now teaches and works at John Carroll University in Cleveland, where he lives with his family.

Table of Contents

Would Jesus Run for Congress? 1

The Rebel Priest: Bob Begin 4

Dorothy Day's Children: Marcia Timmel and Paul Magno 30

All Happy Families Are Not Alike: The Berrigans of Baltimore 59

An Ordinary Reaction: Charlie Liteky 87

Judgment at Norfolk: The Trial of Philip Berrigan, Greg Boertje, Andrew Lawrence, and Sister Margaret McKenna 114

We Must See the Faces of the Babies: Joan Andrews 154

I Want to Be Honest: Archbishop Raymond G. Hunthausen 190

The Admiral's Daughter: Sister Anne Montgomery 213

The Lost Child: Marietta Jaeger 226

Laboring Through the Heat of the Day: Gordon Zahn 244

A Grave Beside the Road: William P. Ford 263

Epilogue 297

Acknowledgments 305

Index 307

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

EXTRAORDINARY PRAISE FOR LAWS OF HEAVEN



“Michael Gallagher is the rare writer who can write about saintliness without sounding sanctimonious, about religion without losing the interest of the nonbeliever, about humanity in the deepest sense as one who practices it.”

—John Simon



“Michael Gallagher’s Laws of Heaven is a compassionate look at men and women who are willing to accept martyrdom for their beliefs. Its effect is to make the reader examine with diligence his own beliefs in these last years of our twentieth century.”

—Horton Foote



“Being an atheist, I do not share the religious faith of these embodiments of the life force, but I greatly admire their witnessing—and I wish this book were in every school library in the country. Everybody is talking about the need for moral guidance in America. Well, here it is.”

—Nat Hentoff

Editorial Reviews

This gently probing examination of personal commitment profiles 15 Americans whose practice of Catholicism has placed them at odds with church and country. Among the activists are Philip Berrigan and his wife, Elizabeth McAlister, two well-known proponents of civil disobedience techniques and members of the Catholic peace movement. Others who have taken a public stance against American nuclear armaments and support of repressive regimes in Central and South America include Raymond G. Hunthausen, the beleaguered archbishop of Seattle (now retired), whose anti-government position and gay-rights advocacy evoked church censure; William P. Ford, who continues to seek justice in the case of his sister, a Maryknoll nun murdered in El Salvador; and Gordon Zahn, a tireless spokesman for pacifism whose rejection of civil disobedience makes him a target for criticism from radicals as well as conservatives. The author, a former Jesuit seminarian and now a contributor to Commonweal and a professor at John Carroll University in Cleveland, sees these men and women, who follow their own lights in putting their faith into practice, as emblematic of contradictions among American Catholics. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

Many American Catholics are not aware of the priests, nuns, and ordinary people who are taking part in civil disobedience movements such as Catholic Workers or Plowshares. The stories of individuals promoting controversial ideas through civil actions are offered without interpretation by Roman Catholic doctrine. The involvement of activists in prolife, antinuclear, anti-capital punishment, and antipoverty efforts is shown. These individuals come out of isolation to better serve those who need them. Readers are only shown the idealistic heroes, not those who feel repercussions for their actions and are mentally and physically defeated. For larger collections.-- L. Kriz, Sioux City P.L., Ia.

Library Journal

EXTRAORDINARY PRAISE FOR LAWS OF HEAVEN



“Michael Gallagher is the rare writer who can write about saintliness without sounding sanctimonious, about religion without losing the interest of the nonbeliever, about humanity in the deepest sense as one who practices it.”

—John Simon



“Michael Gallagher’s Laws of Heaven is a compassionate look at men and women who are willing to accept martyrdom for their beliefs. Its effect is to make the reader examine with diligence his own beliefs in these last years of our twentieth century.”

—Horton Foote



“Being an atheist, I do not share the religious faith of these embodiments of the life force, but I greatly admire their witnessing—and I wish this book were in every school library in the country. Everybody is talking about the need for moral guidance in America. Well, here it is.”

—Nat Hentoff

From the Publisher