WEBVTT 00:00:15.919 --> 00:00:18.940 Welcome to the Nonviolent Jesus Podcast. I'm 00:00:18.940 --> 00:00:21.539 John, Father John Deere, and today I'm speaking 00:00:21.539 --> 00:00:24.859 with my friend, Frida Berrigan. This podcast 00:00:24.859 --> 00:00:30.320 is a project of www .beatitudecenter .org, where 00:00:30.320 --> 00:00:33.100 you can find many other podcasts and regular 00:00:33.100 --> 00:00:36.460 Zoom programs on the nonviolence of Jesus and 00:00:36.460 --> 00:00:38.899 practicing nonviolence and working for a more 00:00:38.899 --> 00:00:42.710 just, more nonviolent world. So I always like 00:00:42.710 --> 00:00:46.590 to begin with a little prayer. So I invite everybody 00:00:46.590 --> 00:00:49.210 listening, wherever you are, to just take a deep 00:00:49.210 --> 00:00:54.950 breath and just to relax and recenter yourself. 00:00:55.969 --> 00:00:58.630 And let's together enter into the presence of 00:00:58.630 --> 00:01:02.350 the God of peace who loves you infinitely and 00:01:02.350 --> 00:01:07.209 personally and everyone everywhere. And let's 00:01:07.209 --> 00:01:11.430 welcome the nonviolent Jesus here with us. And 00:01:11.430 --> 00:01:13.730 ask for whatever grace you need to follow him 00:01:13.730 --> 00:01:22.750 more faithfully and do God's will of peace. God 00:01:22.750 --> 00:01:25.549 of peace, thank you for all the blessings of 00:01:25.549 --> 00:01:28.370 life, love, and peace that you give us. Be with 00:01:28.370 --> 00:01:31.730 us now as we reflect together on your call to 00:01:31.730 --> 00:01:35.090 follow the nonviolent Jesus, to go forth and 00:01:35.090 --> 00:01:38.760 make peace in this world of war. Bless us, inspire 00:01:38.760 --> 00:01:43.120 us, disarm us, heal us, strengthen us, and send 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:45.719 us out to do your will, to do our part to help 00:01:45.719 --> 00:01:49.579 end poverty, racism, greed, injustice, war, nuclear 00:01:49.579 --> 00:01:52.239 weapons, and environmental destruction, that 00:01:52.239 --> 00:01:55.620 we might be your beatitude people, your holy 00:01:55.620 --> 00:01:58.920 peacemakers who welcome your reign of universal 00:01:58.920 --> 00:02:03.780 love, nonviolence, and peace on earth. In Jesus' 00:02:03.819 --> 00:02:07.340 name, amen. It's a great pleasure to welcome 00:02:07.340 --> 00:02:10.659 my friend Frida Berrigan, an American peace activist 00:02:10.659 --> 00:02:14.599 and author. In 2015, she published her first 00:02:14.599 --> 00:02:17.240 book, It Runs in the Family, on being raised 00:02:17.240 --> 00:02:20.159 by radicals and growing into a rebellious motherhood, 00:02:20.180 --> 00:02:22.979 about her life growing up in the Berrigan family 00:02:22.979 --> 00:02:26.259 and at Jonah House, a community of permanent 00:02:26.259 --> 00:02:29.259 nonviolent resistance to war and nuclear weapons. 00:02:30.199 --> 00:02:33.099 in Baltimore, Maryland. Her father was Philip 00:02:33.099 --> 00:02:35.659 Berrigan and her mother is Elizabeth McAllister, 00:02:35.860 --> 00:02:39.259 longtime friends of mine. She is featured in 00:02:39.259 --> 00:02:43.520 the 2021 documentary, The Berrigans, Devout and 00:02:43.520 --> 00:02:46.639 Dangerous. Frida went to Hampshire College and 00:02:46.639 --> 00:02:48.919 was an intern at The Nation and worked for years 00:02:48.919 --> 00:02:51.939 at the World Policy Institute studying U .S. 00:02:51.979 --> 00:02:54.740 military policy and nuclear weapons. She co -founded 00:02:54.740 --> 00:02:58.110 Witness Against Torture. campaign calling for 00:02:58.110 --> 00:03:00.810 the closure of Guantanamo Bay Detention Center 00:03:00.810 --> 00:03:03.889 and the end of U .S.-backed use of torture. She 00:03:03.889 --> 00:03:06.469 lives with her family in New London, Connecticut, 00:03:06.710 --> 00:03:09.469 where Frida ran for mayor for the Green Party. 00:03:09.669 --> 00:03:12.050 Welcome, Frida. Thank you so much for being with 00:03:12.050 --> 00:03:18.050 me today. What a grace. What a delight to spend 00:03:18.050 --> 00:03:22.030 this time with you, John. Thanks. Well, we're 00:03:22.030 --> 00:03:25.650 going to jump right into it, Frida. So this August 00:03:25.650 --> 00:03:29.110 6th marks the 80th anniversary of the U .S. atomic 00:03:29.110 --> 00:03:32.930 bombing of Hiroshima and then Nagasaki. And the 00:03:32.930 --> 00:03:36.050 doomsday clock says we're closer to nuclear war 00:03:36.050 --> 00:03:38.990 than ever, as the world seems to be descending 00:03:38.990 --> 00:03:43.169 deeper into darkness by the minute. And you grew 00:03:43.169 --> 00:03:46.569 up with a family full -time working against nuclear 00:03:46.569 --> 00:03:50.710 war, and you've studied it and written very well 00:03:50.710 --> 00:03:53.699 about it. like your whole life. So I wonder if 00:03:53.699 --> 00:03:56.340 we could begin there and if you could just reflect 00:03:56.340 --> 00:04:00.780 with me, with us and our listeners about the 00:04:00.780 --> 00:04:03.780 threat of nuclear war today and what people can 00:04:03.780 --> 00:04:06.099 do. And you can take that any which way you want. 00:04:06.740 --> 00:04:09.759 Yeah. Yeah. Thank you for that question. You 00:04:09.759 --> 00:04:13.740 know, as the 80th anniversary of the bombing 00:04:13.740 --> 00:04:17.879 of Hiroshima approaches in this year of 2025 00:04:17.879 --> 00:04:21.860 with the, you know, with the... The character 00:04:21.860 --> 00:04:25.480 of Donald Trump with his finger on the nuclear 00:04:25.480 --> 00:04:29.000 button and the bulletin of the atomic scientists 00:04:29.000 --> 00:04:31.959 saying that we're 89 seconds to nuclear midnight. 00:04:32.180 --> 00:04:35.379 And of course, we're seeing two nuclear armed 00:04:35.379 --> 00:04:38.920 nations, India and Pakistan, you know, right, 00:04:39.040 --> 00:04:43.980 right on the edge of war again. And Israel's 00:04:43.980 --> 00:04:46.279 bombardment and another nuclear armed states 00:04:46.279 --> 00:04:50.579 bombardment of Gaza. You know, the. kind of issues 00:04:50.579 --> 00:04:54.560 that I grew up immersed in of nuclear weapons 00:04:54.560 --> 00:04:57.459 and nuclear aggression and the threat of, you 00:04:57.459 --> 00:05:00.939 know, the destruction of the whole world have 00:05:00.939 --> 00:05:04.620 never been more immediate and more prescient 00:05:04.620 --> 00:05:09.600 and more in need of our response and our response, 00:05:09.699 --> 00:05:12.540 particularly as Americans, as U .S. citizens. 00:05:13.470 --> 00:05:19.230 as beneficiaries of the nuclear hegemony that 00:05:19.230 --> 00:05:22.610 the United States has experienced since 1945 00:05:22.610 --> 00:05:26.889 and undergirds our economic power and our cultural 00:05:26.889 --> 00:05:29.730 power and our conventional military power throughout 00:05:29.730 --> 00:05:34.209 the world. So I'm particularly mindful that the 00:05:34.209 --> 00:05:39.089 voices that have called so consistently and so 00:05:39.089 --> 00:05:44.360 beautifully and so... persistently for nuclear 00:05:44.360 --> 00:05:48.300 disarmament are those who experienced the bombings 00:05:48.300 --> 00:05:51.600 of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the Habakusha. And 00:05:51.600 --> 00:05:55.290 those voices are, you know, they're... they're 00:05:55.290 --> 00:05:59.430 dying out, they're weakening as, you know, as 00:05:59.430 --> 00:06:03.709 the years pass. And the organization founded 00:06:03.709 --> 00:06:07.970 to help their voices, you know, be as loud as 00:06:07.970 --> 00:06:10.449 possible, won the Nobel Peace Prize last year, 00:06:10.649 --> 00:06:15.990 Nihon Heidankyo. And it really was a passing 00:06:15.990 --> 00:06:18.350 of the torch and passing of the torch onto us. 00:06:18.970 --> 00:06:22.889 And so, you know, I think one thing that we can 00:06:22.889 --> 00:06:26.319 all be doing is remembering our history, right? 00:06:26.420 --> 00:06:28.740 That the peace movement, the anti -nuclear movement 00:06:28.740 --> 00:06:30.860 here in the United States and throughout the 00:06:30.860 --> 00:06:34.860 world, you know, we're kind of responsible for 00:06:34.860 --> 00:06:38.500 saving the planet, right? Like we won, we won. 00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:43.139 And being anti -nuclear was a cultural badge 00:06:43.139 --> 00:06:46.319 of honor, you know, in the 1970s, in the 1980s, 00:06:46.319 --> 00:06:49.500 going back to the 1950s, there was this. broad 00:06:49.500 --> 00:06:52.680 -based, intersectional, massive international 00:06:52.680 --> 00:06:57.300 movement for nuclear disarmament, for nuclear 00:06:57.300 --> 00:07:02.699 abolition. And mining that history is so inspiring 00:07:02.699 --> 00:07:08.389 and so motivating. And and the Times call for 00:07:08.389 --> 00:07:12.670 us to be, you know, on on the on the streets 00:07:12.670 --> 00:07:17.410 for every issue under the sun, including including 00:07:17.410 --> 00:07:22.029 nuclear abolition. And I think we can we can 00:07:22.029 --> 00:07:28.259 do that. And and before, you know. beautiful 00:07:28.259 --> 00:07:35.279 immigration -welcoming community and money for 00:07:35.279 --> 00:07:40.019 our schools and everything else that people want 00:07:40.019 --> 00:07:46.459 can be encompassed by, can be undergirded by 00:07:46.459 --> 00:07:52.569 an anti -nuclear. call. So this anniversary is 00:07:52.569 --> 00:07:56.709 particularly important because it's the 80th, 00:07:56.769 --> 00:08:01.290 because we need to be speaking in the voice of 00:08:01.290 --> 00:08:05.970 the Habakkusha and reading those testimonies, 00:08:05.970 --> 00:08:10.850 knowing them by heart, and continuing to say, 00:08:10.990 --> 00:08:15.730 never again, nuclear weapons, never again. Oh, 00:08:15.730 --> 00:08:17.910 Frida, that's so beautiful. Thanks so much. And 00:08:17.910 --> 00:08:20.170 I guess I hadn't really thought of it that way, 00:08:20.209 --> 00:08:24.529 that you're saying, hey, you know, our ancestors 00:08:24.529 --> 00:08:27.910 in the movement did a good job, the 50s and the 00:08:27.910 --> 00:08:33.149 60s and the 70s in your own family. And look 00:08:33.149 --> 00:08:37.149 how faithful the Habakkusha were. And we need 00:08:37.149 --> 00:08:40.629 to stand up to the plate today in this really 00:08:40.629 --> 00:08:44.370 bad moment and bad time. do what we can and trust 00:08:44.370 --> 00:08:47.669 that we can play a good part too, right? Yeah. 00:08:47.789 --> 00:08:52.490 Great. Yes, yes. So you got arrested on Ash Wednesday, 00:08:52.730 --> 00:08:55.490 Frida, in March in New York with our friends 00:08:55.490 --> 00:08:58.549 in nonviolent civil disobedience at the United 00:08:58.549 --> 00:09:01.750 Nations calling for nuclear disarmament. Tell 00:09:01.750 --> 00:09:04.269 me about the action, what you called for, and, 00:09:04.330 --> 00:09:07.110 you know, in detail, what actually happened. 00:09:07.789 --> 00:09:11.710 Yeah. So this is an action on Ash Wednesday. 00:09:11.710 --> 00:09:15.909 We were blessed by Archbishop John Wester of 00:09:15.909 --> 00:09:20.950 Santa Fe, that great, you know, prophetic anti 00:09:20.950 --> 00:09:25.970 -nuclear. you know, voice there in the nuclear 00:09:25.970 --> 00:09:29.190 heartland of the United States. And we were there 00:09:29.190 --> 00:09:34.870 during the UN meetings around the Treaty on the 00:09:34.870 --> 00:09:37.970 Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. And for those 00:09:37.970 --> 00:09:40.049 of your listeners who don't know, the Treaty 00:09:40.049 --> 00:09:42.870 on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons is international 00:09:42.870 --> 00:09:46.559 law. It says that nuclear weapons... should not 00:09:46.559 --> 00:09:49.720 be possessed. They should not be worked on. They 00:09:49.720 --> 00:09:51.639 should not be produced. They should not be traded. 00:09:51.960 --> 00:09:53.960 They should not be threatened. They certainly 00:09:53.960 --> 00:09:57.899 shouldn't be used by any nation state in the 00:09:57.899 --> 00:10:05.539 world community. And 95 nation states, I think 00:10:05.539 --> 00:10:09.100 89 nation states have signed on to this treaty. 00:10:09.220 --> 00:10:13.320 It became international law when 70 nations had 00:10:13.320 --> 00:10:17.120 signed on to it, which happened in 2022 in January. 00:10:18.320 --> 00:10:24.259 And and so that is that is the law. And and it 00:10:24.259 --> 00:10:30.299 was a really exciting grassroots global South 00:10:30.299 --> 00:10:39.710 led. process that skirted and worked around the 00:10:39.710 --> 00:10:43.750 block that the nuclear weapons states, the five 00:10:43.750 --> 00:10:45.809 permanent members of the Security Council have. 00:10:46.590 --> 00:10:51.350 And so it was very smart and savvy organizing 00:10:51.350 --> 00:10:57.440 work that ICANN and other organizations. And, 00:10:57.559 --> 00:10:59.600 you know, they won the Nobel Peace Prize for 00:10:59.600 --> 00:11:04.039 that work back in 2017. Anyway, so these meetings 00:11:04.039 --> 00:11:06.039 were happening at the United Nations. It was 00:11:06.039 --> 00:11:10.480 Ash Wednesday. And the United States, the one, 00:11:10.639 --> 00:11:14.299 you know, the user of nuclear weapons, the, you 00:11:14.299 --> 00:11:17.899 know, that killed. 240 ,000 people in Hiroshima 00:11:17.899 --> 00:11:23.519 and Nagasaki in 1945, a nuclear proliferator. 00:11:24.120 --> 00:11:27.080 We spend billions of dollars on nuclear weapons 00:11:27.080 --> 00:11:31.039 and nuclear delivery vehicles every year. The 00:11:31.039 --> 00:11:33.259 United States wasn't going to participate in 00:11:33.259 --> 00:11:37.039 these meetings at all, even as an observer. And 00:11:37.039 --> 00:11:41.620 so the conceit behind our action was that You 00:11:41.620 --> 00:11:43.700 know, this was such an emergency. This was so 00:11:43.700 --> 00:11:45.840 important for the United States to be involved, 00:11:46.179 --> 00:11:50.259 to hear the voices of those most affected by 00:11:50.259 --> 00:11:54.299 nuclear weapons testing and the mining of nuclear 00:11:54.299 --> 00:11:58.659 material, and to hear the voices that are calling 00:11:58.659 --> 00:12:01.659 for nuclear disarmament, that we would block 00:12:01.659 --> 00:12:05.529 traffic on First Avenue. between the United States 00:12:05.529 --> 00:12:08.870 mission to the United Nations and the United 00:12:08.870 --> 00:12:13.029 Nations itself. And we would call that delegation 00:12:13.029 --> 00:12:18.389 out of their fancy offices and insist that they 00:12:18.389 --> 00:12:23.769 participate in this international process. And 00:12:23.769 --> 00:12:27.750 so there were dozens and dozens of us. And as 00:12:27.750 --> 00:12:30.690 I said, Archbishop John Wester blessed us all 00:12:30.690 --> 00:12:34.039 with ashes. I had personally been on the fence 00:12:34.039 --> 00:12:38.039 about participating in the action. I needed to 00:12:38.039 --> 00:12:40.779 get back to my kids. I wanted to catch the train. 00:12:41.200 --> 00:12:47.720 Life was infiltrating and reminding me that it 00:12:47.720 --> 00:12:51.240 is inconvenient to get arrested and scary and 00:12:51.240 --> 00:12:55.960 all of this kind of stuff. But with Archbishop 00:12:55.960 --> 00:12:58.200 John Wester's ashes on my forehead, I really 00:12:58.200 --> 00:13:04.210 felt like I felt. commended into the street. 00:13:04.370 --> 00:13:10.129 I just followed my friends with these huge banners 00:13:10.129 --> 00:13:14.330 that said, you know, nuclear abolition is international 00:13:14.330 --> 00:13:19.049 law and the United States needs to participate 00:13:19.049 --> 00:13:23.090 and lead the way for nuclear disarmament, messages 00:13:23.090 --> 00:13:25.850 like that. And we blocked traffic on First Avenue. 00:13:26.250 --> 00:13:32.389 And I really felt all of my All of my, you know, 00:13:32.389 --> 00:13:35.730 anxiety about the Trump administration and my 00:13:35.730 --> 00:13:40.289 worry about the future and my angst about like 00:13:40.289 --> 00:13:42.909 what's everything that's happening, you know, 00:13:42.909 --> 00:13:47.309 from the climate crisis to, you know, Trump being, 00:13:47.350 --> 00:13:49.789 you know, in charge of nuclear weapons. I just 00:13:49.789 --> 00:13:52.809 for that one moment or that 10 minutes or, you 00:13:52.809 --> 00:13:54.169 know, that we were in the middle of the street, 00:13:54.190 --> 00:13:58.110 I felt it all kind of recede. Right. Like it 00:13:58.110 --> 00:14:01.480 just felt so good to be. Doing something and 00:14:01.480 --> 00:14:03.679 doing something in community with other people 00:14:03.679 --> 00:14:10.240 and and disrupting the normal operations of things, 00:14:10.379 --> 00:14:12.799 the way in which we're all encouraged to just 00:14:12.799 --> 00:14:16.559 kind of just go through the motions of life as 00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:20.960 opposed to like really living our lives. And 00:14:20.960 --> 00:14:25.980 and so our action was an interruption of, you 00:14:25.980 --> 00:14:31.139 know, life as as normal there. uh on on first 00:14:31.139 --> 00:14:33.720 avenue at the united nations and you know there 00:14:33.720 --> 00:14:35.600 were all these you know people on the inside 00:14:35.600 --> 00:14:39.100 participating in these meetings who were so heartened 00:14:39.100 --> 00:14:43.179 um that we were outside and you know calling 00:14:43.179 --> 00:14:46.980 our government to account right and so um so 00:14:46.980 --> 00:14:50.720 i felt this real affinity with um the advocates 00:14:50.720 --> 00:14:54.480 and the you know kind of the arms control um 00:14:55.320 --> 00:14:58.259 you know, class, you know, like the institutional 00:14:58.259 --> 00:15:02.639 kind of, um, anti -nuclear people, um, you know, 00:15:02.639 --> 00:15:05.740 felt their gratitude and their, uh, connection, 00:15:06.100 --> 00:15:10.779 um, to, uh, our action, um, really, really keenly 00:15:10.779 --> 00:15:12.820 and, you know, and then spent, you know, the 00:15:12.820 --> 00:15:16.559 afternoon in a holding cell under the, uh, Williamsburg 00:15:16.559 --> 00:15:21.500 bridge, uh, with a lot of friends and, um, and, 00:15:21.539 --> 00:15:23.940 uh, and that was kind of, that was kind of it. 00:15:24.860 --> 00:15:27.740 Wow. Thank you. That sounds wonderful. Next time 00:15:27.740 --> 00:15:30.539 you do it, call me. I want to come and get arrested 00:15:30.539 --> 00:15:36.980 with you. I hope everybody knows just two footnotes 00:15:36.980 --> 00:15:39.419 about all that, about the International Campaign 00:15:39.419 --> 00:15:41.879 to Abolish Nuclear Weapons, which won the Nobel 00:15:41.879 --> 00:15:46.759 Peace Prize. That was co -founded by Ira Helfand. 00:15:47.580 --> 00:15:51.159 who's on their board. He also was founder of 00:15:51.159 --> 00:15:54.440 Physicians for Social Responsibility, which also 00:15:54.440 --> 00:15:56.799 won the Nobel Peace Prize. He's going to be on 00:15:56.799 --> 00:15:59.919 this podcast in a few weeks. How wonderful. Yeah, 00:16:00.120 --> 00:16:03.740 he's a good friend. And Archbishop John Wester 00:16:03.740 --> 00:16:08.610 called me yesterday. He's going to Hiroshima 00:16:08.610 --> 00:16:10.590 and he's taking a bunch of the cardinals who 00:16:10.590 --> 00:16:13.169 were just in Rome with him. Isn't that wonderful? 00:16:13.389 --> 00:16:16.149 Because he's building all this bridge building 00:16:16.149 --> 00:16:19.350 with U .S. cardinals and bishops with the whole 00:16:19.350 --> 00:16:22.129 Bishops' Conference of Japan. This has never 00:16:22.129 --> 00:16:25.549 happened before. And it's so encouraging for 00:16:25.549 --> 00:16:30.269 the Japanese people. And I'm not able to go with 00:16:30.269 --> 00:16:32.570 him, but he'll be on this podcast when he gets 00:16:32.570 --> 00:16:38.480 back. So that's exciting. Well, it's all very 00:16:38.480 --> 00:16:41.279 hopeful. And, you know, Frida, Martin Sheen and 00:16:41.279 --> 00:16:43.980 I were invited to come over and give the keynote 00:16:43.980 --> 00:16:46.720 opening speech when they were launching ICANN 00:16:46.720 --> 00:16:50.500 in Norway. And I don't know if I ever told you 00:16:50.500 --> 00:16:52.120 about that, Frida, but we're meeting everybody, 00:16:52.279 --> 00:16:55.220 thousands. That's where I met Ira. And they're 00:16:55.220 --> 00:16:58.700 all saying, yeah, we got rid of landmines with 00:16:58.700 --> 00:17:01.789 Princess Diana. I'm going, uh -huh. And then 00:17:01.789 --> 00:17:03.289 they're going, we're the people who then got 00:17:03.289 --> 00:17:06.130 rid of cluster bombs. And I'm going, uh -huh. 00:17:06.349 --> 00:17:08.349 So now we're going to get rid of nuclear weapons. 00:17:08.529 --> 00:17:10.769 And Martin and I are looking at each other like, 00:17:10.789 --> 00:17:14.609 well, good luck with that. And to a person, Frida, 00:17:14.710 --> 00:17:18.289 these were people from around the planet. Full 00:17:18.289 --> 00:17:20.950 -time anti -nuclear activists, but doctors and 00:17:20.950 --> 00:17:23.970 lawyers. They were saying, no, this is how it's 00:17:23.970 --> 00:17:26.250 going to happen. And it's going to take 15 years. 00:17:26.849 --> 00:17:30.970 Everything they said 15 years ago is... Coming 00:17:30.970 --> 00:17:34.710 true, Frida. Yeah, yeah. Right on track with 00:17:34.710 --> 00:17:39.289 the ban treaty at the UN. And it's amazing to 00:17:39.289 --> 00:17:42.190 watch. I think it's actually the most hopeful 00:17:42.190 --> 00:17:45.410 thing happening on the planet. Do you find hope 00:17:45.410 --> 00:17:48.650 in ICANN? No, really, what they're doing is amazing. 00:17:49.349 --> 00:17:53.950 Yeah, yeah, I really do. I really do. And not 00:17:53.950 --> 00:17:55.910 enough people know about it, you know, Frida? 00:17:56.250 --> 00:17:59.789 The ban treaty itself and how they're... These 00:17:59.789 --> 00:18:03.470 good people are really chipping away to widen 00:18:03.470 --> 00:18:10.650 the law. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, we hold signs every 00:18:10.650 --> 00:18:14.329 year on the anniversary of the treaty in front 00:18:14.329 --> 00:18:16.630 of Electric Boat General Dynamics, which builds 00:18:16.630 --> 00:18:23.279 the delivery system for nuclear weapons. They 00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:27.480 build the submarines. And we have these beautiful 00:18:27.480 --> 00:18:33.660 signs that say thank you to Tuvalu and to Peru 00:18:33.660 --> 00:18:40.559 and Namibia and country after country after country. 00:18:40.619 --> 00:18:43.359 These beautiful, colorful signs. And we stand 00:18:43.359 --> 00:18:46.720 in the freezing, frigid cold. And every year 00:18:46.720 --> 00:18:52.279 we make a couple more signs. our line of signs 00:18:52.279 --> 00:18:56.859 gets a little longer. And anyway, we started 00:18:56.859 --> 00:19:01.000 doing that when the treaty came into, you know, 00:19:01.000 --> 00:19:04.000 came into international law in 2022. That's great. 00:19:04.059 --> 00:19:06.759 We do that out here in the West Coast at Vandenberg, 00:19:06.819 --> 00:19:08.819 but we don't have thank you signs for the nations. 00:19:08.859 --> 00:19:11.519 We'll have to do that. Hey, so tell me what you 00:19:11.519 --> 00:19:14.099 did in Holy Week. After you got out of jail, 00:19:14.380 --> 00:19:17.599 then you went on a, was it a disarmament peace 00:19:17.599 --> 00:19:21.309 march? Yep. Yep, we went on a disarmament peace 00:19:21.309 --> 00:19:27.309 march. It was our Holy Week pilgrimage for nuclear 00:19:27.309 --> 00:19:31.109 abolition. And I organized this with friends 00:19:31.109 --> 00:19:35.970 in the Atlantic Life community and our little 00:19:35.970 --> 00:19:39.190 committee here in New London, Connecticut, the 00:19:39.190 --> 00:19:41.609 Committee for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons. 00:19:41.869 --> 00:19:47.369 And there were about... 12 to 25 of us walking 00:19:47.369 --> 00:19:50.230 the shoreline of Connecticut from New Haven, 00:19:50.329 --> 00:19:54.549 where we were on Palm Sunday, to the U .S. Naval 00:19:54.549 --> 00:19:58.630 Base on Good Friday. Which new U .S. Naval Base? 00:19:59.029 --> 00:20:02.089 The one here in New London Grot. Okay, so you 00:20:02.089 --> 00:20:04.750 walked along the coast of Connecticut going east 00:20:04.750 --> 00:20:07.569 to the Trident Submarines. Yeah, that's right. 00:20:07.730 --> 00:20:12.390 And each day we, you know, we walked. 10 to 15 00:20:12.390 --> 00:20:16.789 miles and ate a lot of sandwiches and had these 00:20:16.789 --> 00:20:19.470 beautiful signs that were made by Jackie Allen, 00:20:19.670 --> 00:20:22.650 a Catholic worker from Hartford, Connecticut. 00:20:23.650 --> 00:20:26.549 And somebody from the L .A. Catholic worker, 00:20:26.690 --> 00:20:29.650 a guy named Dimitri, made these beautiful murals. 00:20:30.150 --> 00:20:33.329 And so we had these great flags and banners. 00:20:34.349 --> 00:20:37.430 And we invited people to join us for as much 00:20:37.430 --> 00:20:39.329 time as they could. But there was a core group 00:20:39.329 --> 00:20:42.049 of us, about a dozen. of us who walked pretty 00:20:42.049 --> 00:20:45.529 much the whole way. And then on Holy Thursday, 00:20:45.690 --> 00:20:50.690 at the gates of General Dynamics electric boat 00:20:50.690 --> 00:20:55.849 here in New London, we blocked the entrance and 00:20:55.849 --> 00:21:00.650 we did a feet washing. ritual there. And seven 00:21:00.650 --> 00:21:04.890 of us were arrested there on Holy Thursday. And 00:21:04.890 --> 00:21:07.049 so every day we also vigiled, you know, all of 00:21:07.049 --> 00:21:09.690 these little cute towns on the shoreline have 00:21:09.690 --> 00:21:13.049 beautiful greens and, you know, busy little downtown 00:21:13.049 --> 00:21:16.309 areas. And so we had about an hour or two hours 00:21:16.309 --> 00:21:21.650 of vigiling and outreach, connecting with communities 00:21:21.650 --> 00:21:25.769 along the way, inviting them to join us and distributing 00:21:25.769 --> 00:21:30.690 literature. about nuclear weapons and being hosted 00:21:30.690 --> 00:21:38.210 by a wide swath of religious congregations. We 00:21:38.210 --> 00:21:41.690 were hosted by Methodists and Quakers and Unitarian 00:21:41.690 --> 00:21:47.750 Universalists and Catholics. And so it was really 00:21:47.750 --> 00:21:54.319 wonderful, I have to say. United Methodist Church 00:21:54.319 --> 00:21:58.200 on Sunday, and we were commissioned out from 00:21:58.200 --> 00:22:01.420 this great congregation, a small congregation 00:22:01.420 --> 00:22:04.019 in New Haven. And a woman said to me, it was 00:22:04.019 --> 00:22:08.839 a very, very moving service led by a young woman 00:22:08.839 --> 00:22:13.240 pastor. A woman said, aren't you scared? This 00:22:13.240 --> 00:22:17.160 is a terrible time to be walking along the side 00:22:17.160 --> 00:22:21.720 of the road and having this radical message of 00:22:21.720 --> 00:22:24.319 nuclear disarmament. Aren't you terrified? I 00:22:24.319 --> 00:22:27.140 would be terrified. And I said, well, I wasn't 00:22:27.140 --> 00:22:29.660 thinking about that until you just asked me that 00:22:29.660 --> 00:22:34.859 question. Thank you. But I'm really, I'm not. 00:22:35.180 --> 00:22:40.440 And then, of course, I was a little bit. 85 % 00:22:40.440 --> 00:22:46.380 of people's responses to us was very, very positive. 00:22:46.700 --> 00:22:51.279 And we had people stop and cry and embrace us 00:22:51.279 --> 00:22:55.299 and express gratitude and people honking at us 00:22:55.299 --> 00:22:59.460 all the time, toot toots, happy honks. But then, 00:22:59.460 --> 00:23:02.940 you know, we took a break at Tractor Supply and 00:23:02.940 --> 00:23:05.460 Guilford and they called the police on us and 00:23:05.460 --> 00:23:07.640 had us move along, you know, so we did have some 00:23:07.640 --> 00:23:11.680 bumps along the road. but nothing too major. 00:23:12.119 --> 00:23:16.220 And most people who we interacted with, even 00:23:16.220 --> 00:23:20.599 these peace activists along the way and progressive 00:23:20.599 --> 00:23:23.299 people who had been turning out with Indivisible 00:23:23.299 --> 00:23:26.819 and this 50 -51, kind of all this anti -Trump 00:23:26.819 --> 00:23:31.000 stuff, even these good, well -educated, well 00:23:31.000 --> 00:23:33.920 -informed people really hadn't been thinking 00:23:33.920 --> 00:23:37.079 about nuclear weapons, right? It's just not on 00:23:37.079 --> 00:23:40.640 people's... radar screens um it's not on people's 00:23:40.640 --> 00:23:45.140 hearts and um and so a big part of what we were 00:23:45.140 --> 00:23:50.180 really doing was reminding people that nuclear 00:23:50.180 --> 00:23:52.400 weapons are still here like and that they're 00:23:52.400 --> 00:23:56.660 still threatening uh the planet and um and that 00:23:56.660 --> 00:23:59.960 they're not going to disarm themselves right 00:23:59.960 --> 00:24:03.279 they're just they're not going to they're not 00:24:03.279 --> 00:24:06.880 going to do that and that we need to to do that. 00:24:07.380 --> 00:24:12.079 And so it was, it was a great week. And my kids 00:24:12.079 --> 00:24:15.039 joined me for a bunch of it. Of course, it was 00:24:15.039 --> 00:24:20.500 their spring break. And we, yeah, so we all slept 00:24:20.500 --> 00:24:25.420 on the floor in this great peace community called 00:24:25.420 --> 00:24:29.640 Benincasa in Guilford, Connecticut, and with 00:24:29.640 --> 00:24:33.980 the chickens and we slept in their barn. It was 00:24:33.980 --> 00:24:37.420 a really wonderful experience. Thank you, Frida. 00:24:37.779 --> 00:24:40.640 As you're listening, friends, this is what I 00:24:40.640 --> 00:24:44.579 wanted to have Frida on, just to hear the life, 00:24:44.619 --> 00:24:47.839 the ordinary life of a full -time committed anti 00:24:47.839 --> 00:24:51.880 -nuclear activist. This is Frida's life. And 00:24:51.880 --> 00:24:55.599 this is what I think following the nonviolent 00:24:55.599 --> 00:24:58.980 Jesus looks like. Frida, you grew up in a house 00:24:58.980 --> 00:25:01.220 of resistors and peace activists in Baltimore. 00:25:02.639 --> 00:25:05.140 And you've had the most amazing life, I think, 00:25:05.160 --> 00:25:09.690 of anybody in the country. All you all were doing 00:25:09.690 --> 00:25:12.549 all the time was demonstrating regularly at the 00:25:12.549 --> 00:25:15.430 Pentagon and the White House. And you met and 00:25:15.430 --> 00:25:17.730 saw hundreds and hundreds of friends throughout 00:25:17.730 --> 00:25:20.569 your whole life go off to jail for various acts 00:25:20.569 --> 00:25:22.769 of civil disobedience and plowshares actions, 00:25:22.990 --> 00:25:25.869 including me. I started visiting your parents 00:25:25.869 --> 00:25:29.170 around 1980. It's hard to take it all in 45 years 00:25:29.170 --> 00:25:32.190 ago. That's right. Both of your parents. I've 00:25:32.190 --> 00:25:34.509 known you since you were just a kid. Both your 00:25:34.509 --> 00:25:37.900 parents. spent a lot of time in prison throughout 00:25:37.900 --> 00:25:39.920 your youth, and you've written and talked a lot 00:25:39.920 --> 00:25:43.680 about it. And so I just would like to ask you 00:25:43.680 --> 00:25:46.059 to reflect a little bit. I'm sure you've maybe 00:25:46.059 --> 00:25:48.539 tired of telling all that stories, but a little 00:25:48.539 --> 00:25:50.980 bit about what it was like for you and your brother 00:25:50.980 --> 00:25:53.420 and sister, especially now when you look back 00:25:53.420 --> 00:25:57.059 on it now, how it influenced you in such a positive 00:25:57.059 --> 00:26:01.259 way and prepared you. It was all leading up to 00:26:01.259 --> 00:26:05.039 the insanity of today's world. And I'm thinking, 00:26:05.099 --> 00:26:09.799 you know, you've had, so friends who are listening, 00:26:10.019 --> 00:26:14.299 this was a very hard life at Free to Live, but 00:26:14.299 --> 00:26:16.839 so many blessings. And you could share anything 00:26:16.839 --> 00:26:21.059 about growing up in community, which very few 00:26:21.059 --> 00:26:24.420 have in the United States, a life of public resistance 00:26:24.420 --> 00:26:27.750 since you were three. and what it also meant 00:26:27.750 --> 00:26:30.490 in terms of growing in faith with the God of 00:26:30.490 --> 00:26:39.190 peace. Yeah, okay. So I guess one of the things 00:26:39.190 --> 00:26:44.490 that really I wanted to kind of pull out here 00:26:44.490 --> 00:26:49.089 is just that, you know, my... My parents helped 00:26:49.089 --> 00:26:52.450 to create this community, Jonah House, 1973, 00:26:53.190 --> 00:26:56.589 coming out of the experiences of the Vietnam 00:26:56.589 --> 00:27:02.329 War and the huge anti -war movement or movements 00:27:02.329 --> 00:27:08.430 that helped end the war or helped end U .S. participation 00:27:08.430 --> 00:27:13.410 in the war. And one of the lessons they learned, 00:27:13.690 --> 00:27:18.859 being a little bit older than maybe the... stereotypical 00:27:18.859 --> 00:27:24.339 anti -Vietnam War activist was that the only 00:27:24.339 --> 00:27:27.140 way that they were going to be able to sustain 00:27:27.140 --> 00:27:32.539 not just an anti -war movement against that war, 00:27:32.700 --> 00:27:35.119 this specific bad thing that the government was 00:27:35.119 --> 00:27:39.880 doing, was to live in community and to immerse 00:27:39.880 --> 00:27:44.579 themselves in... The way of Christ and the way 00:27:44.579 --> 00:27:48.380 of the disciples, the life of the disciples. 00:27:48.420 --> 00:27:52.480 And so this very simple, very austere lifestyle 00:27:52.480 --> 00:27:56.900 that we were brought up in, inspired by the Catholic 00:27:56.900 --> 00:28:00.099 worker and Dorothy Day, but recognizing that 00:28:00.099 --> 00:28:05.470 they didn't want to, if they did. the works of 00:28:05.470 --> 00:28:08.970 mercy um that's kind of all they would end up 00:28:08.970 --> 00:28:12.109 doing that was their fear and so to really allow 00:28:12.109 --> 00:28:15.609 themselves to be free um to just do resistance 00:28:15.609 --> 00:28:20.109 um and uh and do resistance with children also 00:28:20.109 --> 00:28:24.289 meant community and um you know trusting you 00:28:24.289 --> 00:28:28.619 know all of these other people to help take care 00:28:28.619 --> 00:28:34.220 of us. And so it was really lovely and very, 00:28:34.440 --> 00:28:37.119 very difficult. But one of the things that I 00:28:37.119 --> 00:28:41.400 noticed very early on as a very young kid was 00:28:41.400 --> 00:28:43.319 that all of these people were coming to this 00:28:43.319 --> 00:28:49.900 hot, kind of dirty, crowded row house in inner 00:28:49.900 --> 00:28:53.640 city Baltimore, and they were leaving. middle 00:28:53.640 --> 00:28:57.019 America, right? Like they were leaving sunken 00:28:57.019 --> 00:28:59.440 living rooms and wall -to -wall carpet and air 00:28:59.440 --> 00:29:03.079 conditioning and, you know, food that was bought 00:29:03.079 --> 00:29:06.140 at the grocery store instead of food that was 00:29:06.140 --> 00:29:09.920 like rescued from dumpsters. They were leaving 00:29:09.920 --> 00:29:16.380 all of that comfort and, you know, matching sheets 00:29:16.380 --> 00:29:20.460 and matching dishes. They were leaving that and 00:29:20.460 --> 00:29:25.559 coming to us. And that really, you know, as somebody 00:29:25.559 --> 00:29:30.220 who coveted all of that, the trappings of middle 00:29:30.220 --> 00:29:33.779 class America, that was really striking. And 00:29:33.779 --> 00:29:37.880 that people were giving all of that up to spend 00:29:37.880 --> 00:29:42.400 time with us was like very instructive to me 00:29:42.400 --> 00:29:48.180 as a young kid. And that they were giving up. 00:29:48.680 --> 00:29:51.019 maybe their relationship with their own families, 00:29:51.140 --> 00:29:53.660 right? Like that their parents wanted them to, 00:29:53.660 --> 00:29:58.380 you know, work in sales or, you know, get a PhD 00:29:58.380 --> 00:30:02.920 or use their PhD within academia instead of, 00:30:02.920 --> 00:30:06.579 you know, sleeping three guys to a room on the 00:30:06.579 --> 00:30:10.599 floor, on the third floor of our, you know, our 00:30:10.599 --> 00:30:14.220 tall, skinny row house, right? That the people 00:30:14.220 --> 00:30:17.480 were leaving. families to come spend time with 00:30:17.480 --> 00:30:21.000 us and go to jail and make holy messes at the 00:30:21.000 --> 00:30:24.400 White House and the Pentagon on every religious 00:30:24.400 --> 00:30:28.460 holiday all throughout the year in the blazing 00:30:28.460 --> 00:30:30.640 sun and the bitter, bitter cold. We were just 00:30:30.640 --> 00:30:38.500 driving down to Washington all the time. paid 00:30:38.500 --> 00:30:41.059 very close attention to the younger people, the 00:30:41.059 --> 00:30:43.599 younger adults who were coming to Joan House 00:30:43.599 --> 00:30:47.660 and all they were leaving behind. And the other 00:30:47.660 --> 00:30:49.819 thing that was really striking to me, you know, 00:30:49.819 --> 00:30:52.940 kind of reflecting back on it and thinking now 00:30:52.940 --> 00:30:58.200 about my own children, is that they never sugarcoated 00:30:58.200 --> 00:31:01.619 anything for us, right? They never lied to us. 00:31:01.740 --> 00:31:05.769 They never... told us it would all be okay. And 00:31:05.769 --> 00:31:08.670 somebody would work it all out on our behalf. 00:31:09.490 --> 00:31:14.130 They always kind of let it be known to us, my 00:31:14.130 --> 00:31:17.009 brother and my sister and I, that any change 00:31:17.009 --> 00:31:19.769 we wanted to see in the world, we had to, you 00:31:19.769 --> 00:31:24.230 know, make ourselves. And that even if we didn't 00:31:24.230 --> 00:31:26.809 see the change, it was still like worth doing. 00:31:28.130 --> 00:31:33.890 And so as I grew older, You know, at that point 00:31:33.890 --> 00:31:36.690 where, you know, kind of teenagers or young adults 00:31:36.690 --> 00:31:41.150 are like, wait a second, like everything isn't 00:31:41.150 --> 00:31:43.289 OK. And, you know, my parents didn't tell me 00:31:43.289 --> 00:31:46.609 the truth. That kind of rupture moment that so 00:31:46.609 --> 00:31:49.910 many young people have where they realize, like, 00:31:49.950 --> 00:31:53.670 life is not going to be easy the way their family 00:31:53.670 --> 00:31:57.029 had. told them it would be, I didn't ever have 00:31:57.029 --> 00:31:59.289 that rupture because I had been sort of instructed 00:31:59.289 --> 00:32:01.730 all the way along, even as like a five -year 00:32:01.730 --> 00:32:06.130 -old, into, you know, the details of what the 00:32:06.130 --> 00:32:08.710 consequences of the bombing of Hiroshima and 00:32:08.710 --> 00:32:11.289 Nagasaki. We watched the documentary footage 00:32:11.289 --> 00:32:15.710 on the wall of our living room with our 16 millimeter 00:32:15.710 --> 00:32:18.349 projector, right? Like we watched that documentary 00:32:18.349 --> 00:32:22.299 over and over and over again. A silent camera 00:32:22.299 --> 00:32:26.880 moving through Hiroshima and taking in the damage 00:32:26.880 --> 00:32:29.700 both to the infrastructure, but also, you know, 00:32:29.740 --> 00:32:32.680 the damage to the people. Right. Like we we kind 00:32:32.680 --> 00:32:37.640 of grew up reading people's history of the United 00:32:37.640 --> 00:32:40.599 States, like, you know, bringing that. Howard 00:32:40.599 --> 00:32:43.920 Zinn's like devastating book into like third 00:32:43.920 --> 00:32:48.200 grade history class, you know, and bringing slide 00:32:48.200 --> 00:32:50.779 shows in about world hunger and stuff like that. 00:32:50.839 --> 00:32:55.180 And so, so we just kind of always knew that it 00:32:55.180 --> 00:33:00.480 was, it was our responsibility to, to bear witness, 00:33:00.579 --> 00:33:05.720 to amplify the voices and to resist, you know, 00:33:05.720 --> 00:33:10.019 as much as possible. And And then I guess the 00:33:10.019 --> 00:33:11.779 last thing I'll say about all of that is that, 00:33:11.859 --> 00:33:15.099 you know, even though we were like watching the 00:33:15.099 --> 00:33:17.319 news every night and these, you know, gruesome 00:33:17.319 --> 00:33:21.759 documentaries about Hiroshima, we were also just 00:33:21.759 --> 00:33:24.339 like, you know, my parents were going off to 00:33:24.339 --> 00:33:27.900 jail all the time and there were bags of blood 00:33:27.900 --> 00:33:30.299 in our freezer, you know, waiting for the next 00:33:30.299 --> 00:33:33.400 action when somebody would mark, you know, the 00:33:33.400 --> 00:33:39.910 white pillars of the Pentagon with. blood, we 00:33:39.910 --> 00:33:43.329 were also like having a really good time and, 00:33:43.369 --> 00:33:46.309 you know, welcoming new and interesting people, 00:33:46.430 --> 00:33:50.789 including yourself, John, into our home and learning 00:33:50.789 --> 00:33:55.329 from people and celebrating all the time and 00:33:55.329 --> 00:33:58.230 having these beautiful liturgies in our front 00:33:58.230 --> 00:34:02.990 room and all these real characters were coming 00:34:02.990 --> 00:34:09.079 by all the time. Anyway, it was quite the life. 00:34:09.199 --> 00:34:11.880 It was amazing. Thank you for sharing all that, 00:34:12.000 --> 00:34:15.000 Frida. Yeah, there's nothing else like it in 00:34:15.000 --> 00:34:17.360 the United States, and people wouldn't quite 00:34:17.360 --> 00:34:20.260 believe it. It was not a Catholic worker. It 00:34:20.260 --> 00:34:23.679 was full -time resistance to the culture of war. 00:34:24.059 --> 00:34:26.280 And I'm glad you mentioned that because there 00:34:26.280 --> 00:34:30.019 always was a lot of celebration and life. And, 00:34:30.059 --> 00:34:31.880 you know, when you talk about everybody coming 00:34:31.880 --> 00:34:35.039 there and giving up and then this kind of shock 00:34:35.039 --> 00:34:38.579 of Jonah House, I think everybody else, you could 00:34:38.579 --> 00:34:43.500 say everyone left differently and happy and consoled 00:34:43.500 --> 00:34:45.820 because maybe the first time they experienced 00:34:45.820 --> 00:34:51.199 community and the joy that you all had, that 00:34:51.199 --> 00:34:57.730 celebration. So, Frida, so your parents... Philip 00:34:57.730 --> 00:35:00.110 Berrigan, Elizabeth McAllister, and your uncle 00:35:00.110 --> 00:35:03.590 Daniel Berrigan, my great friend, are real icons 00:35:03.590 --> 00:35:07.530 for many, many people across the country and 00:35:07.530 --> 00:35:10.769 the world. And as we've been talking, we're coming 00:35:10.769 --> 00:35:13.909 on the 80th anniversary of Hiroshima. And the 00:35:13.909 --> 00:35:16.929 three of them were just relentless, as you're 00:35:16.929 --> 00:35:19.869 saying. Folks, it's hard to impress upon you. 00:35:19.909 --> 00:35:22.389 They kept this as a liturgical schedule. Every 00:35:22.389 --> 00:35:25.119 two months, you went to the Pentagon. So if it's 00:35:25.119 --> 00:35:27.980 Pentecost, we're going to the Pentagon. If it's 00:35:27.980 --> 00:35:30.840 Advent or Christmas, we're going to the – so 00:35:30.840 --> 00:35:33.599 here we are on the 80th anniversary. And I was 00:35:33.599 --> 00:35:37.599 thinking as I was getting ready to talk with 00:35:37.599 --> 00:35:42.179 you today, I wish there would be vigils for nuclear 00:35:42.179 --> 00:35:44.340 disarmament, calling for the abolition of nuclear 00:35:44.340 --> 00:35:47.510 weapons. across the United States this August 00:35:47.510 --> 00:35:52.130 6th, in every city, even if it's just ragtag 00:35:52.130 --> 00:35:56.429 five or ten people, that we need to just all 00:35:56.429 --> 00:35:59.590 stand up and break the silence. And I think that's 00:35:59.590 --> 00:36:01.750 what your mom and dad and Uncle Dan would say. 00:36:02.309 --> 00:36:04.989 What do you think, and how might we do that? 00:36:05.869 --> 00:36:10.449 Yeah, yes, they would be 100 % there. I remember 00:36:10.449 --> 00:36:15.340 my mom. Getting so furious one time, some niece 00:36:15.340 --> 00:36:18.519 or nephew was getting married and it was, you 00:36:18.519 --> 00:36:21.659 know, first Saturday in August. It was August 00:36:21.659 --> 00:36:25.039 6th. And she got this wedding invitation and 00:36:25.039 --> 00:36:28.320 she was like, I can't believe they would have 00:36:28.320 --> 00:36:32.480 a wedding on August 6th, you know, and because, 00:36:32.699 --> 00:36:34.480 you know, it's the anniversary of the bombing. 00:36:34.960 --> 00:36:37.079 of Hiroshima and we were always at the Pentagon 00:36:37.079 --> 00:36:39.320 and the department of energy. And, you know, 00:36:39.340 --> 00:36:42.940 from August 5th through August 9th, we were, 00:36:43.059 --> 00:36:45.940 you know, down in Washington and, you know, now 00:36:45.940 --> 00:36:48.400 as an adult, I'm like, well, you know, like there 00:36:48.400 --> 00:36:50.800 are only so many Saturdays, you know, you have 00:36:50.800 --> 00:36:54.420 to pick one. Right. Um, so, uh, but it makes 00:36:54.420 --> 00:36:57.619 me just smile thinking of her. She wrote this 00:36:57.619 --> 00:37:03.179 long screed to my poor relative. We won't, we 00:37:03.179 --> 00:37:06.110 couldn't possibly. celebrate a wedding on August 00:37:06.110 --> 00:37:09.449 6th. We'll be thinking of you as we're getting 00:37:09.449 --> 00:37:13.829 hauled away from the Pentagon's Riverside entrance. 00:37:14.909 --> 00:37:20.829 So, you know, the nuclear resistor down there 00:37:20.829 --> 00:37:29.110 in Tucson and the, what's it called? I'm forgetting 00:37:29.110 --> 00:37:31.630 the name of the other group that's, you know, 00:37:31.630 --> 00:37:34.480 there are a couple of National groups that could 00:37:34.480 --> 00:37:38.300 help organize this in the same way that people 00:37:38.300 --> 00:37:41.000 are organizing kind of call to actions around 00:37:41.000 --> 00:37:44.840 January, you know, January anniversary of the 00:37:44.840 --> 00:37:49.469 signing of the treaty into law. We'll be out 00:37:49.469 --> 00:37:52.489 at General Dynamics electric boat here in New 00:37:52.489 --> 00:37:55.710 London on that day or a nearby intersection. 00:37:56.989 --> 00:38:00.469 Sometimes we like to go to the sub base, too, 00:38:00.650 --> 00:38:05.050 for August 6th and August 9th. So but I think 00:38:05.050 --> 00:38:07.809 there's a bomb maker, you know, or a weapons 00:38:07.809 --> 00:38:12.909 manufacturer or an office park connected to the 00:38:12.909 --> 00:38:15.809 military industrial complex and every congressional. 00:38:16.559 --> 00:38:20.539 district here in this country. And, you know, 00:38:20.559 --> 00:38:24.760 holding them to account for, you know, U .S. 00:38:24.780 --> 00:38:30.679 nuclear hegemony is always a good idea. So I'm 00:38:30.679 --> 00:38:34.300 on board, John. Sign me up. Okay, great. Well, 00:38:34.460 --> 00:38:36.340 that's probably all the time we have. Is there 00:38:36.340 --> 00:38:38.880 anything else you want to add before we sign 00:38:38.880 --> 00:38:43.420 off, Rita? Have we discussed most of the major 00:38:43.420 --> 00:38:46.489 questions for today? I think we've covered it, 00:38:46.550 --> 00:38:50.050 John. Okay. Till next time. Well, thank you so 00:38:50.050 --> 00:38:52.309 very much, Frida Bergen, for speaking with me 00:38:52.309 --> 00:38:54.090 today. And thank you, friends, for listening 00:38:54.090 --> 00:38:57.329 to this, the Nonviolent Jesus podcast. You can 00:38:57.329 --> 00:39:00.630 hear many more podcasts and find other upcoming 00:39:00.630 --> 00:39:06.079 Zoom programs. at www .beatitudescenter .org. 00:39:06.659 --> 00:39:09.440 Please consider offering a donation to support 00:39:09.440 --> 00:39:12.539 this free work. And if you can, please leave 00:39:12.539 --> 00:39:16.519 some positive feedback or review at NCR or Apple 00:39:16.519 --> 00:39:19.739 or Spotify or whatever platform you use. And 00:39:19.739 --> 00:39:21.820 most of all, please help spread the word of the 00:39:21.820 --> 00:39:24.199 podcast by telling all your friends about it. 00:39:24.360 --> 00:39:27.820 So may the God of peace bless everyone. Keep 00:39:27.820 --> 00:39:31.000 on following the nonviolent Jesus. See you next 00:39:31.000 --> 00:39:32.949 time. Thank you.