David CookIf You Go:What: John DearWhen: Sunday, 7 p.m.Where: Grace Episcopal Church on Belvoir Avenue
For more than three decades, the activist-priest John Dear has been traveling the world, teaching nonviolence.
He’s spoken thousands of times to perhaps a million people, and written or edited more than two dozen books on peacemaking. In 2008, South African Archbishop Desmond Tutu nominated him for the Nobel Peace Prize. Dear’s been arrested more than 70 times in acts of civil disobedience: against drone use, nuclear weapons, military spending, the death penalty, anything that promotes violence.
(In December, Dear was dismissed from the Jesuit order after disobeying his superiors.)
Tonight, as part of his 38-city tour, Dear travels to Chattanooga — recently named the most Bible-minded city in America — to speak at Grace Episcopal Church. A few days ago, we spoke over the phone. What follows are excerpts from our interview, which felt like talking with a modern day abolitionist: willing to speak truth to power — bravely, unapologetically, without concern for consequence — while calling for an end to the evils around him.