“The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast”
With Father John Dear
If you ever run into Father John Dear, ask him how many times he has been arrested. He’ll happily – proudly, even – tell you it’s more than 80. How many more, he’s not sure, but they’ve all been for the sake of nonviolence.
The soft-voiced priest, a friend to Desmond Tutu and Mother Teresa, is known worldwide for his anti-violence advocacy. At the inaugural James Atwood Institute for Congregational Courage at Ghost Ranch, New Mexico, Dear explained violence as a complex intertwining of culture and existentialist threats – such as nuclear weapons, famine, gun violence, racism, environmental destruction and climate change – that surround humanity and collectively damage the entire world’s spirit.
His weekly podcast, “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” expands Dear’s witness as a peacemaking and nonviolence advocate, and he encourages listeners to focus on Jesus’ nonviolence and work toward a more just and peaceful world. Guests have included author and priest Richard Rohr, Bryan Stevenson of the Equal Justice Initiative, activist Martin Sheen, and author and death-penalty opponent Sister Helen Prejean.
The episodes touch on social justice, authoritarianism, corporate greed, permanent warfare, nuclear weapons, environmental and climate gun violence, capital punishment and racism, among other things — all forms of violence that affect us daily in one form or another.
“Meanwhile … we’re called to follow the most radical nonviolent revolutionary in history — Jesus of Nazareth.”
Guests have discussed peacemaking, community organizing, public action, democracy and authoritarianism, and Dear planned a future episode to discuss the way Jesus built a bottom-up, peaceful grassroots movement, pulling from the Book of Timothy. Dear emphasizes that Christians must remain nonviolent resistors as part of our faith, and each episode offers an entry point for listeners.
And as disciples of Jesus, Dear says, we are called to this work.
“Jesus did not sit back and do nothing,” Dear says. “He got up and moved forward and took on the empire, and we have to do the same.”
Each episode begins with a centering prayer, inviting listeners
to enter into a time of reflection, remember the teachings of the nonviolent Jesus and invite the presence of a God of peace.
The website says the episodes are 30 minutes long, but they tend toward 40 minutes. The thoughtful and lively conversations are worth the extra few minutes. You’ll want to rewind a few times to absorb the information and reflect more deeply on his guests’ words and their myriad experiences.
