Page 74 - TheGoldBug1971-72

Page Two The Gold Bug March 20, 1972 Reflections Impressions from Harrisburg .. I J(NoW WHA.l You The stage is set. As the curtain goes up on never know, if indeed he knows now. I'1£}N, FMU. rCA"''!' pcr M~ FINGEl< ONIT, the small theater in Harrisburg, Penn- Second, if the aforementioned letters con- Bur ;~£ fRosEOmON sylvania, the actors assume their poses. At tained any hint of a romantic attachment DOES SEEt'\ A L-H'rLS- left are the seven co-stars; a middle-aged between Berrigan and -McAllister. This is FLi,'15Y. " couple, a somewhat younger couple, two harder to fathom; there is no mistaking the young men in priestal costumes, -a swarthy camaraderie working between these two. It is manin a business suit. Center stage holds four evident in every lookhe gives her, every smile sober men in gray suits of various shades.' At she answers. Butthe mere fact that these are right, twelve elegantly dressed men and two such charismatic people precludes any women. automatic assumption of romance. And what if it is conjectured triat the letters were not "Oh yea, oh yea ..." and the illusion shatters. battle plans, but love missiles? That Thestage fades into a courtroom, and thewhcle assumption, rather 'than damaging the defense, could, indeed augment it. An in- fascinating history of the -Berrigans opens another chapter: It is Friday, March 10, and teresting sidelight to an enigmatic pile of motivation. . the two-week-oldtrial of the Harrisburg Seven is underway again. On the stand is Boyd The key to the prosecution,' as I see it, is Douglas, undergoing his fourth day of cress- Douglas. The prosecution has a good case, examination. The prosecutions's only witness make no mistake. It is entirely within the has already undergone questioning by such realm of probability' that there was, indeed, a notables. as Ramsey Clark - and former Berrigan-McAllister inspired plot, (although Congressman 0' Dwyer. Now he faces-more the Kissinger angle has been somewhat grilling. played down) but the prosecution may never get to play the victor. They have made the Douglas is in an unenviable position. His is mistake of using a pathological liar to present the role of betrayer, of informer, and in his the truth. How ironic -that the Berrigan testimony he says' the- name "Philip disciples may go free, when they may be Berrigan" with "teeth clenched tightly, eyes guilty. How interesting that the government, glued on the gentle, unresponsive face of the in its eagerness to put the Berrigans away for man he is accusing. Berrigan is at limes good, may have overplayed its hand. How amused, irate; but these are not public intriguing that someone high over Harrisburg reactions. The only other person "Berrigan may be pulling the strings. History will write relates to is Sister Elizabeth McAllister. its own review. These twomight be any middle-aged couple; CCN he tall and handsome in the Stewart Granger fashion, she comfortably mousy with a gentle, radiant smile. But they are not, of course. Dean Ira Zepp "I need a church ..." They stand accused by the United States Government of plotting to blow up the tunnel system beneath washington government buildings, in addition to plotting also to kidnap by Dean Ira Zepp presidential advisor Henry Kissinger. With Religious man has probably made too much of To be crucified with me?" them also are their alleged supporters; Lent as a time of self-denial, e.g. giving up All these men were models of repentance, turning watermelon, chocolates, etc. and that the word away from complicity with human oppression Winderoth, McLaughlin; (both priests) "Lent" is derived from the Anglo-Saxon "lencten", toward human freedom; turning away from the Scobiick and his wife, and a friend Ahmed. meaning Spring, the lengthening of days. All this idolatry of death toward the celebration of life. Douglas is sneertngly confident: a rather has nothing to do with the Gospel. All these men were models of intercession. Their unusual display of smugness for a witness. Lent is not a religious time. It is much more Jives (the only real word any of us speaks) were acts And so it has been throughout the trial. serious than that. It is a time of repentance and on our behalf; prayers to God for us as they resisted intercession, whlchareethicalrealities, dealing with the principalities and powers, the demonic struc- It wouldbe useless to try and give a blow-by- the integrity of human life. . blowdescription of a trial which has received tures of this world; as they stood in the bre~ch between the peace and love of God and the anguish ample coverage in the mass media. But some Repentance: turning in another direction; and terror of the world. questions have been raised which, since I was renouncing cultural Idols fortunate enough to attend the session of the Intercession: placing ourselves between the Then I think it will have to be about 1992 before it 10th, I have some observations on. world's brokenness and God's wholeness is safe enough to use the brothers Berrigan, Philip Then I think of all the sermon illustrations I have and Daniel, as illustrations of true repentance and First, whether the letters exchanged be- heardabout what it means to be a Christian. intercession; whose lives today embody a protest tween Philip Berrigan and Sister McAllister -those early Christians who would not burn a against our society's worship of violence, war and death. were, in fact, the game plans for a full scale pinch of incense once a year to Caesar. They had a attack on the tunnel system. The evidence is disarmingly simple reason: "We already have a Perhaps the_minister about twenty years from there; quite damaging. Meetings were Caesar, the Lord Jesus.'> now will even quote Daniel Berrigan's words, "If I arranged, times set for planning sessions. could put it in a sentence, I need a Church which "Faith of our fathers, living still believes the Gospel. It hardly need be added that I Explosives manuals supposedly' studied- by In spite of dungeon fire and sword." can do without a Church which blesses bomb declares bombs, which shelters and the wtnderoth and Douglas lend ample credence -Luther, in 1521, before Pope and Emperor: "M> peacemaking Christ irrelevant for the duration, to the supposition that a plot was, indeed, conscience is captive to the Word of God..to go which blesses national arrogance and ostracizes hatched. But Douglas is hesitant. Somewhere against conscience is neither right nor safe." peacemakers, and casts out one ideology by beneath the.veneer of sheltered stoolie is the "Stand up, stand up for Jesus recourse to another. I am already violent enough; I quavering voice saying, "well, maybe they Ye soldiers of the cross." need no recourse to a violent church. Nor does such didn't really say tbat..." and it incriminates -the abolitionist preachers of the last century, a church need my judgment upon its works. When it him. When he cannot name a single person who violated federal law and helped slaves escape so acts, it falls under the judgment of its own Lord. to the North. Whenever it declares that a war waged by a great slated to work on the explosives project oth-er power against a broken people is a just war, it than himself, the courtroom snickers. -Sen- "Take my life and let it be excommunicates itself from the community of timent is against Douglas;' evidence tends to Consecreated, Lord, to thee faith. It is in danger of excommunication from the support him. He cannot relate the two, or deal -Bonhoeffer and Niemoller, German Lutheran community of man." with their implications. If the letters were of. pastors in concentration camp because their "Faith of our fathers, living still Fuhrer was God. the accused intent, Douglas will probably "Are y.e able, said the Master In spite of dungeon, fire and sword." Indeed!