Ministers, Martyrs, and Mystics: Religious Antiwar Activists in the Vietnam Era

Abstract

This thesis is a biographical exploration of the lives and experiences of five individuals who came to protest the Vietnam War due to their religious beliefs: A.J. Muste, who was ordained as a Dutch Reform minister but later came to describe himself as a Christian pacifist; Norman Morrison, who was a Quaker; Abraham Heschel, who was Jewish; William Sloane Coffin, Jr., who was Presbyterian; and Daniel Berrigan, who was Catholic. Examining the lives, experiences, actions, and writings of each of these men illuminates the subset of activists of the Vietnam period who came to protest the war due to their religious beliefs. In addition to their different religious identities, these men varied widely in age and background, and yet they all shared in the prophetic tradition of concern for suffering in the world. Their actions, writings, and examples influenced countless people both then and now.