Get me to the church on time:
McGowan, Jo
regard the police. boats that have suddenly flashed their lights built at the cost of $2.2 billion, money that should have been and are heading straight for you. For a moment you are...
...You're going to have to come with us...
...My offenses ranged from disorderly conduct and But somehow as I stood there holding my sign and trespass to unlawful obstruction of an entrance, and, to be watching the crowds lining up at the gate to file in and honest, I was proud of every one of them...
...It is Auschwitz...
...How can I explain that I forgot and my fiance's parents, who were from India, had taken my own wedding date...
...Hold on...
...Remember, disorderly conduct I thought fleetingly of approaching the prosecutor and is a misdemeanor...
...The sun is hot and you fine...
...on May on earth I was going to tell my fiance that I would be in 13, 1 was to get married...
...I was a peace give their blessing to this ship that could cause the death movement activist and I had been arrested protesting nu- of millions of people, I knew I had to do something...
...ty-one and he was thirty-three): "Why don't you just call What could I do...
...less important reasons...
...But in 1979, the year I turned twenty-one, security guards ran in every direction trying to restore order...
...I couldn't possibly postpone the crazier things...
...Commonweal 22 October 1993: 7...
...be asked...
...church on time I was getting married just one month later and I was so distracted and excited I couldn't concentrate on anything y the time I was twenty, I had been arrested serious...
...But are taking place...
...think of Saint Paul, encouraging you to be a fool for Christ...
...The absurdity of the sit- With three boats safely at your side, your canoe mates manuation hits you full force...
...explosions...
...As quickly as possible, I told him my story and was I didn't stand a chance...
...ing the entrance to a military ceremony...
...capsize...
...As you too long...
...You leave the jail, smiling...
...The full-scale, hu- Ever obedient, you obey...
...We're dock to witness to the peace of Christ...
...In Suddenly, a specially equipped rubber police raft speeds across a world which constructs and launches Trident submarines, what the river in a flash and fishes you out of the water...
...about to be launched...
...Officers, harm is there, being mocked for speaking out against death and we mean you no harm," you say...
...ities, my previous arrests had caused no real problems...
...As you settle down for a day you're off...
...That evening, I sat in my room lives in India...
...the Soviet Union has withered away, but still, we mainother boats that occasionally whiz on by...
...You are photographed, questioned, processed, and escorted violence (Fortkamp...
...to catch up on my reading and writing...
...py waters and the policemen's hands reaching into the canoe, Maine, set to be launched in a matter of months...
...God is blessing you...
...out against this death machine...
...You return sisters, Trident is not something to celebrate...
...No, sir, officer," you reply with a smile...
...First-time offend- miracle would occur, before breaking the news to him...
...vitations had all been sent...
...face dissuaded me...
...I ers often got off with a warning, but "repeaters" like me was astonished by his calm response (of course, I was twenusually landed in jail, sometimes for months...
...time off from work for the month of May and had made "Don't worry...
...But right next to it, completely out of the water, the close connection between the boat and the canoe, the chopaimed straight at you like one giant terrorist bomb is the U.S.S...
...The police boats circle about, un- "Paul and Silas bound in j ail, had no money to pay their bail sure about all these swimmers...
...Just a minute," he said, "Who asked you to be arrested...
...The only thing that we did wrong was stay in the wilderness The water, though polluted, is cool and refreshing...
...boats that have suddenly flashed their lights built at the cost of $2.2 billion, money that should have been and are heading straight for you...
...Hold on...
...the smile and offer a blessing...
...hundred yards from the Trident dock...
...Jo," he said, "the state of Connecticut would like to But no, you had to get in people's way, block an entrance, give you a wedding gift...
...We're escorting you back now...
...The police boat U.S.S...
...We'll see that the charges are disengage in disorderly conduct...
...toward the ceremony...
...I took on more than I could manage...
...Hold on...
...And, anyway, it can't hurt to try, can asking for a postponement of the trial, but one look at his it...
...District Courthouse, and as the judge read out the trial date, at home, staring sadly at my white gown, wondering how my heart sank...
...Nervously, I dialed the number and waited while a demonstrators...
...In a flash, all into a crowded jail cell, where you find seventeen others awaitthose swimming lessons from summer camp return to mind and ing you, applauding your action...
...How could I have for- Jo McGowan, a frequent Commonweal contributor, gotten about my wedding...
...Fellows, there are too many Trident submarine dock (a huge area marked off by buoys and of you in that small canoe and so we're going to have to escort filled with security boats) and perhaps even to climb onto the you back to shore...
...each "Swim to the back of the boat and we'll pull you on board," stration was held, in which 1 took part...
...The Trident is a sin, a crime against God and hu- Eventually, you are released and told to appear in court weeks manity...
...The police officer smiles at you and says, "You know, billions spent on this submarine should be spent on housing, we respect you and admire you for staying at this for so long, food, health care, and education for the poor...
...Since I fasted when- Just as we did, the gates opened for the crowds to walk ever I was in...
...He is the author of Seeds of NonJail...
...I didn't even mind the awful food...
...My em- in...
...You do not want to tain and even launch new Tridents...
...each designed for a first-strike nuclear attack...
...This death machine robs the poor of the world...
...not only to the dumbfounded Coast Guard crews in the dis- The only thing that we did right was to organize for life...
...six times...
...missed...
...On the dock, There it stands, right in front of you, decked out in flags...
...The only Trident we can stand is the sugarless chewing brand...
...Finally the crowds were held back while the police cleared That year, at the Electric Boat facility in Groton, Con- a path through our group...
...But the poNot the absurdity of paddling a canoe down the Thames River lice and Coast Guard ships have inadvertently brought you around to the Trident sub dock...
...There, on the shoreline in front of canoe starts sinking, and the next thing you know, you're in you are two submarines...
...To accomplish this, of course, necticut, a new Trident submarine was completed and we had to be removed, and I was one of the first arrested...
...The ceremony, to which thousands The ceremonies were delayed by over an hour while we of EB employees and their families were invited, was were dragged to the waiting buses and in all the emotion attended by naval dignitaries and top Washington offi- and excitement, I never gave a thought to the consequences cials...
...I shouted...
...of my action...
...One friend jumps into the water, the The seeing is believing...
...Not the absurdity of friends blockad- closer to the Trident dock...
...Hold on...
...less poor...
...I I had no time to change my mind, either, for at that moactually enjoyed spending time in jail as it gave me a chance ment our leader signaled us to move forward and sit down...
...surprised to hear him chuckle...
...Harold Deen was a good man and prob- Finally, I decided he was right...
...ployer was sympathetic to my views and always gave me There was mass confusion for a few moments as the ticktime off when I needed it, so I didn't have to worry about et-holders clambered over us to get into the shipyard and my job either...
...Come on, we know who you are and what you're about," can hear a military band playing...
...tance but to the crowds of military officers, Electric Boat work- Keep your eyes on the prize...
...People get postponements all the time for wedding...
...You and put me on hold...
...have begun swimming, too...
...Out on the street, in front of the shipyard, a large demon- We were arraigned a few hours later in the New London 6: 22 October 1993 Commonweal one officer says...
...Then, as you pass a hundred yards mongous absurdity, insanity, lunacy of the Trident submarine right in front of the Trident, you turn and start to paddle right itself...
...I am a Jesuit, a Catholic priest, and I work with the home- Keep your eyes on the prize...
...One friend remains with the canoe Keep your eyes on the prize...
...You unfurl the banner...
...The later...
...You head straight for the Trident...
...Two other friends in jail, the group explodes into song...
...John Dear, S.J., is a peace activist who works with the homeSoaking wet, you arrive with your friends at the Groton City less in Washington, D.C...
...swim, you stop occasionally and speak out in a loud voice, Keep your eyes on the prize...
...We understand," they reply...
...jail on our wedding day...
...ers and their families standing along the dock next to the Trident...
...It's just that we have to speak for life...
...As this was my third arrest at Electric Boat, I was cer- I waited for nearly a week, hoping, I suppose, that some tain the sentence would be a stiff one...
...Your goal: to paddle into the waters directly off the A Coast Guard ship approaches...
...he reassured me, "I'm sure he's heard their flight reservations...
...You it...
...Only a small percentage of the demonstrators planned to commit civil disGet me to the obedience, and originally, I had no thought of joining them...
...could have stood there with your sign until doomsday and After what seemed an endless wait, he came back on the no one would have bothered you-this is a free country...
...It was already mid-April and the in- the prosecutor and explain...
...Rhode Island is lowered almost into the water in a spe- is suddenly on top of you and a voice declares, "OK, fellas, cial dock, and covered with white tents where the ceremonies that's enough...
...JO McGOWAN And of course, he would he right...
...age to circle around, heading back down the river...
...There was nothing to ably a fine grandfather, but he did not approve of political lose...
...The cold war is supposedcerned about the choppy waves, especially the large wakes from ly over...
...I watched him gathering up his files and secretary put my call through to the assistant district atmuttering about those "confounded peaceniks" and I knew torney...
...My brothers and but you should know, we think you all are crazy...
...On May 9,1 was to appear in court...
...The a crowd has gathered to watch the spectacle...
...JOHN DEAR "We respect you but we have to take you in...
...he would say...
...I clear power, nuclear weapons, and abortion...
...For God's sake, dismantle This is not the first time you have been called crazy...
...All the arrangements were made "Explain...
...You turn and see the Trident...
...line...
...each the equivalent of 4,000 Hiroshima the water...
...It threatens to destroy the planet...
...throw off your balance...
...In a matter of minutes, with he announces, as his boat rubs against your flimsy canoe and you the help of a strong current, you and your confreres are one hold on, trying not to capsize...
...For a moment you are con- spent instead on real human needs...
...handed my sign to a friend and quickly slipped into the As a young, single woman with no family responsibil- group that was planning to block the entrance to the docks...
...and eventually loads it onto the police boat...
Vol. 120 • October 1993 • No. 18
