Talk:Philip Berrigan

Nobel Peace prize

 * Along with his brother Daniel Berrigan, he was for a time on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list for illegal, non-violent actions against war, and was twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize.

Being nominated for the Peace Prize is an honor, but it is not official and not necessarily prestigious. Any national legislator or about a third of the university professors in the world can make a nomination, and there have been as many as 140 some years. Nominators are requested to keep their nominations secret, so it's only those wishing publicity who make announcements. Altogether, I see no reason to keep it. No offense to the subject, this is a general Nobel Peace Prize "nominees" issue. -Willmcw 07:39, Jun 16, 2005 (UTC)

Why I removed "'illegal' non-violent" in the description of Fr. Berrigan's activities
I removed this phrase to improve credibility. I hope the original author takes no offense and would consider my reason before replacing it:

The scare quotes around "illegal" attracted my attention; scare quotes are usually used to indicate that the author finds the quoted term contentious, and, in many contexts, suggest a belittling of someone who would use such a term. That pouring blood over government documents and burning public records certainly are illegal should be beyond contention. Whatever contention there is, I would think, would be whether such illegal activities may be morally justified.

I would also expect there would be serious contention over whether arson is non-violent. This is an example of a case where scare quotes might infer a belittling of the use of a word; since I don't have such an intention, I think it's best to just strike the adjective altogether.

The original article is sympathetic to Fr. Berrigan. I'm not trying to suppress the beliefs behind that sympathy. I *am* trying let the facts speak for themselves. The inclusion of the phrase I removed would make the sympathy *appear* to many to be based not on the virtue of Fr. Berrigan, but on a lack of objectivity.

Misc
I created a subhead for the Baltimore Four so that the Catonsville Nine entry could link to this subsection. I created a subhead for Berrigan's C9 subsection too. Benedett 21:11, 23 January 2006 (UTC)

Re: Baltimore Four
There is what appears to be an inaccuracy in this passage. It says copies of the paperback Good News for Modern Man were handed out, and later bibles were handed out. Good News for Modern Man is a modern translation of the New Testament, rendered in 20th century English, which was popular at the time. 74.57.252.50 22:19, 13 October 2006 (UTC)

Image?
Is there an image of Philip we can find somewhere to use on this article? Kingturtle (talk) 20:46, 24 February 2009 (UTC)

March 2013 edits
I edited and reverted recent edits to the article for various reasons. The page is about Philip Berrigan and should stay focused on him. Previous recent additions talked extensively about other activists including Mengle, going on off on long tangents. The style of writing for encyclopaedias is not concerned with storytelling or essay writing but conveying referenced facts to readers, in the manner of Britannica. The content should be easy to read, so acronyms, like SSJ, are not used as many readers won't know what they mean. New additions should be cited by reliable references. We don't include editorialising commentary, such as "it was a natural result", or "The two were kindred spirits and critical thinkers. Berrigan offered a well-read brain, Mengel a warm body". These are opinions. The article seemed to be used as a coatrack for the Baltimore Four and Mengel perhaps because neither have their own article. I would suggest starting new articles on these subjects (with references). I understand the subjects addressed by the article are emotive and many feel passionate about Berrigan's work, but personal commentary is better suited to a personal blog or private website dedicated to the movement. Span (talk) 23:04, 25 March 2013 (UTC)

Roman Catholic
As described by abundant reliable secondary sources, Berrigan was Roman Catholic, which also conforms to our categorization system and the consensus established project-wide to use this precise and descriptive term. Wikipedia is founded on the usage of reliable sources: All articles must strive for verifiable accuracy, citing reliable, authoritative sources, especially when the topic is controversial or is about a living person. Editors' personal experiences, interpretations, or opinions do not belong on Wikipedia. Elizium23 (talk) 23:36, 14 June 2021 (UTC)