In our third post, our recent graduate Emily Seppelt reflects on a book she read for class that spoke to her passion for activism and public policy.
One highlight of my experience in a religion class this semester was a book we read in Liberation Struggles titled Can I Get a Witness? The book was filled with biographies and accounts of activists and peacemakers struggling toward liberation. The entire book was chock full of inspiration, resistance, and the faith of the people who were doing the work for justice. One chapter that especially resonated with me was a recount of the life of Daniel Berrigan, a Catholic priest, and a dedicated anti-war activist. Berrigan, as well as his contemporaries featured in the book, offer us an example of what it looks like to fight for justice in the face of seemingly unmovable mountains. As Berrigan said, “The good is to be done because it is good, not because it goes somewhere. I believe if it is done in that spirit it will go somewhere, but I don’t know where. I don’t think the Bible grants us where goodness goes, what direction, what force. I have never been seriously interested in the outcome. I was interested in trying to do it humanly and carefully and nonviolently and let it go”. Certainly a timely piece of guidance and one that I will carry with me from the Religion department as leave Gustavus!