2024 Speaking Tour

Host Fr. John Dear on his 2024 Speaking Tour for his Forthcoming Orbis Book: “’The Gospel of Peace: A Commentary on Matthew, Mark and Luke from the Perspective of Nonviolence.” For more info, click here

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Listen on Apple, Spotify, all major platforms,
and the National Catholic Reporter

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September 29, 2025

#39, John Dear in conversation with John Fugelsang

This week on “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” John Dear speaks with his friend John Fugelsang, actor, comedian, talk show host, and author of the new bestseller, Separation of Church & Hate: A Sane Person’s Guide to Taking Back the Bible from Fundamentalists, Fascists, and Flock-Fleecing Frauds (Simon and Schuster).
 
The son of a former Franciscan brother and a nun, John Fugelsang acted on CSI, has appeared on MSNBC and CNN, and has hosted many TV shows and podcasts, including VH1 shows with Paul McCartney and the final public appearance of George Harrison. He has debated Jerry Falwell and David Duke, been picketed by the Westboro Baptist Church, and hosted the radio series Tell Me Everything on SiriusXM. His PBS road trip film on the American Dream, called Dream On, was named Best Documentary at the New York Independent Film Festival. He currently hosts the John Fugelsang podcast.
 
“I wrote this book as a guide for everybody who was raised Christian in America, for all the Christians who are tired of their religion being hijacked,” he says. “This book is a guide for any believer who has to deal with a Christian Nationalist. I’ve learned that we don’t have to hate or fight them; we just share the words of God and Jesus with them. Let them argue with God, with the Gospel.
 
“I was raised when tele-evangelists didn’t tell me to love my enemies; instead told me who my enemies are. Christian nationalism is just about power. It’s about their club being on top and imposing their version of Christianity on us all. They use Jesus as camouflage. Why should I listen to Trump and Stephen Miller and reject the words of Jesus? Jesus is breaking every cycle of violence. Love is the only religion that works. We don’t get to use violence to solve our problems.”
 
At one point in the conversation, he reflects with great empathy and compassion on Charlie Kirk, the far right Christian nationalist who was recently assassinated in Utah, who had challenged him. “Charlie Kirk never got to grow old, see how wrong he was, and change his position. I have.” Listen in to this thought-provoking Christian and learn more at www.johnfugelsang.com
 

Next week…

The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast welcomes John Dear on the Nonviolent Jesus and the Things that Make for Peace! For more information, visit here.

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Listen on Apple, Spotify, all major platforms,
and the National Catholic Reporter

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October 6th, 2025

Episode #40, John Dear on “The Nonviolent Jesus and the Things That Make for Peace”

This week on “The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast,” John Dear reflects on Jesus’ entrance into Jerusalem (Luke 19) where he breaks down sobbing saying, “If this day you had only learned the things that make for peace—but now it is hidden from your eyes.” Written shortly after the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 C.E., Luke describes how everyone had been blinded by violence and hatred, and how it led to their complete destruction by the empire. Had they taken Jesus’ teachings to heart, loved their enemies, turned the other cheek, and joined his grassroots nonviolent revolution, Jerusalem and its inhabitants would have survived.
 
The question facing us today, John asks, is: “Have we learned the things that make for peace?” Unlike in Jesus’ day, Jerusalem has now become the whole world. We cut funding for schools, jobs, housing, healthcare, poverty relief, and environmental cleanup, but spend billions—trillions!—for permanent warfare and nuclear weapons. We support warfare in Gaza, Ukraine and Africa, but with our 13,000 nuclear weapons and catastrophic climate change upon us, we are closer to total destruction than ever.
 
These days, we need to share the lament and tears of the nonviolent Jesus and decide if we want to learn from him the things that make for peace, and then try to put them into action. What are the things that make for peace? The Sermon on the Mount catalogues a long to-do list for peace, love, nonviolence, and justice: Daily prayer, surrender and trust in the God of peace. Love for neighbor and enemy. Nonviolent resistance to evil. Non-cooperation with empire. Compassion for everyone. Forgiveness toward those who have hurt us. Reconciliation with everyone. Truth-telling. Seeking justice for the poor. And radical discipleship to the nonviolent Jesus. As we walk this way of nonviolence and join Jesus’ grassroots movement of nonviolence, the Gospel declares that we can welcome God’s reign of peace on earth.
 
These days, John suggests in this episode, we must unlearn the things that make for war. We have to work for the abolition of war and the causes of war and invest in nonviolent conflict resolution, just as we stop digging up fossil fuels and invest in alternative sources of energy. We get rid of our guns, abolish nuclear weapons, and stop preparing for and spending for war. We will refuse to join the military, send our young people into the military, or support the military. Instead, we push for every nation to create nonviolent civilian defense systems and peace teams so that global nonviolent conflict resolution will become the norm. If the world is to survive, the days of war have to come to an end.
 
You and I want to do what others were not able to do—he concludes–to learn from the nonviolent Jesus the things that make for peace. If Christians learn the things that make for peace and unlearn the things that make for war, then the churches can be a leading force in the global grassroots movement for the abolition of nuclear weapons, war, and the causes of war. May we all choose to learn from Jesus the things that make for peace and join his never-ending peace movement! For further reading, check out John’s recent books The Gospel of Peace and Walking the Way.

Next week…

The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast welcomes Paul Chappell! For more information, visit here.

John Dear’s new book now available!

“The Gospel of Peace:
Reading Matthew, Mark & Luke
from the Perspective of Nonviolence”

For info, click here
 
To order, call Orbis Books at 1-800-258-5838
 

To invite John Dear to speak in your city, write to: john@beatitudescenter.org 

National Catholic Reporter Review of “The Gospel of Peace,” click here
 
To watch Fr. John’s interview with Dean Young of Grace Cathedral about the book, click here
 
To watch Fr. John’s sermon at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, on Jan. 21, 2024, (at the 30 minute mark) click here
 
The Nonviolent Jesus Podcast, a free weekly podcast with John Dear
click here

Recent Books

“The Sacrament of Civil Disobedience”
Revised 2022 Edition, with new foreword by Shane Claiborne,
Available on amazon, in the U.K.  To order, visit: https://labora.press/product/the-sacrament-of-civil-disobedience/

Recent Articles

The Peacemaking Life of Pope Francis

A few years ago, three French peace activists met with Pope Francis and asked him for advice. “Start a revolution,” he said. “Shake things up! The world is deaf. You have to open its ears.” That’s what Pope Francis did — he started a nonviolent revolution and invited us all to join. 

I’m grateful for him for so many reasons, but mainly because he spoke out so boldly, so prophetically in word and deed for justice, the poor, disarmament, peace, creation, mercy and nonviolence. It is a tremendous gift that we had him for 12 years, that he did not resign or retire, but kept at it until the last day, Easter Sunday.

Read More

Daniel Ellsberg, Prophet of Truth and Disarmament

A few months before he died on Friday, June 16th, famed whistle blower and peace activist Daniel Ellsberg sent an email letter to hundreds of friends announcing that he had been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and given three months or so to live. After reflecting on his life’s work for peace, he announced that he was full of “joy and gratitude” and wished the same for all of us who work to end war.

Read More

My Long Lost Conversation with John Lewis

Last summer, after Congressman John Lewis died, I posted a photo on social media of me and John from a memorable afternoon we spent together in his congressional office. It was 26 years ago. We had talked for a while, and then filmed a formal conversation on nonviolence.

Needless to say, it was one of the greatest days of my exciting life.

Read More

Recent News

“Nonviolence,” a new 147 page special edition
of Richard Rohr’s journal Oneing, now available from www.cac.org

John Dear on “Democracy Now” talking about Thich Nhat Hanh and Archbishop Tutu 

Visit
www.DanielBerrigan.org

“Jesus was totally nonviolent and calls us to practice and teach Gospel nonviolence and welcome God’s reign of peace and nonviolence, which means from now on, we work for the abolition of war, poverty, racism, gun violence, the death penalty, nuclear weapons, environmental destruction, and all violence.” – Fr. John Dear

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