John Dear Biography
- Title:
- Jesuit Priest for the Society of Jesus
- Position:
- Con to the question "Should the Death Penalty Be Allowed?"
- Reasoning:
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“Capital punishment can claim nothing to commend it. It will not bring healing or justice or restitution. It offers no hope for a nonviolent society. It reinforces the heart-rending cycle of violence; it lays the burden of yet another murder. Execution gives death as social purpose ever greater sway… More, capital punishment is freighted with inconsistencies. Behind it lies an illogical maxim: we kill those who kill to show that killing is wrong. If we really believed that killing was wrong, the state would set an example; official killing would be banished.”
“Abolish the Death Penalty Now!”, National Catholic Reporter, June 17, 2008
- Involvement and Affiliations:
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- Jesuit Priest, 1982-present
- Nominee, Nobel Peace Prize, 2008
- Columnist, National Catholic Reporter, 2007-present
- Director, Fellowship of Reconciliation, 1998-present
- Adjunct Faculty, Theology, Fordham University, New York, 1997-1998
- Priest, St. Aloysius’ Church, Washington, DC, 1993
- Ordained, Catholic Priest, Roman Catholic Apostolic Church, 1993
- Teacher, Scranton Prep High School, Scranton, PA, 1986-1988
- Education:
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- Master, Sacred Theology, Graduate Theological Union, 1993
- Master, Divinity, Graduate Theological Union, 1992
- Graduate, magna cum laude, Duke University, 1981
- Other:
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- Arrested on Dec. 7, 1993 at Seymour Johnson Air Force Base in Goldsboro, NC, for hammering on an F15 nuclear bomber fighter jet.
- Quoted in: