The story of the Catonsville Nine ? a group of Catholic activists who entered a draft board office in Maryland in 1968 and burned some of their records ? may seem like an event mostly lost to the mists of history. There are no active draft boards deciding which young men should be compelled to enter the military. The kind of Catholic activism that dominates the news these days is bishops speaking out on abortion or gay marriage or birth control mandates. Yet in his compelling retelling of this dramatic event from the Vietnam era, author Shawn Peters has not only brought into sharp relief issues around the ethical limits of protest, he also has provided a thoughtful look at the religious roots of protests as current as this summer?s headlines.
Office of Strategic Communication