Spiritual Criminals How the Camden 28 Put the Vietnam War on Trial
Spiritual Criminals: How the Camden 28 Put the Vietnam War on Trial by Michelle M. Nickerson, published by University of Chicago Press on August 23, 2024, offers an insightful examination of a group of Catholic radicals who made headlines in 1971. This edition, comprising 268 pages, delves into the events surrounding the break-in at a Camden, New Jersey draft board, where twenty-eight individuals were arrested while attempting to destroy conscription documents related to the Vietnam War. The trial that followed not only surprised the FBI but also challenged the foundations of American law, politics, and religion.
In Spiritual Criminals, Nickerson presents a nuanced portrayal of the Camden 28, highlighting their grassroots activism against the military-industrial complex and their resistance to both governmental and ecclesiastical authority. The book explores the personal narratives of these devout individuals, revealing the spiritual dimensions of their anti-war efforts. Additionally, it addresses the internal conflicts within the group, touching on issues of ideology, race, sex, and gender that continue to resonate in contemporary discussions within the church and the political Left. This work contributes to the broader understanding of the Vietnam War era and its lasting impact on American society.
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A surprising look at the 28 Catholic radicals who raided a draft board in 1971—and got away with it.
When the FBI arrested twenty-eight people in connection to a break-in at a Camden, New Jersey, draft board in 1971, the Bureau celebrated. The case should have been an easy victory for the department—the perpetrators had been caught red-handed attempting to destroy conscription documents for draftees into the Vietnam War. But the results of the trial surprised everyone, and in the process shook the foundations of American law, politics, and religion.
In Spiritual Criminals, Michelle M. Nickerson shares a complex portrait of the Camden 28, a passionate group of grassroots religious progressives who resisted both their church and their government as they crusaded against the Vietnam War. Founded by priests, nuns, and devout lay Catholics, members of this coalition accepted the risks of felony convictions as the cost of challenging the nation’s military-industrial complex and exposing the illegal counterintelligence operations of the FBI. By peeling away the layers of political history, theological traditions, and the Camden 28’s personal stories, Nickerson reveals an often-unseen spiritual side of the anti-war movement. At the same time, she probes the fractures within the group, detailing important conflicts over ideology, race, sex, and gender that resonate in the church and on the political Left today.
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