When the Rev. John Dear realized he should devote his life to peace and non-violence, he said he banged his fist on a balcony in Israel, saying he would only do so if there was a sign from God.

Within a few minutes, three Israeli fighter jets swooped down over his head near the chapel he was visiting as the conflict between Israel and Lebanon was taking place in 1989.

"They flew over my head and I thought, 'All right, I'm going for peace and justice,'" said Dear, a prominent Jesuit priest, during a talk at St. Ambrose Catholic Church in Salt Lake City Sunday night.

Speaking animatedly to the audience that filled nearly half the chapel, the 50-year-old Dear discussed the problem of supporting war and violence, which he described as "anti-human, anti-creation, anti-democracy and anti-Christ."

Dear's advocacy for peace as the preferred tool for conflict resolution rang throughout the room as he shared his experiences as an active and non-violent protester of injustice, one who has been arrested more than 75 times. The lecture, "The Road to Peace: Gospel Non-violence in a World of Violence," was instigated by the church's Tuesday Peace Prayer group, which meets each week to meditate and pray for the end of the war in Iraq. Bringing Dear to Salt Lake was intended to "light the fire under us" and spark awareness about active non-violence and the need to love each other, said Dee Rowland, director of the Peace and Justice Commission for the Catholic Diocese of Salt Lake City.

Instead of passively watching events take place, Dear called for military bases to be closed, for people to seek non-violent solutions, for the military force to leave the Middle East and for additional support to prophets of peaceful solutions.

Referring to the Biblical time of Jesus Christ's arrest, Dear recounted when Peter was willing to bring up his sword to defend Jesus, but instead was told not to fight or harm the soldiers.

"He's not even going to defend himself violently, so we don't get to," Dear said, referring to Jesus Christ. "God never said to Peter, avenge my death, and Peter didn't go out and form groups to kill soldiers. That's what he would do if he was a good American."

Back to our time, Dear explained to the crowd a confusing contrast he recently came across. He noted that in July, newspaper headlines broadcasted Michael Jackson's death, but few announced how more than 1 billion people are starving to death — a daunting prospect, he said.

"We're not walking the road to peace, we're barreling down the highway to war," Dear said. "We're brain-washed. Most of us, since we were weeks old. We think of violence as normal."

e-mail: lgroves@desnews.com