We kill. We come home. We move on. But the violence haunts. And then it questions. Was I justified in Iraq? Is there meaning in violence? For some, the answer comes easily. For others, one question leads to many--the answers seen through all the plain. Benjamin John Peters invites you to accompany him on his harrowing journey through Marine Corps Recruit Training, a violence-riddled Iraq, the questions and doubts of seminary, and the pursuit of reparations in Cambodia. Retold in poignant detail, Through All the Plain chronicles the difficulties of war, of coming home, and of searching for meaning in violence. Peters approaches this topic with both sensitivity and vulnerability in a book that is sure to provoke questions about the nature of faith, violence, and justice in a complex world.
"Benjamin John Peters writes as a possessed man, overcome not by
demons but by the divine, for he displays a wonderful knack for
ordering the chaos that is war. Weaving story with scholarship,
this book illumines the dark places that our veterans visit and is
therefore a precious gift for congregations, communities, and
classrooms alike. Take and read this seemingly bitter tome; its
words will prove as sweet as honey on your lips, as they have
mine."
--Logan Mehl-Laituri, author of Reborn on the Fourth of
July
"We send young men and women to war without thinking. Out of sight,
they tend to be out of mind, our yellow-ribbon bumper stickers
notwithstanding. What happens when we send thinking soldiers to
war? Some come back to us with tales to tell, eyes-wide-open tales
that challenge our complicity with, our inurement to violence, the
violence we would render and the violence we sustain--personally
and corporately--in executing wars's ends. Peters's is one such
tale. It goes a long way toward dissipating the 'fog.'"
--Gregory Allen Robbins, author of Genesis 1-3 in the History of
Exegesis
"A compelling and honest account of one man's transformation from
an eager enlistee after the attacks on September 11 to a peacemaker
looking to make amends for his complicity in the violence and death
wrought by the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Through All the
Plain offers a rare look at life in the military and the
madness of war from an unusually introspective soldier, who
wrestles with--and eventually embraces--the call to love our
enemies."
--Eric Stoner, editor for WagingNonviolence.org
"Benjamin John Peters writes as a possessed man, overcome not by
demons but by the divine, for he displays a wonderful knack for
ordering the chaos that is war. Weaving story with scholarship,
this book illumines the dark places that our veterans visit and is
therefore a precious gift for congregations, communities, and
classrooms alike. Take and read this seemingly bitter tome; its
words will prove as sweet as honey on your lips, as they have
mine."
--Logan Mehl-Laituri, author of Reborn on the Fourth of
July
"We send young men and women to war without thinking. Out of sight,
they tend to be out of mind, our yellow-ribbon bumper stickers
notwithstanding. What happens when we send thinking soldiers to
war? Some come back to us with tales to tell, eyes-wide-open tales
that challenge our complicity with, our inurement to violence, the
violence we would render and the violence we sustain--personally
and corporately--in executing wars's ends. Peters's is one such
tale. It goes a long way toward dissipating the 'fog.'"
--Gregory Allen Robbins, author of Genesis 1-3 in the History of
Exegesis
"A compelling and honest account of one man's transformation from
an eager enlistee after the attacks on September 11 to a peacemaker
looking to make amends for his complicity in the violence and death
wrought by the U.S. occupation of Iraq. Through All the
Plain offers a rare look at life in the military and the
madness of war from an unusually introspective soldier, who
wrestles with--and eventually embraces--the call to love our
enemies."
--Eric Stoner, editor for WagingNonviolence.org
Benjamin John Peters holds a doctorate from the University of Denver in Philosophy and Literature. He resides in Denver with his wife and three children. You can find him at benjaminjohnpeters.com.