• Nuclear arms abolitionist group formed in 1980
• Believes that weapons of war are "anti-God"

The nuclear arms abolitionist group Plowshares was created on September 9, 1980 when eight activists (including Daniel Berrigan and Philip Berrigan) vandalized a factory in Pennsylvania where nose cones for ballistic missiles were being manufactured. The activists pounded two missile casings with hammers in a symbolic attempt to "beat swords into plowshares" (a phrase from biblical passages in Isaiah [2:4] and Micah [4:3]). They also poured blood on military documents at the scene and offered "prayers for peace." Ever since, hammers and blood have remained the principal symbols that Plowshares members employ in their direct actions. "Hammers," says the organization, "are used to literally begin the process of disarmament that thousands of talks and numerous treaties have failed to accomplish … and to point to the urgency for conversion of war production to products that enhance life. The blood symbolizes the mass killing that weapons of mass destruction can inflict, as well as the murderous cost they now impose on the poor."

A jury later convicted the aforementioned Plowshares Eight of burglary, conspiracy, and criminal mischief, sentencing them to prison terms of five to ten years apiece. Testifying in court on their behalf were such notables as Ramsey Clark, Robert J. Lifton, Richard Falk, and Howard Zinn. After several appeals, the defendants were re-sentenced and paroled for up to 23 and 1/2 months in consideration of time already served in prison.   

In the tradition of the initial targeting of the Pennsylvania missile factory, Plowshares' actions invariably continue to take the form of property destruction, for which its members claim a religious pretext. Seeking to "unmask the false religion and worship of national security," they assert that weapons of war are "anti-God, anti-life, and therefore, are inherently evil and have no right to exist." Adds Plowshares: "[I]t is the responsibility of people of faith and conscience to begin to nonviolently dismantle these weapons. … The real crime is … the U.S. government's first-strike nuclear policy, its military interventionist policy, and its commitment to wage a war against the poor of the world to protect its economic interests."

Invoking "biblical vision" as their justification for sabotage, Plowshares members have attempted to symbolically and/or actually impair rifles, missile launchers, grenade throwers, missiles (such as the MX, Perishing II, Cruise, Minuteman ICBMs, and Trident II), Trident submarines, B-52 bombers, P-3 Orion anti-submarine aircraft, the Navstar system, the ELF communication system, and the Milstar satellite system.

As of February 2003, more than 150 individuals had participated in some six-dozen disarmament actions in Plowshares' name. These demonstrators generally have set out with the intention of getting arrested, so as to draw public attention to their cause. Their legal penalties have ranged from suspended sentences to eighteen years in prison; the average sentence has been between one and two years.

Rejecting military action under any and all circumstances, Plowshares' worldview holds an "underlying faith that the power of nonviolent love can overcome the forces of violence." As Philip Berrigan stated in the group's behalf, "We try to disarm ourselves by disarming the weapons."

Plowshares co-founder Bob Bossie (who also founded Voices in the Wilderness) condemns not only America's alleged militarism, but also its supposedly rampant "racism, sexism, [and] classism."