Blessed Peacemakers. Robin Jarrell

the harsh lives of Welsh famers and laborers. Thomas was generally unexpressive in his personal relationships, but he felt the impoverishment of his fellow Welshmen keenly and was a long-standing critic of what he saw as their oppression by the forces of capitalism.

      Another continuous theme in Thomas’s poetry was his love of the fierce Welsh landscape, especially the western seacoast. He was an ardent conservationist and wildlife preservationist his entire adult life, resisting mightily development of the countryside by both British and Welsh entrepreneurs. To the end of his life, he spoke out against the urbanization of rural Wales as well as the miserable living conditions of many of his fellow countrymen. As one commentator noted, he became the “troubler of the Welsh conscience.”

      Thomas’s sympathy for the poor as well as his deep love of the Welsh countryside were fueled by a Christian-inspired dislike of violence. He became a pacifist shortly after his ordination in 1937, despite his awareness that “the general attitude of the Church to war between states” was “completely contrary to the teaching of Christ, who was that most unpopular creature in most circles, a pacifist.” But even though he criticized the Church of England for its refusal to condemn warfare, he also expressed gratitude that his ordination gave him immunity from the draft during World War II. Looking back, he suspected that had he been a layperson in 1939, his “pacifist and conscientious objections” might not have been enough to motivate a resistance on his part to conscription.

      In his later years, Thomas became an active member of the British-based Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the pacifist organization cofounded by Bertrand Russell.

      30 March

      Dith Pran

      27 September 1942—30 March 2008

      Messenger from the Killing Fields