Nuclear War

Friends,

I read recently that when we are faced with challenging memories or events in life, we should do so not with shame, but with courage as we attempt to reconcile them or prevent their recurring,. As we commemorate the 80th anniversary of the bombing of Nagasaki today we are inclined to shamefully ignore the photos of the destruction and misery it caused - most agree unnecessarily as the bombing of Hiroshima had already established the devastating impact of an atomic bomb. It is understandable if we choose to look away. But the reality is that many of us born during this nuclear age have lived our entire lives now with the threat of a similar level of horror imposed on us. But because it is so painful to really see and feel the unimaginable destruction and death associated with nuclear warfare we give it less thought and simply accept it within the political world's competition and dominance. But we need to consider and acknowledge the inability to abolish nuclear weapons as one of the great failures of modern life, and thus it continues to be an ultimate threat to the survival of humanity and much of the planet itself.

And we actually did make some difference to abolish nuclear war in the 1970’s and 80’s with the Nuclear Freeze campaign which led to a multinational commitment to destroy some of the nuclear weapons. But the reality is that there are still enough weapons - including on the nearby nuclear submarine base in Bangor, WA - to destroy much of the earth, and other nations beside the U.S. and Russia have also established nuclear war capacity. Yes, there are now many other possible means of destroying civilization that concern and threaten us, but the grave threat of nuclear arms is one within a politically orchestrated possibility to have them abolished and relieve us of that level of threat. But as long as nuclear weapons represent the ultimate means of presuming to thwart the "enemy” with “mutual assured destruction” (the so-called MAD policy position), those competing for power will use that threat. So always behind the efforts to avert and abolish nuclear war there is the threat of the madman that he is willing kill us even if it means killing himself.

The threat of nuclear war has been in my subconscious all my life and seemed very real to me since I was first able to understand what nuclear warfare meant. Now I wonder how many of our young people especially are even vaguely aware of horrors of nuclear war, and in some ways, of course, I hope they do not carry the same dread as I did. But have they (or how many of us?) ever take to heart the descriptions of the impact and suffering on humans under the bombs in Japan? In other words, have we been allowed to mostly forget the human suffering and total destruction of nuclear warfare as no more than annual news story and hazy photos? 

I am mostly reluctant to write about war in general - and nuclear war in particular - because I don’t know quite how to relate my intense hatred of war to my readers. I have been ever so grateful that the late Pope Francis spoke out so fervently against the immorality and ultimate sinfulness of warfare. I am currently reading his recently published autobiography, Hope:The Autobiography (Random House, 2025) that explains both his personal family history and his deep interest in the study of war, and then speaking out against it so repeatedly, both from a personal perspective and from his Christian teaching and theology that led him to believe war is incompatible with his Christian faith. . I can only hope those who claim to respect Pope Francis will take seriously his profound anti-war commitment.

I began my post noting how difficult it is to look deeply at something as horrific as war with courage and not just shame. Anti-war sentiment does not originate from only descriptions of its horror, but in taking those stories and historical accounts within our hearts and challenging us to oppose the true madness of it. Peace begins within our hearts, and when enough people abhor war, and speak out against it, the leaders may well listen. I hope no one again will ever experience nuclear war first hand. And efforts to prevent it  begin with each of us personally as we also learn to oppose, fear and hate war.

Peace,
Tom