It really has become easy since the end of the Cold War to stop thinking about the danger posed by nuclear weapons. Our biggest concern might be one of these weapons of mass destruction slipping into the heads of a terrorist or "rogue" state. There are, of course, other dangers. One of those dangers is that the United States - the only nation to ever use such a weapon - might do so again.
Don't be shocked or outraged at the suggestion. President Bush, after all, has advocated the development of new nuclear weapons. The immorality of such weapons has been condemned time and time again by the world's religious leaders.
Pax Christi USA, the Roman Catholic peace organization, reminds us again in a statement this week how important the abolition of nuclear weapons is to the safety of our planet.
Pax Christi USA, the national Catholic peace movement, has endorsed a "Call for the Swift Abolition of Nuclear Weapons," a proposal issued by the Japan Council Against Atomic and Hydrogen Bombs (GENSUIKYO) that urges the United Nations and all world governments to begin negotiations to reach an international convention for a total ban on and the elimination of nuclear weapons.
The proposal was initiated on January 1, 2006, and will culminate at the 2006 Bikini Day on March 1, the World Peace Forum in Vancouver in June 2006, and the 61st U.N. General Assembly.
"It is now 60 years since the first session of the U.N. General Assembly adopted its first resolution in January 1946 pledging to move for the elimination of nuclear weapons," the proposal reads. "The overwhelming majority of both the people and the governments of the world is demanding the abolition of nuclear weapons. Nevertheless, a large number of nuclear weapons, enough to annihilate the whole of humanity, is still being stockpiled and deployed."
Pax Christi USA Executive Director Dave Robinson said that this proposal is crucial toward maintaining the momentum for nuclear abolition, a call being led by the Hibakusha, the survivors of the atomic bombings in Japan. "There is only one response to the nuclear holocaust inflicted on Hiroshima and Nagasaki 60 years ago: Never Again!" Robinson said. "Despite calls from leaders around the globe for nuclear disarmament, the United States maintains the biggest stockpile of nuclear weapons, and under the Bush administration has reignited nuclear weapons development and testing. Our response to this must be a continued and intensified call for nuclear abolition - by our own country and all nuclear states around the world."
Click here to learn more about the proposal.