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Reflecting On Nuclear Weapons During Holy Week

Iran is clearly on a path toward developing a nuclear bomb.  No one should question the seriousness of this development.  When the United States first unleashed atomic weapons on civilian targets it became almost inevitable that other and more dangerous nations would acquire such technologies.  Evil was unleashed in a way never seen before. 

There are credible media reports that in response to Iran's moves that the US will launch bombing campaigns - and even use small nuclear arms - to stop their program. 

The hope is apparently that such military action on the part of the US will cause the Iranian people to overthrow their government and align themselves with the West.  That would seem to be flawed thinking (anyone at the White House ever heard of a place called Iraq?). 

At this moment in time - Holy Week for Christians - it seems appropriate to reflect on the statement concerning the elimination of nuclear arms adopted this year by the Assembly of the World Council of Churches.

In the nuclear age, God who is slow to anger and abounding in mercy has granted humanity many days of grace.

Through the troubled years of the Cold War and into the present time, it has become clear that, in this as in other ways, God has saved us from ourselves. Although many were and are deceived, God is not mocked (Gal 6:7). If vengeance in daily life is for God (Rom 12:19), surely the vengeance of nuclear holocaust is not for human hands. Our place is to labour for life with God....

As more states acquire nuclear arms the risk of nuclear weapons falling into non-state hands increases--just when it is an international imperative to wisely overcome the violence of terrorism. Nuclear arms do not deter non-state agents and nuclear action against them would cause gross slaughter while shattering international law and morality...

On the question of morality, all people of faith are needed in our day to expose the fallacies of nuclear doctrine. These hold, for example, that weapons of mass destruction are agents of stability; that governments have nuclear arms so they will never use them; and that there is a role in the human affairs of this small planet for a bomb more powerful than all the weapons ever used. With our aging sisters and brothers who survived atomic bombs in Japan and tests in the Pacific and former Soviet Union, and as people emerging from a century of genocides and global wars, we are bound to confront these follies before it is too late.

Churches must prevail upon governments until they recognize the incontrovertible immorality of nuclear weapons.

Click here to read the full statement.

Related Link:  Catholic Group Calls For Abolition Of Nuclear Weapons

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