September 29, 2023
Friends,
https://www.commondreams.org/opinion/nuclear-weapons-faith-based-leaders
US
Lawmakers Should Learn from Faith-Based Leaders Demanding Elimination of Nuclear
Weapons
It’s up to us to demand politicians demonstrate
the courage and vision to speak the inconvenient truth to power that nuclear
deterrence, rather than protect us, puts us at ever increasing risk of eventual
nuclear use.
Sep 29, 2023
Earlier this week, the world observed the 10th International
Day for the Total Elimination of Nuclear Weapons amidst the backdrop of
unprecedented escalations in risk of nuclear war. Over the past two years,
repeated Russian threats to use nuclear weapons in the war in Ukraine
have dramatically weakened the
“nuclear taboo.” The risk of a potentially civilization-ending nuclear war has
risen to levels some experts say is at least has high as during the
Cuban Missile Crisis. Rather than turning back from the brink of
nuclear war, nuclear armed states are accelerating nuclear weapons spending.
The U.S. alone is estimated to spend $756 billion on nuclear weapons in the
next ten years.
Simultaneously, U.S. faith-based organizations and leaders such
as Archbishop John Wester of Santa Fe, New Mexico have taken remarkable action,
urging the United States to respond to this high-risk moment by
prioritizing the complete elimination of all nuclear weapons. As an
unprecedented election year approaches, lawmakers in the U.S. House of
Representatives should listen to their message and cosponsor H. Res. 77 to
support an active effort to eliminate all nuclear weapons globally.
"We can no longer deny or ignore the extremely dangerous
predicament of our human family,” says Wester.
“We are in a new nuclear arms race far more dangerous than the
first. Rather than viewing the war in Ukraine as an overwhelming impediment
toward making substantial progress, we should view it instead as a clear
demonstration of the absolute need to do so.”
For Wester, who wrote a 52-page pastoral letter calling
for nuclear disarmament last year, it is a critical moment.
Wester’s sense of responsibility to respond immediately to this
global crisis is a direct response to calls from Pope Francis,
who several times during his papacy has urged the world to eliminate nuclear
arsenals and spoke at the Peace Memorial in Hiroshima in November 2019.
It is also a personal issue for his congregants. His archdiocese
is home to two of the country's three nuclear weapons research facilities and
the largest U.S. repository of nuclear armaments.
"I believe that we in the Archdiocese of Santa Fe and
beyond are called to live in the light of Christ's peace and to reflect that
light to all,” says Wester. "We need to rejuvenate a sustained serious
conversation about universal, verifiable nuclear disarmament."
In May, while the leaders of the G7 nations gathered in Hiroshima,
Wester issued an open letter alongside
Archbishops Paul Etienne of Seattle, WA and Peter Michiaki Nakamura of
Nagasaki, and Bishop Alexis Mitsuru Shirahama of Hiroshima urging these
countries, some of the most powerful in the world, to "enter into serious
multilateral negotiations leading to nuclear disarmament."
Together, these leaders represent the diocese with the most spending
on nuclear weapons in the United States (Santa Fe, NM), the diocese with the
most deployed strategic nuclear weapons in the United States (Seattle, WA), and
the only two dioceses in the world to have suffered atomic attacks (Hiroshima
and Nagasaki, Japan).
This statement was followed by a “Pilgrimage for Peace” by
the four Catholic leaders in August in the cities of Tokyo, Akita, Kyoto,
Hiroshima, and Nagasaki.
In addition to these initiatives, many national faith groups
have also renewed their calls for nuclear abolition. Eleven national faith
groups, including the National Council of Churches (NCC), the largest
ecumenical body in the U.S., marked the July 16 anniversary of the 1945 Trinity
test in New Mexico by signing an interfaith letter to Congress calling
for several actions, including co-sponsorship of House Resolution 77 (H. Res. 77), which supports
the goals and provisions of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
H. Res.77 calls on the U.S. to adopt five policy prescriptions
to reduce the risk of nuclear war while prioritizing multilateral negotiations
among nuclear-armed states for the complete elimination of all nuclear weapons
to finally bring the nuclear age to a close. The resolution, originally
introduced by Rep. Jim McGovern, is now cosponsored by 40 Members of Congress.
“The United States and all nuclear powers must renew
negotiations to reduce and eliminate nuclear weapons. For the sake of all
people, around the world, we must end the existence of nuclear weapons on this
planet, before nuclear weapons end the existence of human life on this planet,”
says Rep. McGovern.
The Congressional resolution mirrors the policy prescriptions
called for by the nationwide grassroots Back from the Brink campaign, a coalition
of individuals, organizations, and elected officials working to fundamentally
change U.S. nuclear weapons policy. The campaign has been endorsed by
over 150 faith-based organizations, including the
Episcopal Church, Friends Committee on National Legislation, Islamic Society of
North America, Pax Christi-USA, Presbyterian Church, Reconstructionist
Rabbinical Association, Soka Gakkai International-USA, United Church of Christ
Justice and Witness Ministries, and United Methodist General Board of Church
and Society.
As Frederick Douglas famously said: “power concedes nothing
without a demand.” It’s up to us to demand they demonstrate the political
courage and vision to speak the inconvenient truth to power that nuclear deterrence,
rather than protect us, puts us at ever increasing risk of eventual nuclear use.
Congress must recognize the severity of the high risk moment we face and the catastrophic
civilization ending effects that would follow even so-called “limited nuclear war.” To
turn back from the brink of nuclear annihilation, Congress should support H.
Res. 77 and urge the administration to adopt this fundamentally different
approach to nuclear weapons."
Our work is
licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and
share widely.
Danny Hall, Director of Public Affairs for Soka
Gakkai International-USA (SGI-USA) and a Back from the Brink Steering Committee
Member, reflects on the courageous actions faith leaders have taken in recent
months to build international solidarity and urge political leaders to take
tangible steps toward disarmament. He argues that Congress must listen to these
leaders and pass H. Res. 77, which supports the goals and provisions of the
Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons.
Donations can be sent
to Max Obuszewski, Baltimore Nonviolence Center, 431 Notre Dame Lane, Apt. 206,
Baltimore, MD 21212. Ph: 410-323-1607; Email: mobuszewski2001 [at]
comcast.net. Go to http://baltimorenonviolencecenter.blogspot.com/
"The master class
has always declared the wars; the subject class has always fought the battles.
The master class has had all to gain and nothing to lose, while the subject
class has had nothing to gain and everything to lose--especially their
lives." Eugene Victor Debs
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