REMEMBERING HIROSHIMA
For 30 years we have arranged events at Aylesford to help people remember. Why? More than 50 years of papal and Catholic social teaching against nuclear weapons has given moral weight to a worldwide non-proliferation effort, as yet without total success in ridding the planet of these weapons.
“Pope Francis has recently pushed the moral argument against nuclear weapons to a new level, not only against their use but also against their possession,” said Archbishop Bernardito Auza, the Holy See’s Ambassador to the U.N. in April 2015. “Today there is no more argument, not even the argument of deterrence used during the Cold War, that could ‘minimally morally justify’ the possession of nuclear weapons. The ‘peace of a sort’ that is supposed to justify nuclear deterrence is specious and illusory.”
The Holy See is “very concerned,” Auza added, about the commitment of nuclear-capable states to disarmament, arguing that the central promise of the treaty remains unfulfilled. “The fact that nuclear-possessing States not only have not dismantled their nuclear arsenals but are modernizing them lies at the heart of nuclear proliferation,” he says. “It perpetuates the ‘injustice’ in the NPT regime, which was supposed to be temporary while nuclear disarmament was in progress…. how could we reasonably convince the pre-NPT non-nuclear countries not to acquire or develop nuclear arms capabilities? Now, the real and present danger that non-state actors, like terrorist and extremist organizations, could acquire nuclear weapons ‘in the black market’ and ‘not-so-black market,’ ‘in the back alleys’ and ‘not-so-back alleys’ should terrify us all.”
(The following is largely extracted from an essay by David Krieger)
The bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are in the past. The victims were largely civilians: those closest to the epicentres of the explosions were incinerated, while those further away were exposed to radiation poisoning, so that many suffered excruciatingly painful deaths and survivors still continue to suffer from the effects of exposure to radiation.
We cannot resurrect these cities. Their residents have done this for themselves. What we can do is learn from their experience, which perhaps provides humanity’s most important lesson: we face the possibility of extinction as a species, not simply our individual deaths, but the death of all of humanity. This possibility became evident at Hiroshima. Albert Camus, wrote “peace is the only battle worth waging. This is no longer a prayer but a demand to be made by all peoples to their governments – a demand to choose definitively between hell and reason.”
To rely upon nuclear weapons for security is to put the future of our species and most of life at risk. Humanity has a choice: reduce and eliminate nuclear weapons or continue to run the risk of them eliminating us. We must all recognize this choice and act upon it.
People generally think it is unlikely that weapons of mass destruction will be used in the future. Further, they do not think that our country or its allies will actually use nuclear weapons because our leaders would feel constrained from doing so. Finally, they consider that we have a responsibility to defend ourselves, and believe that nuclear weapons would do this. They have many reasons for not becoming involved. It would actually demand something of them. Many are reluctant to commit themselves. Most accept the mythology about our leaders doing the right thing and the further mythology that nuclear weapons protect us. They have not thought through the risks associated with possessing and deploying large numbers of weapons. They have not considered the risks of accidents and miscalculations, the dangers of faulty communications and irrational leaders. They have not considered the possibilities that deterrence could fail and the result could be future Hiroshimas and Nagasakis, in fact, globalized Hiroshimas and Nagasakis.
Most are able to avoid accepting personal responsibility for any involvement in the process of developing and possessing weapons of mass destruction. Some also dismiss their personal responsibility on the basis that others are involved, and that nuclear weapons are a societal problem. (Which is correct.) Unfortunately, it is a problem for which far too few individuals take personal ethical responsibility: there is widespread indifference and inaction in the face of our reliance on nuclear weapons. The result of this inaction is, tragically, the likelihood that eventually these weapons will again be used with horrendous consequences for humanity. In addition, we spur the global arms race by providing an example to other powers that peaceful diplomatic solutions are best sought only when in possession of overpowering military force.
Our commemoration may be short or long, simple or elaborate, but these anniversaries should not be forgotten. By looking back we can also look forward and remain conscious of the risks before us. The anniversaries also provide a time to focus on what needs to be done to end the nuclear weapons threat to humanity and to all life. By keeping the memory of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki alive we may help to keep humanity alive. This is a critical part of our responsibility as citizens of Earth living in the Nuclear Age.