Dealing with the Nuclear Genie

Friends,

July 16th marked the day 66 years ago when the United States let the nuclear genie out of the lamp. 

On July 16, 1945, at 5:29:45 AM at the Alamogordo Test Range, on the Jornada del Muerto (Journey of Death) desert, in the test named Trinity, the experimental device known as the "Gadget" was detonated, creating a light "brighter than a thousand suns." A mere 6 kilogram (13.2 pound) sphere of plutonium, compressed to supercriticality by the surrounding high explosives, created an explosion equivalent to 20,000 tons of TNT (20 Kilotons).

Was this, as thought nuclear physicist Robert Oppenheimer, the beginning of the end? These scientists had "become death", and they had created what could become (quite literally) "the destroyer of worlds."  Oppenheimer quoted a verse from the Bhagavad Gita which read "I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds."  The nuclear genie was out of the lamp and now, 66 years later, we have one final wish left. Will it be for the genie to return to the lamp?

Less than one month after the Trinity test, the United States dropped two atomic bombs - on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki - that killed over 100,000 people in less time than it took me to type a few of these words. As many as 220,000 were dead from the effects of radiation by the end of 1945. Even today, 66 years later, survivors and subsequent generations suffer the effects of radiation.

So began a journey (with the test known as Trinity) that has led humanity down the perilous road of preparation for its own destruction. Scientists have continued to seek the power of gods, creating ever more destructive nuclear devices over the years, and many in our government and others continue asking for more of these awful weapons in every shape and form (and method of delivery).

Today the U.S. government is building new bomb-making facilities at Kansas City and Oak Ridge, while it develops new nuclear capable bombers and ballistic missile submarines (just to name a few key projects).  What message do you think this sends to other nations contemplating developing or building more nuclear weapons???

Our leaders, including President Obama, are forging ahead towards nuclear darkness, and it is up to the people to call for an end to this madness that consumes vast quantities of economic capital while preparing for the end of life as we know it.  We can participate on many levels, from advocacy to nonviolent direct action, from our hands to our feet - there is something everyone can do to help put the genie back in the bottle.

It is no simple task, and many people would say that we are naive to think such a thing is possible.  We will never know if we don't try.  Even the U.S. Conference of Mayors, at its recent meeting, called for the abolition of nuclear weapons. 

Get involved in an upcoming event commemorating the anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  Many cities have ceremonies commemorating these events.  Click here for events occurring around Puget Sound.  Take one of many advocacy actions, including cutting the 2012 nuclear weapons budget, at the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation or any number of other organizations (see the list of "Hot Links" in the right hand column of this blog).

After 66 years it is high time we put the nuclear genie back in the lamp.

Peace,

Leonard

Help Mayors for Peace Grow!

Friends,

As the only cities to have suffered the horrific effects of nuclear weapons, Hiroshima and Nagasaki have consistently sought to persuade the world that nuclear weapons are inhumane, continually calling for their total abolition. In 1982, the mayors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki established Mayors for Peace to promote the total elimination of nuclear weapons as a vital step toward genuine and lasting world peace. The Conference was registered as a NGO in Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council in May 1991.

Since its inception Mayors for Peace has gradually built up its membership of mayors of cities around the world acting in solidarity towards a world without nuclear weapons.  By 2003 when they launched their 2020 Vision Campaign, Mayors for Peace had 500 member cities.  As of March 2011 there are 4540 members in 150 countries and regions around the world.

The 2020 Vision Campaign aims for the global abolition of nuclear weapons by the year 2020, the 75th anniversary of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.  Working with many other organizations the 2020 Vision Campaign has built momentum with "The Hiroshima-Nagasaki Protocol", a road map to its goal of nuclear abolition by 2020, and "Cities Are Not Targets (CANT)", that sends a clear message to nuclear weapon states that cities are no longer willing to be held hostage to the threat of use of nuclear weapons.

There are currently 150 mayors for peace members in the U.S.  As one of the world's two largest nuclear powers, we can do better.  Washington State, and particularly Puget Sound, is home to the single largest concentration of operational nuclear weapons, and that makes it even more important for mayors in our region to join Mayors for Peace in solidarity with other mayors working toward a nuclear weapons-free world.

Washington State has two current mayors who are members; Mayor Marilyn Strickland of Tacoma and Mayor Mary Verner of Spokane.  Other participating cities - where previous mayors were members - include Seattle and Olympia.

Maren Clifton and Kyle Jorgensen have started a Washington Mayors for Peace Campaign.  Their goal is to contact every mayor in Washington State and invite them all to join and support the goals of Mayors for Peace.  They can't do it alone!  Here is their request:

WE NEED YOUR HELP

As we send information to mayors (which we have organized by county), we would like to coordinate with local individuals and groups to follow up, write letters, or visit mayors in person to express the need for nuclear disarmament. If you are interested in getting involved or would like to know more, please contact us via telephone at (253) 219-6409, or email M4PWashington@gmail.com.

Best Regards,

Maren Clifton and Kyle Jorgensen

This is going to be a tough one; we live in a state with not only Hanford and Bangor (two major nuclear installations), but also one with a very large overall military presence.  It will take a great deal of work to break down the old thinking that nuclear weapons create security and are a credible "deterrent".

Please support Maren's and Kyle's efforts.  Contact them and find out how your city can join Mayors for Peace.  A nuclear weapons-free world is possible - with our efforts.

PEACE,

Leonard

P.S. - If you live outside Washington State click here and then click here to download materials to present to your mayor.

The Bomb and the Hope

Dear Friends,

Nuclear weapons are, for most people, an abstract concept; a concept that exists in the mind (if at all), without any concrete existence. Today's nuclear weapons are kept out of sight and out of mind, not just to protect them from those pesky terrorists (and plowshares activists) but also from the public's awareness. But for the victims of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, some of whom are alive today, these weapons are anything but an abstraction, and they are very much aware of the existence of today's nuclear weapons.

Sixty-five years after the atomic bombings we continue working to keep the memory of these horrific events alive, and we typically do so by sharing the facts about and experience of the bombings through written and spoken word, photographs, art, as well as through testimony of survivors of the bombings (Hibakusha).

At last week's From Hiroshima to Hope lantern floating ceremonies at Green Lake in Seattle, Washington, the Hiroshima-Nagasaki Poster Exhibition (from the Hiroshima Peace Memorial Museum) was on display. I was, however, most deeply touched by a presentation of dance accompanied by music that artistically portrayed the bomb and its effects on people far beyond its physical effects. The Bomb and the Hope, an original dance choreographed by iori Yoshimura, is a powerful and moving piece that is (as the title states) about the Bomb, but even more so about Hope.

In the dance a widow comes in searching for her husband, sees him dead, and experiences terrible grief. Then the bomb enters, and when it sees what it has done it feels the magnificence of its power and intimidates the widow, who initially succumbs, feeling fear that reaches such a peak the bomb gets excited and strikes at the widow. Her fear is so great that the widow falls back, feeling that she can't go on - a turning point.

The bomb questions itself; "Is this all I have? Fear? The widow finally approaches the bomb, and touches it. At that moment the bomb questions how the widow can forgive. The bomb then goes off in awe, transformed. The widow takes off her shawl, which has hidden her grief, and walks off, ready to go on.



The Bomb and the Hope was choreographed by iori Yoshimura, danced by iori Yoshimura (as the widow) and Heather Porter (as Pika, the white lightening of the atomic bomb), with accompaniment by Denny Moore on the Native American flute.

I was deeply moved by the spirit of this beautiful dance. It is a testament of the power of the arts to touch our innermost reaches, allowing us to see things in a different light, and perhaps helping lead to our own inner transformation along the nonviolent path. Perhaps The Bomb and the Hope will reach many who have not yet been able to see the atomic bombings as anything more than historical events or sets of statistics. Perhaps it will transform people by helping them see the power of forgiveness.

Watch the video and decide for yourself.

Peace,

Leonard

Nuclear Weapons: Resistance Is NOT Futile!

Dear Friends,

The anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki have come and gone. The weekend surrounding those two anniversaries was filled with activities commemorating the events. In Hiroshima it was the first time ever that the U.S. Government sent a representative to attend the ceremonies to mark the moment the first atomic bomb was dropped.

There were also other events around the world commemorating the atomic bombings. Some, such as the From Hiroshima to Hope Lantern Floating Ceremony at Seattle's (Washington State) Green Lake brought people together for peace and nuclear disarmament.

Other events also commemorated the atomic bombings in their own unique solemn fashion by condusting nonviolent resistance actions in which some participants engaged in creative acts intended to symbolically close facilities engaged in the design, production, storage or deployment of nuclear weapons.

People vigiled, demonstrated and acted (nonviolently), and some participants were arrested for their actions at Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor (aka Sub Base Bangor), Vandenburg Air Force Base, California, Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, The Pentagon, the Strategic (Nuclear) Command at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, Lockheed-Martin's nuclear weapons facility in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania and Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, California.

Nuclear resisters (from left to right) Alice Zillah, Macknight Johnson and Rev. Anne Hall holding a banner, blocking the entrance to Trident nuclear submarine base Bangor, symbolically closing the base, on August 9, 2010. A total of nine resisters blocked the roadway and were arrested that day. Resisters ranged in age from 21 to 88.

People sometimes ask why people choose to engage in such actions when there are other "legal" avenues available to voice one's opinions, avenues that include voting, letters to the editor, correspondence and visits with elected officials, and public demonstrations.

The answer most provide is that they have tried all of these methods, but feel that they have had little, if any, real impact. And in light of what many international legal experts cite as the illegality (and don't forget the immorality) of nuclear weapons and the threat of their use under international law, we (as citizens) must act; we believe that it is essentially our moral obligation and our legal right.

But don't take my word for it; you should hear it from someone who has been arrested more than once, and tried and convicted for her actions. Ann "Kit" Kittredge was recently tried for her action with another resister, Denny Moore, during a Ground Zero vigil honoring Martin Luther King Jr. on January 16, 2010, in which they set up a wooden ladder near the base entrance at the Trident nuclear submarine base and strategic weapons storage facility at Bangor, Washington, and attempted to climb over the barbed wire fence onto the base. They carried with them a letter to the base commander imploring him to disarm the base.

At Kittredge's trial on May 3rd she testified on her own behalf as to the reasons for her action in January. She spoke purposefully and passionately about her act; you can read a copy of her testimony (below), which she provided. My hope is that this testimony of one resister will help people better understand why some choose to resist.

I know many people see resistance as a futile gesture, but for those who make the difficult choice to resist, it is anything but futile. It is a statement of hope, of faith, of a deep abiding belief that we can create a peaceful and sustainable world free of nuclear weapons for future generations.

May it one day be so.

Peace,

Leonard

Testimony of Ann Kittredge in United States District Court, Tacoma, Washington on Friday, July 16, 2010.

My name is Ann Marlowe Kittredge.

I am a mother, grandmother, firefighter/EMT, Massage Therapist, Organic Farmer and Peace Activist. i am 11th generation American and a Daughter of the American Revolution. I was taught that the United States Constitution gives me the right to the petition for redress of grievances and that as a citizen of this Democracy and the world it is my patriotic duty and responsibility to do so.After exhausting countless other lawful avenues to advocate for the removal of nuclear weapons and the threat
and/or harm from their potential use I chose to attempt to reenter Naval Base Kitsap to bring to the attention of the relevant officer my concern.

When our Congress and the Federal Judiciary FAIL to ensure that the Executive Branch act within International and U.S. law, to limit method and means of the threat or use of military force, WE THE PEOPLE are compelled to act without being treated as criminals.

Under the Fourth Geneva Convention various types of weapons are prohibited under all circumstances. The Trident Nuclear missile submarines at Naval Base kitsap are one of these. These barbaric first-strike Weapons of Mass Destruction are incapable of distinguishing between combatants and civilians and therefore are in violation of International Law per Geneva Protocol of 1925 and by the US Army Manual 27-10 on the Law of the Land National Law. The Charter at the Nuremberg Tribunal made explicit that violations of the Law of War are criminal. Furthermore the United States is obligated under the Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty to negotiate the elimination of it's nuclear weapons and is failing to do so.

I cannot look my children and grandchildren in the eye and tell them I am aware of this atrocious, destructive, unlawfulness and that I did nothing. I feel it is imperative that I take action in upholding the law for peace and justice or I am complicit in this illegal behavior either by cooperation or by silence.

This is why I chose to reenter Naval Base Kitsap.

Thank You

Nuclear Weapons - A Time for The Clergy to Speak Out

Dear Friends,

I write this to those of you in the clergy, that global body of people charged with leading the people to peace. In the Christian Church that, of course, means following the ways of Jesus, and as I read the texts of the New Testament, Jesus' life and teachings are unambiguous - we are not to kill.

As for the church and your role in it, I know how difficult it is for you to inhabit an institution that for roughly 1700 years has been inextricably chained to the very empire it is supposed to resist. Constantine was, indeed, a clever one; no one saw those heavy chains coming.

There have been those who have, from within, challenged us to be more than we are. The Reverend William Sloane Coffin is among those modern day prophets who warned the church and all its inhabitants of the dangers of the empire and its propensity for destruction, including its own.

Coffin worked tirelessly to abolish nuclear weapons. He started a nuclear disarmament program while senior minister at the Riverside Church, and in his later years founded Faithful Security, a coalition for people of faith committed to working for a world free of nuclear weapons.

The church has, for the most part, kept silent for these 65 years since (and about) the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And since those bombings the U.S. and Soviet Union have led the world in building up huge arsenals of nuclear weapons far beyond the destructive capabilities of the bombs dropped on Japan.

What could (and should) the church do if it wishes to recapture the spirit of the early church before it was co-opted. Here is what Gary Kohls, M.D., a founding member of Every Church a Peace Church, has to say:

Much of the responsibility for causing and, therefore preventing, military atrocities like Nagasaki lies with the Just War Theory American Christian churches and whether or not they will finally start teaching what Jesus taught and then living as he lived: the unconditional love of friend, neighbor and enemy the refusing to kill other children of a loving God.

The next Nagasaki can be prevented if the churches courageously and publicly resist militarism by active nonviolent means and refuse their government’s call for the conscription of the bodies and souls of their sons and daughters.

If the churches start to exercise their sacred duty to warn their young parishioners about what killing does to their souls, it may not be too late to save the suffering people of a dying, war-torn, financially and morally bankrupt planet.

In a little over two weeks people will come together to remember the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and rededicate themselves to the abolition of nuclear weapons. People of faith should all be at the forefront of this struggle (and many already are), and they need strong and courageous leadership to guide them on this difficult path.

On August 8th, the Sunday between the anniversaries of the bombings, ministers in the vast majority of churches will go about the usual Sunday business of worship. Perhaps a few will offer a brief litany or prayer related to Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Even fewer will preach a sermon on the subject.

So I challenge each of you good clergy people - people of faith; people of a gentle, loving, merciful god - to ask what God wishes of you and what that gentle Jesus would say if he dropped by your office and you asked him about that August 8th sermon. I challenge you to give the sermon that will make the people sit up and listen, that will make many uncomfortable and perhaps even more of them angry, but above all to make them accountable. I challenge you to breathe life into the words that on so many Sundays are just that - words.

Rabbi Heschel once said that "There is the grain of the prophet in the recesses of every human existence." I challenge you to find that prophetic voice deep inside yourself and bring it out. The world can't wait and the people desperately need to be roused from their stupor.

Why now? Why the Sunday of the Hiroshima/Nagasaki 65th anniversaries? Why not!?!? Of all the abominations forced by humans on their fellow humanity, none is more diabolical than nuclear weapons. There is no other single weapon in the world capable of instantly incinerating hundreds of thousands of people in an instant.

So I ask you with all humility to speak up on Sunday, August 8th; speak up with all the faith and conviction possible. And then speak up some more. As the Rev. William Sloane Coffin once said in his book, Passion for the Possible, A Message to U.S. Churches:

It's my own deep feeling that most people in the pews are far more prepared for painful truths than we give them credit for. What they want their preachers to do is to raise to a conscious level the knowledge inherent in their experience. And the majority of them realize that the painful truths known and spoken sour and subvert life less than those known and unspoken. So let us not hesitate to speak up, to preach with clarity and compassion at true and lively biblical word, remembering always that our calling is to serve the Lord, not to be servile to our congregations.

In Peace,

Leonard

P.S. - One more thing you can do as leaders of the people is to participate in activities surrounding the anniversaries of the atomic bombings. Communities, large or small, have vigils, lantern lighting ceremonies or other gatherings on or around one or both anniversaries.

Click here to find an event in your state. If you are in Washington State, click here for events.

And just one more thing: check out the Two Futures Project and Faithful Security!

The quote by Gary Kohls is from one of his Duty to Warn essays, The Bombing of Nagasaki August 9, 1945: The Untold Story.

No More Hiroshimas, No More Nagasakis!

Dear Friends,

I wrote about the Interfaith Journey of Repentance in a previous post. Members of this delegation traveled to Hiroshima and Nagasaki for the 64th anniversaries of the atomic bombings to listen to the stories of the Hibakusha and engage in the global movement to abolish all nuclear weapons. If you haven't yet read about their journey, I highly recommend their blog (click here or see the link below). There is also another link with photos of Father Louis Vitale, who was one of the participants, at Pace e Bene.

Hiroshima's mayor, Tadatoshi Akiba, presented the city's annual Peace Declaration on August 6th, a document that expresses the "Spirit of Hiroshima", that spirit being characterized by forgiveness, the struggle for peace, and the determination that no other city shall ever suffer the fates of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The United States, being the only nation to have ever used nuclear weapons on another, has a unique responsibility to set the example for other nations to move towards a world without nuclear weapons.

As the survivors of the atomic bombings grow older, we are gradually losing the living memories of these tragedies; and collective memory is so important if we are to keep the torch of nuclear abolition alive. It is through the dedication of people such as those engaged in the Journey of Repentance that we will help keep the memories alive and spread the word of peace and reconciliation so necessary in a world awash in violence. The struggle to rid the world of nuclear weapons will only be won through the principles of nonviolence.

Repentance is much more than a simple apology. The Journey of Repentance is a model for the commitment to working (in a deep, sincere way) for nuclear abolition. I hope that reading their blog will give you a sense of their deep commitment, and demonstrate the hope that exists through the actions of people like these. May we all journey along with them in our own repentance for the sins of the past, while we work to ensure that we will never again commit such egregious sins as were committed on the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Hiroshima, Nagasaki - Never Again!

Peace,

Leonard

Click here to read the Journey of Repentance Blog.

Click here to see photos of Father Louis Vitale's participation in the Journey of Repentance.

Sign the Statement of Repentance at the Journey of Repentance Website.

Original Child Bomb

Friends ,

In the year 1945 an Original Child was born.The name Original Child was given to it by the Japanese people, who recognized that it was the first of its kind. So begins Thomas Merton's Original Child Bomb: Points for meditation to be scratched on the walls of a cave.

The Original Child Bomb to which Merton refers "exploded within 100 feet of the aiming point. The fireball was 18,000 feet across. The temperature at the center of the fireball was 100,000,000 degrees. The people who were near the center became nothing. The whole city was blown to bits and the ruins all caught fire instantly everywhere, burning briskly. 70,000 people were killed right away or died within a few hours. Those who did not die at once suffered great pain. Few of them were soldiers" (from Original Child Bomb).

Before dawn on Monday, August 10, 2009, a participant in Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action's vigil and nonviolent direct action at the Bangor Trident nuclear submarine base read an excerpt from Merton's poem in preparation for the day's event. At the 3 1/2 day annual witness at Offutt Air Force Base near Omaha, NE, hosted by the Des Moines and Omaha Catholic Worker communities, the entire poem was read as part of the closing ceremony.

I thought it worth sharing Merton's poem as a closing to a weekend of remembrance, action and planning for the future of the nuclear abolition movement. May we all continue to find strength to continue the struggle to abolish nuclear weapons.

Peace,

Leonard

Click here to read Original Child Bomb.

Hiroshima-Nagasaki Event News Release

Friends,

Here is the news release for this past weekend's event at Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action.

Peace,

Leonard

P.S. - See the previous post for a slideshow of part of the weekend.

*************

Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action
16159 Clear Creek Road NW Poulsbo, WA 98370
Website: www.gzcenter.org, E-mail: info@gzcenter.org

10 people arrested at Trident nuclear submarine base at Bangor, marking the 64th Anniversary of Hiroshima and Nagasaki

87 people participated in a vigil and nonviolent direct action against the Trident nuclear weapons system at the Main (Trident Avenue) gate to Bangor nuclear submarine base early Monday morning .

Joy Goldstein, 74, 0f Vashon, WA, and her passenger, Swaneagle (Mary Tremblay), 59, of Vashon, WA, drove onto the base, were told to leave or receive citations. The pair were allowed to leave in their vehicle.

Jessica Arteaga, 24, of Tacoma, WA, Lynne Greenwald, 60, of Bremerton, WA, and Tom Shea, 80, of Snoqualmie, WA crossed the blue line onto the submarine base and attempted to block traffic entering the base while holding a large banner with a sunflower and broken Trident missile saying, "Abolish Nuclear Weapons: Resist Trident", and a peace flag. All three were detained by Naval security, processed and released. Shea offered the Naval security personnel copies of an article by Larry Kerschner, titled "August 9, 1945: Ruminations on Nagasaki." Greenwald was given a citation for trespassing (violation 18 USC 1382); court date pending.

While vigilers held a variety of banners, flags and signs calling for peace and the abolition of nuclear weapons a second group broke the yellow "caution" tape designating the "free speech zone", and strung it across the County roadway, blocking traffic entering the base. One member of this group walked among the vehicles waiting to enter the base, offering drivers sunflowers, a symbol of nuclear disarmament. Anne Hall, 64, of Seattle,WA, Jackie Hudson, 74, of Bremerton, WA, Brenda McMillan, 75, of Port Townsend, WA, Jean Sundborg, 69, of Seattle, WA, and Alice Zillah, 36, of Olympia, WA, were arrested by Washington State Patrol officers.

Following the release of the three Federal arrestees, Arteaga and Greenwald, who had already been processed and released by Naval authorities, re-entered the roadway on the County side carrying the same banner as before, and were arrested by the State Patrol. All those arrested by the State Patrol were taken to Kitsap County Justice Center in Port Orchard where they were booked and released. Veterans For Peace, Squadron 13, who brought their Peace Bus to Ground Zero Center for the weekend, which marked the anniversaries of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, picked up the arrestees after their release and returned them to Ground Zero Center.

Besides welcoming the Interfaith Peace Walk (from Los Alamos, New Mexico to Ground Zero Center) and speaking by telephone with members of the Journey of Repentance who were in Hiroshima, Japan, the weekend included Charlie Meconis speaking on Energy, Environment & Nuclear Weapons, and an engaging panel discussion with Vietnam Vet, Lawyer and Peace Activist, Brian Willson, and Ground Zero founders, Jim and Shelley Douglass, long time Ground Zero member, Lynne Greenwald, and folksinger, Tom Rawson.

The Trident submarine base at Bangor, just 20 miles from Seattle, is home to the largest single stockpile of nuclear warheads in the U.S. arsenal. In November 2006, the Natural Resources Defense Council declared that the 2,364 nuclear warheads at Bangor are approximately 24 percent of the entire U.S. arsenal. The Ground Zero Center for Nonviolence has, for over 30 years, resised Trident, and offers education, training, and action for a world free of nuclear weapons.

Note: The photo, taken in front of the new Ground Zero Center house nearing completion, is of the 10 people who risked arrest on Monday morning.

Nuclear Abolition: Yes We Will!

Friends,

Did you notice the silence in the corporate media over the course of the weekend surrounding the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Well, despite the lack of compassion shown towards the victims of the most horrific, instantaneous mass killing in all of recorded history, there were plenty of people honoring the memories of those killed and working towards a nuclear weapons-free world.

One of those gatherings occurred over the course of the weekend at Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action in Poulsbo, Washington, also the site of Naval Base Kitsap-Bangor (known still to some as Submarine Base Bangor), home of one of the largest concentrations of nuclear weapons in the world as well as the West coast home port of the Navy's Trident nuclear submarine fleet. It was a humbling experience for me to join my fellow Ground Zero members and guests, many who have been involved in the movement to abolish nuclear weapons for decades, never losing their dedication to the core values of peace and nonviolence.

As I decompress following such a gratifying weekend, I find it hard to articulate the many thoughts and feelings, so for now I will share a slide show of part of the weekend (Sunday and Monday) that I hope will convey the spirit of the event. As the banner at the top of this blog says, "No More Hiroshimas, No More Nagasakis".

Peace,

Leonard

P.S. - Click "View all" to go to the photo page where you can click on "Slideshow" for a full screen version. Enjoy the show!

View all

Get your own

Promises, Promises, Promises...

Friends,

Cherie Eicholz, Executive Director of Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility, wrote the following guest column in The Seattle Times, Time for United States to keep promise on nuclear disarmament. It is timely, well written and hits the proverbial nail on the head. Promises are meant to be kept, especially promises of such magnitude.

Peace,

Leonard

*****************

More than 50 years after the United States dropped nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the United States has a golden opportunity to salvage the promise it made in an international 1968 nuclear non-proliferation treaty, writes guest columnist Cherie Eichholz.

By Cherie Eichholz

Special to The Times

Today many will remember the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki 64 years ago, the world's first and only actual use of nuclear weapons. A reverent few will gather at Greenlake and other areas around Seattle to memorialize those killed, and tomorrow we will resume our lives, ignoring the lethal threat that lurks all around us.

Today, the United States still possesses more than 9,000 nuclear warheads, approximately 2,000 of them on hair-trigger alert, ready to deploy and explode within 30 minutes of launch. Over one-quarter of those weapons are maintained at Bangor Naval Base, scarcely 30 minutes from Seattle, which is one of only two bases in the nation that houses Trident nuclear submarines, arguably the world's deadliest weapon.

Modern nuclear weapons are many times more powerful than those that killed hundreds of thousands of Japanese in 1945 and are thus significantly more dangerous and devastating. They are hardly in the category of an adequate and reasonable security measure. Today's nuclear weapons are weapons of mass destruction and the longer they lay in waiting, the greater the risk that either they will be used for their stated purpose of extraordinary destruction, possibly by rogue nations or individuals, or that an accident will occur and unintentionally kill thousands if not more.

For the first time in many years we have a president committed to disarming the U.S. nuclear arsenal and seeking a world free from nuclear weapons. But in past weeks, President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have pledged to help India in their efforts to increase the size of their military and nuclear capabilities. These actions and the president's oft-stated commitment to disarmament seem at odds. Indeed, while it is apparent there is some measure of sincerity in Obama's repeated proclamations, it is also apparent the commencement of global disarmament remains a goal waiting for concrete actions by the U.S. and others.

U.S. citizens want to feel safe and be safe, but when it comes right down to it, we are not engaged in pursuing what would above all else ensure our safety, regardless of our long-standing pledge to do so.

The international Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons we signed in 1968 states: "Each of the Parties to the Treaty undertakes to pursue negotiations in good faith on effective measures relating to cessation of the nuclear arms race at an early date and to nuclear disarmament, and on a treaty on general and complete disarmament."

It would be difficult to argue that in the past 40 years we have honored this commitment — but we have a golden opportunity to salvage that promise.

In the coming months, the U.S. will face a number of critical decisions concerning nuclear weapons as several treaties and agreements are to be re-evaluated. The question remains: Will the U.S. take the necessary steps to move toward a world free from nuclear weapons? The answer seems clear: If we hope to ensure a safe future, free from the kind of devastation wrought in 1945, we must demand the U.S. set an example and begin disarming.

Cherie Eichholz is executive director of the Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility.

Journey of Repentance

My Friends,

It was 8:14 a.m. in Hiroshima, Japan, on August 6, 1945, a calm and sunny morning. The city went about its usual Monday morning business, bustling with activity. At 8:15 a.m. that same morning the bombadier aboard the Enola Gay, a U.S. B-29 bomber released the planes deadly cargo, a uranium-type atomic bomb from an altitude of 31,000 feet. The bomb plummeted towards the city below, the people completely unaware of the pending doom. Fourty-three seconds later the bomb detonated at an altitude of 1,900 feet above the ground.

The initial heat of the explosion incinerated everything near the hypocenter. The blast wave crumpled bodies and collapsed buildings. Those who were not killed instantly succumbed to the effects of their injuries and the intense ionizing radiation emitted by the explosion. It was an unimaginable hell. You can read a narrative of the bombing here. I will say no more of it.

Today, 64 years later, nations continue (led by the U.S. and Russia) to maintain nuclear arsenals, and other nations seek to develop them. If we are to abolish nuclear weapons, the U.S. and Russia will have to lead the way. As for the U.S., we need to recognize that we should never have used nuclear weapons in the first place and that we can never use them again. We must, in a very real sense, begin a journey of repentance (not unlike that of Fr. George Zabelka in my previous post). That journey of repentance can only begin with a sincere apology.

Acts of contrition are never easy. As I write this post, a group of peacemakers are in Hiroshima on this solemn anniversary, the destination of their Journey of Repentance. Father Bill Bichsel of the Tacoma Catholic Worker is one of 16 people who made the journey to Hiroshima "to acknowledge the tremendous damage done by our country, by what has happened."

The Journey of Repentance, composed of people of various faith traditions, is making the journey to both Hiroshima and Nagasaki. The group includes Dominican Sister Teresa Montes, Franciscan Father and Catholic Worker Louis Vitale and U.S. Navy veteran Tom Karlin and Mitch Kohjima, a former Buddhist monk. "The apology is necessary in order to begin to repent for the sins of war," Father Bichsel said. “What we have done not only has inflicted tremendous damage on the Japanese, it also has done tremendous damage on the (American) people when we don’t remember what we have done.”

In any healthy relationship, a sincere apology is necessary in order to move on towards healing. No matter what the justification might have been for dropping the bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, as people of faith we are called to recognize that in the eyes of a loving God we need to renounce violence of any kind. Until we are able to see the lack of humanity we exhibit when we continue to justify the killing of well over 200,000 people (estimated 240,000 deaths by the end of 1945, with half those on the days of the bombings), we will not be able to renounce the use of nuclear weapons.

Yesterday, after touring the Hiroshima Peace Museum, Fr. Bichsel stopped and said, "There is just no reason" he said. "There is absolutely no reason for us to still have the capability to drop those bombs." Indeed, there is not!!! August 6, 1945 was a turning point in human history; we had developed (and demonstrated) the ability to destroy ourselves. Since then we have raised it to a high (and dark) art. Until we recognize our folly (and our hubris) we will not be able to move forward towards peace.

Let us stop and be silent for at least a few moments on this day, listening for the voices of those who suffered and died on August 6, 1945. I hope that we can all hear their call for healing, for reconciliation, and for peace.

Peace,

Leonard

You can read blog postings about the Journey of Repentance by clicking here.

Notes on the photograph of watch: Kengo Nikawa (then, 59) was exposed to the bomb crossing the Kan-on Bridge, 1600 meters from the hypocenter, by bike going from his home to his assigned building demolition site in the center of the city. He suffered major burns on his right shoulder, back, and head and took refuge in Kochi-mura Saiki-gun. He died on August 22. Kengo was never without this precious watch given him by his son, Kazuo

Blessing the Bombs

Friends,

I have always wondered how ministers, priests and rabbis could become military chaplains, wearing the uniform of the armed forces, giving tacit approval to killing. Perhaps it started about 1700 years ago when Constantine co-opted the pacifist Christians in such a stealthful and brilliant move that the churches still haven't figured that one out. Much like Pope Urban II blessing the first Crusaders, modern day clergy give their blessing to soldiers (in the name of God) before going off to battle. The principle of Just War gives them their marching orders.

Father George Zabelka, a Catholic chaplain with the U.S. Army Air Force during World War II, was one of those who blessed killing in the name of Jesus. In 1945 Zabelka was stationed on Tinian Island in the South Pacific. It was the airfield on Tinian from which the Enola Gay and Boxcar took off with their nuclear weapons destined for the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. And it was was Fr. Zabelka who served as priest to those who dropped the bombs - saying mass, giving communion, hearing confessions, and giving soldiers his blessing.

Fr. Zabelka was just doing his job. In an interview by (Rev.) Emmanuel Charles McCarthy many years later, Zabelka said something I found quite interesting: As a Catholic priest my task was to keep my people, wherever they were, close to the mind and heart of Christ. As a military chaplain I was to try to see that the boys conducted themselves according to the teachings of the Catholic Church and Christ on war. When I look back I am not sure I did either of these things very well.

"Close to the mind and heart of Christ"??? "The teachings of...Christ"??? Have I misread my bible? While Fr. Zabelka spent the years following the war searching his soul and gradually coming to the realization that what he had done was terribly wrong, he nevertheless spent years as a priest blessing the killing of tens of thousands of human beings, the antithesis of Jesus' life and teachings. Although he may have come to terms with his god, there was no salvation for those incinerated in the instant of those atomic blasts or those who suffered for hours, days or weeks before dying from the horrific effects of the blast and its radiation.

In reading the interview and a speech Fr. Zabelka from 1985, I found a man of contradictions. But he got one thing right; the following quote from the interview sums things up: I walked through the ruins of Nagasaki right after the war and visited the place where once stood the Urakami Cathedral. I picked up a piece of a censer from the rubble. When I look at it today I pray God forgives us for how we have distorted Christ's teaching and destroyed His world by the distortion of that teaching. I was the Catholic chaplain who was there when this grotesque process begun with Constantine reached its lowest point-so far.

I call on Christians in every church in every city on Earth this coming Sunday to light candles for all the victims of Hiroshima and Nagasaki (including those who suffer today), and pray for forgiveness for distorting the teachings of the very one to whom they lay claim, who taught us to love our enemies. May we pray and work to become the people we claim to be.

Peace,

Leonard

Read Fr. George Zabelka: A Military Chaplain Repents, an interview by (Rev.) Emmanuel Charles McCarthy. Read Fr. Zabelka's 1985 speech.

Nuclear Abolition: Yes We Can!

Friends,

"Si, Se Puede!" This famous phrase, originated by United Farm Workers (UFW) co-founders Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez in 1972 during Cesar's 24-day Fast for Justice, has been a rallying cry for many other labor unions and civil rights organizations over the years. It has also been co-opted on occasion, most recently by President Obama when he used one of the phrase's translations, "Yes, we can", in his presidential campaign.

The more literal translation used by the UFW is, "Yes, it can be done." Whatever translation one favors, it is a powerful phrase intended to empower us as people to change unfair conditions, for both ourselves and others, imposed by those in power, be they corporate or governmental (the difference here can be hazy). I was unimpressed (to say the least) to see the phrase used in a political campaign.

Next weekend people will come together in many cities around the world to remember the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and many will not only remember, but will also continue our ongoing work to abolish nuclear weapons from the planet. One gathering of particular importance to me will be at Ground Zero Center for Nonviolent Action where a community of activists has resisted the U.S. first-strike weapon, Trident, for over 30 yearsWe thoughtfully chose the phrase "Nuclear Abolition: Yes We Can!" as the theme of this August's gathering because the movement to abolish nuclear weapons is definitely a movement of the people, by the people and for ALL people of the earth. It is a movement to abolish weapons that not only threaten all the people of the planet with suffering and death, but also drain huge sums of money from the treasuries of all the nuclear nations, money that would be better spent on programs of social uplift.

So, we honor Dolores Huerta and Cesar Chavez, and all who have struggled for the rights of people everywhere, often in the face of insurmountable odds. In the long struggle for nuclear abolition, we know that "it can be done," but we also know that we cannot leave the job to politicians, the military or corporations (and don't forget the think tanks). It is up to us to bring the pressure to bear on those in power to create a livable world for future generations.

Join us at Ground Zero next weekend (if you are in Washington State), or at one of the other events around the U.S. and around the world this month (see the previous posting) as we remember the past while working towards a better future, one without nuclear weapons.

Whether or not you attend an event, you can get engaged with this issue and advocate for change. Check out the Hot Links listed on the right. For starters, CLICK HERE to tell President Obama that in order to arrive at his stated goal of a nuclear-free world, he needs to take far more dramatic steps than those he has taken so far.

Si, se puede, y la Paz,

Leonard