It was no joke. On April Fool's Day in 2009, U.S. President Barack Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed to pursue a significant reduction in nuclear arms with "effective verification measures." America and Russia possess the largest nuclear stockpiles in the world by far, which is why Obama told reporters in Moscow, "We must lead by example, and that's what we're doing here today." According to a recent study, 73% of Americans and 63% of Russians support the elimination of nuclear weapons.
With Obama and Medvedev playing nice and public opinion in favor of such action, one has to wonder why there has been little buzz since April. Perhaps there have just been "more important" discussions in Washington. Healthcare has stolen most of the recent front page headlines. The wars in Afghanistan and Iraq are fighting over page two. And don't forget the economy.
What would you think if someone told you that the key to abolishing nuclear weapons might be Christians? What if all those religious people turned out to be the force that drove this conversation to its tipping point? The unlikely supporters could undoubtedly make an impact if they were to join the conversation. Christians would bring the numerical strength of their voting bloc as well strong moral arguments, which are always helpful on such issues.
The Two Futures Project (2FP) is a non-partisan Christian movement seeking to abolish nuclear weapons from the face of the earth. 2FP does not call for America to disarm unilaterally, but rightly advocates for multilateral, verifiable, and irreversible disarmament. This effort has been endorsed by many on the political left and right, including George Shultz, Cold War architect and former Secretary of State under Ronald Reagan.
Rather than unravel into an explanation of boring technicalities, which you would almost certainly not read, I encourage you to digest the information on the 2FP website. Tyler Wigg-Stevenson, Director of 2FP, beautifully articulates why its necessary that Christians oppose nukes. Additionally, he has done a wondrous job of outlining the path to a world free of nuclear weapons.
I recently joined the 2FP movement because I believe nuclear weapons are unchristian. When absolutely necessary, wars should be fought by soldiers, not declared on innocent civilians. The Christian God abhors the shedding of innocent blood and nuclear weapons are only capable of widespread, indiscriminate killing and destruction of life. As nukes become more prevalent in our world, the chances of a terrorist gaining possession of one grows. And when a nation is attacked by a terrorist, there is often no country to bomb back.
If you are a follower of Jesus and agree that abolishing nuclear weapons is necessary, I encourage you to join this effort by signing on via the 2FP website. Also, watch and share the powerful 2FP! You just might be joining the movement that finally pushes this issue to the political forefront.
Jonathan Merritt is a faith and culture writer and author of Green Like God: Unlocking the Divine Plan for Our Planet. He blogs regularly at www.jonathanmerritt.com.
Follow Jonathan Merritt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/jonathanmerritt
From the world destroying flood in the book of Genesis, to the world consuming fire in the book of Revelations, God clearly employs weapons of mass destruction, to use the modern phrase, to get rid of the riff-raff.
That's where all the "just war" Christians get their theological ammo.
Of course, it's all insanity - and certainly the Bible is no place to derive a sane, coherent and consistent world view. The very text of the Bible is what bedevils the church more than any evil archangel ever could.
I am pleased to join with anyone - Christian, Jew, Muslim, athiest, whatever - who wants to shut down nukes, and other wmd's, once and for all. But please, don't tell me that God told you to do it, because that same rationale has been used to justify the most abominable behavior for centuries.
The nuclear idea is precisely why I was so scared that Palin would become VP or POTUS. With her belief that Jesus will come back in our time and her finger on the button, something was bound to happen.
I really think that if all nuclear weapons were gone, they would merely invent something worse. I believe its human nature to try to one up the opposition--ensure that "our side" wins.
I also want the government to stay out of the examination room that I'M in.
What is wrong with that idea? The government is obligated to let those of us that can take care of ourselves do just that.
You want the government in YOUR healthcare? Have at it.
It's not the nukes in particular, but I've yet to hear any of these holy holy wingnuts say they don't think we're living in "the end times," and Nukes are the fastest train to that station.
Sorry.
So anyone who thinks nuclear war is not happening has been sadly mislead. I blame it on our news media for not telling us the truth about the real hazards, but I am also seeing they were in turn also mislead.
That doesn't get them off the hook, they should have fact checked.
But, my real beef is that there is a growing trend--again, most probably in reaction to the theocratic Christian Right--to couch many, if not all, public policy initiatives in the construct of biblical justifications. For example, Jim Wallis recently advocated moving money from Wall Street banks to community banks--a secular idea with secular justifications he borrowed from Arianna Huffington without giving her credit. But then, he called for a "pastoral strategy for the financial crisis." Between the religious Left and religious Right we are being inundated with competing religious arguments for or against a secular policy. It may be the prelude to religious sectarian strife. I would strongly argue that the bible offers no concrete guidance on nuclear disarmament. The arguments for or against complete nuclear disarmament (which I support) are completely secular arguments.
I am not a Christian. I am Catholic. I am not a conservative. I am very liberal. I am struggling with Frank Schaeffer's book Patience With God. What I am getting tired of are religious arguments.
What do you think non-favored people should think of it?
In America, the theocratic Christian Right is absolutely ecstatic about their future rapture with the incineration of Israel and the Jews by a nuclear-armed Iran. Since the 1980s, the Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars) has been a project of the Christian Right. Their belief in this system is an article of faith, despite the fact that it does not and probably will not. The theocratic Christian Right believes in the God of the Old Testament who was a mass killer without mercy.
You may get some evangelical Christian leaders to go along. Good luck. But don't be so naive about what the Bible says about mass killing and what theocratic Christian Right leaders have been saying for the past thirty years.
We better find a way to let them down easy that we plan on keeping the planet afterwards, to use as heaven. Not hell. And they can start getting used to that idea right now.
That is not going to be easy when all the people on TV are talking up how scary the 'terrorists' are.
and with lament
"Every act of war directed to the indiscriminate destruction of whole cities or vast areas with their inhabitants is a crime against God and man...A danger of modern warfare is that it provides the opoportunity to those who possess modern scientific weapons...to commit such crimes.....'(2314)
'The arms race does not ensure peace. Far from eliminating the causes of war, it risks aggravating them. Spending enourmous sums to produce ever new types of weapon impedes ifforts to aid needy populations, it thwarts the devopoment of peoples...' (2315)
I don't pretend to know what God abhors. I do know that in order to honestly declare oneself a Christian one must earnestly try to follow the teachings of Jesus. All of them, not just the easy ones.
If you aren't a pacifist you aren't a Christian. If you haven't renounced wealth and devoted yourself to the poor, sick and imprisoned you aren't a Christian.
Hell, most of you can't even "do unto others." You may declare yourselves good Catholics or good Baptists or good whatevers but you are not a Christian - any one of whom would not claim to be "good."
MEDICAL DENTAL Association? They are both Unions they avoid the right terminology, because UNION is a dirty word. Now a union is an organization run by the members, you join pay dues or you do not practice.
Same as the Bar and Medical Unions, Yes teachers only they changed from Union to Association.
Roosevelt when he became president said he was going to allow the American workers to unionize so he could stand like a man and not have to Grovel for a job, bargain for a living wage and have enough left over for recreation, sounded good to me I went through the Old depression. Unions crooked you say look around you not all crooked just the ones with there hands out, just like those in Washington we elect to represent we the people. Do away with the unions and we will be groveling for a JOB and a living wage with nothing left for recreation, look how they squabble over minimum WAGES? No union you'll be there.