“How do you dismantle an atomic bomb? With love”
Found info on this via Brian McLaren’s blog today…
…in the new issue of Sojourners, you can learn how Henry Kissinger and other Reagan administration leaders have joined together to promote not just a limitation in the development of nuclear weapons, but more … the creation of a nuclear-weapon-free world. You may find this hard to believe, but it’s true.
And you can read the moving story of an anti-nuclear activist who has experienced a fusion of activism and Christian faith here.
More good news: over 100,000 people have sent an email to the Department of Energy urging them not to develop new and more powerful nuclear warheads, and urging them instead to work for a nuclear-weapons-free world.
Even more good news – our emails have challenged the Department of Energy to extend the comment period until tomorrow, Wednesday.
And still more good news – that means – if you haven’t already done so – you can add your name to the list by going here …
Please take this small step of solidarity with people who are motivated by faith in Jesus to oppose the insanity of nuclear weapons proliferation, and who are instead dreaming a better dream.
I followed the link and signed my name to the petition – there’s still time for you too. Afterwards they shared some more info via e-mail:
79 Religious Groups Oppose Nuclear Bomb Plant; Call for Nuclear Disarmament
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
(April 30, 2008, WASHINGTON, DC) — Seventy-nine Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, and Muslim groups have joined together to reject administration plans to reactivate the U.S. nuclear weapons infrastructure and build new nuclear bomb plant facilities, Faithful Security announced today. In a formal letter to the Energy Department, religious organizations from across the country called instead for the United States to end new nuclear weapons production and commit to multilateral disarmament.
“We call on our political leaders to show the moral and political courage necessary to bring about a shift in our nation’s nuclear weapons posture. Today we have a historic opportunity to begin the journey out from under the shadow of nuclear weapons,” stressed the religious groups.
The letter was submitted to the Energy Department as part of a public comment period required to assess the environmental impact of Complex Transformation, the proposed plan to rebuild the U.S. nuclear weapons complex. The centerpiece of this proposal is a new nuclear weapons facility at the Los Alamos National Laboratory, located 25 miles northwest of Santa Fe, NM. The new bomb plant facility would enable the mass production of plutonium pits, the primary detonators in modern nuclear weapons.
The statement’s signers expressed concern that the new and upgraded facilities would be used in the development of a new generation of nuclear warheads, despite the moral and legal obligations of the United States to reduce its weapons arsenal.
“Recently there has been tremendous bipartisan momentum for making the world safer by pursuing the elimination of nuclear weapons once and for all,” explained Jessica Wilbanks, Advocacy Director for Faithful Security. “Today’s statement from faith groups demonstrates a moral consensus for disarmament–and a firm rejection of efforts to build new plutonium pits.”
Faithful Security organized the coalition letter in cooperation with The Friends Committee on National Legislation. Read the full text (PDF) of the statement and see a list of signers.
Faithful Security, the National Religious Partnership on the Nuclear Weapons Danger, is a multi-faith coalition dedicated to lifting the moral voice of U.S. religious communities toward a world free of nuclear weapons. Learn more at www.faithfulsecurity.org.
