No doubt the reader will think of a dozen more ways in which psychic numbing is maintained, and the belief that nuclear weapons will protect us and not harm us, is fostered. When peace movements arise, as they did in the 60's and prior to the Iraq invasion, they tend to focus on stopping specific wars rather than concentrating on the overriding need to abolish nuclear weapons, once and for all.
THE THREAT OF NUCLEAR WAR HAS INCREASED DRAMATICALLY IN THE NEW MILLENNIUM.
The Bush administration is systematically dismantling the international treaties that were painstakingly crafted over the past 40 years to contain and control the use and spread of nuclear weapons.
The ABM treaty was the first target. Signed by the two nuclear giants in 1972 it successfully capped the nuclear arms race for 30 years. It prevented the building of a missile shield, a huge boondoggle much desired by the Bush junta. Although the fight to save the ABM treaty was valiant and nearly succeeded, Bush took advantage of 9-11 to withdraw. A missile shield can never provide the security we had with the treaty structure- at best, it's only 95% effective, and it is years away
Bush's new pre-emptive strike policy, by lumping nuclear weapons with other WMD's and asserting the right to use them against non-nuclear nations, clearly violates the crucial NonProliferation Treaty (NPT), which every nation in the world has signed except for Israel, India and Pakistan. And North Korea just withdrew. According to ElBaradei, head of the international agency set up to inspect and enforce the NPT, 40 or 50 countries could develop nuclear weapons in the next year, if they so chose. Nuclear anarchy, here we come!
The Bush doctrine includes A RELIGIOUS ANGLE. It says that America is a Christian country on a crusade against evil. We are brainwashed into believing that war is peace, lies are truth, and Jesus advocates war and conquest. "Christian" leaders advocate hate and violence, against Muslims, pro-choice advocates, liberals. Here's a description of banner at a pro-Bush rally:
Across the top of the banner, which was clearly professionally made and not hand-lettered, were the block-letter words "SUPPORT PRESIDENT BUSH." Through the center of the banner were black outlines of various weapons, including a thermonuclear bomb. Underneath these images were two more block-letter words: "TRUST JESUS."
The threat of doomsday brings up Biblical imagery in a largely Christian country, where the Bible is still the best selling book. Terms like armageddon and apocalypse have become part of the culture. Conveniently for the warmongers, an interpretation of prophecy has emerged- set out in the popular "Left Behind" books- that culminates in nuclear war, thus justifying and sanctifying the nuclear buildup.
The current right wing "Christian" theology offers people a comforting way of dealing with nuclear terror. Called dispensationalism, it promises that true believers will avoid the travail of the tribulation, and will be transported straight to heaven by Jesus. They won't have to experience nuclear war, which will take place only after they are "raptured up". Of course, this interpretation of the Bible fails to explain how Jesus will rule over the new Jerusalem on a planet totally polluted with gene-destroying radiation.
We PEACE ACTIVISTS, who see through the guff and keep the threat of nuclear war ever in our consciousness, still have our own layers of psychic numbing to go through. How do we avoid despair? How do we talk to the ostriches all around us? How do we find the strength to deal with a police state? How can we look our children in the eye and honestly encourage them to have babies?
We must never forget the urgency of the threat, and the magnitude of the destruction. Let us not be diverted by electoral politics or Michael Jackson, but keep our eye on the sword of Damocles, as we struggle to remove it.
We must keep faith that humanity has enough common sense to avoid catastrophe. Nuclear weapons up to now have provided an iron discipline for mankind, which has developed more self-restraint and international cooperation in the last 50 years than in the preceding 2000. I believe that God will not destroy His creation.
We must bring the damage done to our own troops by depleted uranium to the forefront. Potentially, this slow form of nuclear war affects enough Americans now to create public outrage similar to the Strontium 90 uproar in the late 50's, which led to abolition of aboveground nuclear testing.
We must realize that as peacemakers, we are engaged in spiritual warfare against the warmongers. We must speak the truth, sound the warning, denounce the lying criminals who would destroy us. Our words, our tongues, our writings, are our weapons.
We must love all our neighbors, including the terrorists, the whales and polar bears, and our own great-grandchildren. Only love can overcome the fear and hatred that is driving us to destruction.
We must take responsibility for cleaning up the horrendous mess we have made, and not seek the easy out of mass suicide.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
