‘Nuclear Free Future’ Month – Make a Peace Crane!
Dear Friends,
There have been many atrocities in war over the years. The genocide of Nazi Germany, and of Rwanda, the Apartheid in South Africa, the killing fields of Cambodia and the destruction of the twin towers in New York are but a few of those that stand out in our history. But by far, the one event remembered across the world as a symbol of the tragedy of war is August 6, 1945, the “day the sun rose twice” in Japan. It stands out not because of the number of fatalities, but because of the horror of their deaths and the fact that the weapon used unleashed for us a new era – one where it was possible to imagine the annihilation of humankind. The captain of the bomber plane that dropped the bomb “Little Boy” on that fateful day wrote in his log, “What have we done?”
Today, nuclear capability has spread despite treaties and admonishments to the contrary. And as the possibility of nuclear annihilation becomes a reality we live with, we become less nervous about it and the threshold of our humanity falls slightly. Recently, Tokyo Electric Power Co. reported its second deadly radiation reading in as many days at its wrecked Fukushima nuclear plant north of Tokyo. Today, we have 442 “peaceful” nuclear reactors each one a potential Fukushima. Similarly, the estimated 23,000 nuclear bombs on our planet are subject to catastrophic accidental misuse, deliberate sabotage, or intentional use by some misguided government with an insane death wish. Let us bring back the question, “What have we done?”
United for Peace and Justice has declared August Nuclear Free Future Month – a month of education and action for a world free of nuclear weapons and nuclear power! Visit www.nuclearfreefuture.org for ideas and resources, or stop by JRPC. How about learning to make a peace crane – or several – so you can offer them to friends, neighbors, and legislators to begin the conversations that will reach out beyond the peace movement to put our planet on the path to true sustainability and eliminate the threat of another Hiroshima.
I’ll be looking forward to teaching you to make a crane…Betsy
