Earlier this month the United Nations began a month-long conference on limiting nuclear weapons. We have only a limited idea of how many nations possess these weapons of mass destruction and countries such as Israel probably have them and won't admit it.
The conference began with an interfaith worship service with prayers to end this self-destructive proliferation of nuclear weapons. Among the participants was Roman Catholic Archbishop Joseph Mitsuaki Takami of Nagasaki, Japan, a survivor of the 1945 atomic bombing, who brought a scorched piece of a statue of Mary from the cathedral that was destroyed in the attack. You can take a look at an excerpt from the service http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/episodes/by-topic/international/praying-for-an-end-to-nuclear-weapons/6263/
The Trappist monk Thomas Merton offered years ago that ”The duty of the Christian at this time is to do the one task God has imposed upon us in this world today. The task is to work for the total abolition of war. There can be no question that unless war is abolished; the world will remain constantly in a state of madness. The church [meaning all Christians] must lead the way on the road to the abolition of war. Peace is to be preached and nonviolence is to be explained and practiced.”
Is there much point in holding prayer services for the end of weapons of mass destruction? Does it sound naiive or hopeful to you?
2 comments:
I do believe it is worth praying for an end to weapons of mass destruction.
There are so many hot spots in the world that are worrying - one of the hottest is between India and Pakistan...both with nuclear weapons.
The festering Kashmir conflict that pits these two countries against each other may also lie behind the Mumbai massacre.
Solving the dispute over Kashmir should be a priority for the great powers. In the meantime, praying for a solution to this and other armed conflicts, in my opinion, is a good thing.
I agree Johnny, both in terms of prayer and the tremendous danger of the conflict between Pakistan and India. Both countries are at fault, but Pakistan really scares me.
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