06/08/2020
Today, August 6th, 2020 marks the 75th anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima by the United States. On that fateful day, the atomic bomb detonated in the air above the city, instantly vaporizing thousands of civilians and causing a raging firestorm that killed thousands more.
In the 75 years since Hiroshima, the United States and Russia have led the world in nuclear proliferation. With the rise of other nuclear powers, these nations have leveraged threats of nuclear destruction at negotiating tables in the guise of ‘nuclear deterrence.’ In 2017, the United Nations Assembly passed the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW.) As of July 2020, 40 of the 50 ratifications necessary for its enactment have been secured.
The Asia Pacific Office Regional Office of Global Ministries stands in solidarity with the people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki who have suffered greatly, both from the utter destruction of life and livelihood by the United States and from the ensuing discrimination by Japanese civil society. We remember the horrific loss of 250,000 people and the trauma left in its wake. We pray for victims and survivors of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
18 I will make for you[a] a covenant on that day with the wild animals, the birds of the air, and the creeping things of the ground; and I will abolish[b] the bow, the sword, and war from the land; and I will make you lie down in safety.” Hosea 2:18 (NRSV)
We, the United Methodist Church believe war is incompatible with the teachings and example of Christ. The Church condemns the production, possession, and use of nuclear weapons, and endorses general and complete disarmament. (United Methodist Book of Resolutions ¶165)
God’s world is one world. As all of us are made in God’s image, we reject the use of nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons. We stand opposed to government budgets that prioritize billions of dollars researching these weapons instead of towards programs that promote human dignity, justice, and peace. We call on the nuclear powers of the United Nations Security Council – Russia, the United States, France, China, and the United Kingdom to take responsibility and lead by example through ratifying the Nuclear Weapons Ban and eliminating nuclear options as weapons and deterrence.
As United Methodists and Christian people of faith we affirm our Bishops’ “In Defense of Creation” assertion in 2009: that “the nuclear crisis threatens ‘planet earth itself,’ that the arms race ‘destroys millions of lives in conventional wars, repressive violence, and massive poverty,’ and that the ‘arms race is a social justice issue, not only a war and peace issue.’”
2020.08.06
Asia-Pacific Regional Office
Global Ministries | The UMC
Seoul, South Korea
