Our Greatest Threat

This post was originally made on March 9, 2005 on In Today's News.

The feature article of Commonweal points out the threat posed by nuclear weapons and the resistance of the United States and the seven other nuclear nations to doing what is morally right to abolish these weapons of mass destruction.

The article is entitled Our Greatest Threat.

Brazil makes the most stinging critique of U.S. policy:

One cannot worship at the altar of nuclear weapons and raise heresy charges against those who want to join the sect.

Nuclear weapons seem to violate the principles of jus en bellum.

Yes. The destruction of Hiroshima and Nagasaki were an immoral use of military force.

According to jus en bellum criteria, non-combatants cannot be targeted under any circumstances. Children were knowingly targeted in these instances. The only time in history that nuclear weapons were ever used was a gravely immoral act.

Church teaching on this is clear and unambiguous and even Pius XII had spoke to the principles in reference to carpet bombing as occurred in Dresden, before the atomic bombs were dropped.

Those Catholics who believe that WWII indicated a just use of nuclear force are clearly in dissent. The bishops and our current Pope have continued to uphold these principles, being quite specific that the use nuclear weapons, even as a deterrent, are immoral.

American Catholics need to speak out against the Bush Administration's nuclear policy, which not only advocates nuclear weapons for deterrent purposes, but admits they may be used aggressively against non-nuclear powers. This is an immoral policy that must be changed.