September 2015 Philadelphia Chapter of Pax Christi U.S.A.

Saying ‘No’ to Nukes: 1982-Then, and 2015-Now

In his biography of Raymond Hunthausen, the retired Archbishop of Seattle, author John McCoy tells of Hunthausen’s protesting the August, 1982 arrival in Puget Sound, Washington of our first nuclear submarine, the USS Ohio, the world’s deadliest weapon of mass destruction. A Still and Quiet Conscience — The Archbishop Who Challenged a Pope, a President, and a Church (Orbis Books, 2015) reveals that the 18 Trident subs in our fleet travel at 250 miles per minute and can land within 300 feet of their target up to 600 miles away. Each nuclear sub costs $3 billion to build and holds 24 missiles; each missile has 8 warheads; each warhead has six times the destructive power of the bomb that incinerated Hiroshima.

Profoundly saddened by the atomic bombing of Japan, inspired by the Gospels, and encouraged by James Douglass and Richard McSorley S.J., Archbishop Hunthausen decided to speak out against the USS Ohio at a rally of 6,500 peace activists:

“We come together to pray for the officers and crew of the submarine, Ohio, and to ask God’s blessing upon the men. We pray because we want these men to know that we respect their dedication; we esteem and love them. These men are not our enemies. They are fellow Americans. They are like us and see themselves as working for peace. No, we don’t agree with their methods, but we have the greatest respect for their dedication to our shared goal of peace on earth. Each of us possesses only a part of the truth. Consequently, we need to be willing to work with compassion to understand the truth shown to us by the ‘other side’. We must

hear each other out, listening to each other in a spirit of love and forgiveness. May we be slow to criticize and condemn, honest in our disagreement, courteous in our conversation, and always respectful to one another as children of God. We, all of us, Navy and peace people, struggle to do the best we can to live according to our beliefs.”

Later the archbishop withheld part of his federal income tax to protest the nuclear arms race and urged others to do so. The Reagan administration in Washington, and in Rome the John Paul II

Curia, especially, did not look kindly on Archbishop of Seattle who would pay dearly for his daring protest.

Two Years in Prison Behind Her, Nun Looks Ahead to More Activism, a May 28th news article in the New York Times reported that Sister Megan Rice, 85, of the Society of the Holy Child Jesus, based in Rosemont, has spent two years behind bars for a ‘crime’ for which she is boldly unapologetic. In 2012, she joined two other peace activists in splattering blood and antiwar slogans on a nuclear plant in Oak Ridge, Tennessee that stores enough highly enriched uranium to make thousands of nuclear warheads. Out of prison after a successful appeal of her conviction, Sister, when asked if she might yet have to serve another year in prison, said, “It would be an honor. Good Lord, what would be better than to die in prison for the antinuclear cause?”

Previous to the Oak Ridge action, as a member of the Plowshares peace-protesters, Sister Megan had been arrested dozens of times for acts of civil disobedience, and twice she served six-month jail sentences.

Sister insists that the United States, by keeping a vast arsenal, is violating its global disarmament pledges and ultimately courting disaster. “It’s making other countries feel compelled to have nuclear weapons.” When Pope Francis addresses the nuclear arms issue, he will be validating the valor of both the retired 93 year-old Archbishop Hunthausen and of the activist 85 year-old Sister Megan Rice.

Members of the Union of Concerned Scientists, Drs. Lisbeth Gronlund and Matthew Schwartz wrote “Next steps in making the wo rld se cu re” , an Op-Ed in the Inquirer on July 16, 2015, stating:

“… Today, most of us don’t think much about nuclear weapons. But we really should. Indeed, many readers might be surprised to learn that there are still more than 16,000 nuclear weapons on the planet. Most of them are either in the U.S. or the Russian arsenal, and they are five to forty times more destructive than the bombs dropped on Japan, which had an explosive yield of 15 to 20 kilotons, equivalent to 15,000 to

20,000 tons of TNT.

If one relatively ‘small’ 150-kiloton nuclear bomb detonated over downtown Philadelphia, conservative models estimate that more than 100,000 people would die instantly or within the first few weeks from severe injuries or acute radiation exposure, an additional half-million would suffer serious burns and other injuries, and every residential structure within a two-to-three mile radius would collapse …

In other words, nuclear bombs must never be used again… Yet the United States and Russia are poised to do just that. They each maintain 800 to 900 land and submarine-based missiles on hair-trigger alert, ready to be launched in a matter of minutes. This practice is dangerous since it could lead to an accidental or unauthorized launch, or a mistaken launch in response to a false warning of an incoming attack. And such a launch could have devastating human, environmental, and economic consequences …

A related danger is that both countries have a ‘launch on warning’ posture, which gives the president the option of launching intercontinental ballistic missiles before incoming missiles could destroy them. Maintaining this option puts the president under extreme time pressure. For example, if U.S. radars, satellite-based sensors, and command-and-control computer systems indicated that the country were under attack, the president would have only 8 to 12 minutes to determine if an attack were real and whether and how to retaliate. Moreover, the possibility of a false warning is very real …

The nuclear agreement with Iran is one step in making the world more secure. Next, the United States needs to take its nuclear weapons off hair-trigger alert and eliminate its launch-on-warning posture.”

Amen!

Frank is a member of CPF

Peace Sculptor: R.F.McGovern Photo: Mary Heron

Frank McGinty