In an earlier blog piece, we shared the text of a statement from Northern Friends Peace Board made shortly after the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. It was as clear then as it is to us today that nuclear weapons are both morally abhorrent and certaintly not a route to peace. For those of us who were active in the peace – mostly anti-nuclear weapons – movement as it grew so rapidly in the 1980s, it is salutory to realise that that time was as close to their first use as it is to our current time.
The lack of progress since – indeed reversal in some cases – in relation to disarmament and related treaties that seemed to help move us out of the cold war is dispiriting. With one significant exception – the ground-breaking UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, agreed in 2017. This has now been signed by 94 states and ratified by 73 of those. The UK, as with other nuclear-armed states, has still to be persuaded to attend the meetings connected to the Treaty – there is work to do.
We have produced a leaflet that Friends may wish to use in events for commemoration or reflection on this coming 80th anniversary (text below and PDF downloadable from here ). Resources for further information about and campaigning on nuclear weapons can be found here.
PDF for A4 poster also available here
Text of a leaflet
Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki – Envisioning peace
Eighty years since the dropping of the first atomic bombs, on Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6th and 9th August 1945, we mourn and remember the lives lost and harmed by these terrible actions. The costs to the planet and its people from the development and maintenance of thousands more nuclear weapons since then is enormous.
By possessing these weapons of mass-destruction, successive UK governments have relied on being able to take away life on a massive scale as a route to security. As well as a destructive power, nuclear weapons have power through creating fear. More countries have responded by seeking this same power – a dangerous route to security.
We seek the well-being of all people and the planet as the foundation of genuine security. Our vision on this 80th anniversary is that nations and people across the world will recognise the importance of working together for a world without nuclear weapons. While we remember Hiroshima and Nagasaki, can we also look to a future for our descendants in which even the existence of nuclear weapons is just a memory?
As Quakers we believe that all life is precious. Let us move from fear to hope, from death to life. Let peace fill our hearts and inspire our actions.