Thought for the month

On Monday 6 August 1945 at 8.15am the US bomber Enola Gay dropped ‘Little Boy’, the first nuclear weapon ever used in warfare, on the city of Hiroshima. The whole city was destroyed and an estimated 120,000 people, 90% of whom were civilians, were killed instantly. Many more died later from burns, radiation sickness and starvation. Three days later, ‘Fat Man’ exploded over the city of Nagasaki with similar devastating consequences. These remain the only two instances of nuclear bomb use in a warfare situation. The decision to drop the atom bombs was made to shorten the war and save more lives than were lost. Japan surrendered on 15 August 1945.

Today 9 countries are known to possess nuclear weapons, and it is predicted that number could double in the next 20 years. Nuclear proliferation is a live issue. In June, the US struck three facilities in Iran to set back Iran’s nuclear programme. Keir Starmer has announced the purchase of F-35 planes capable of delivering nuclear weapons. In early August President Trump deployed two nuclear-armed submarines towards Russia. Most countries see their nuclear weapons as a deterrent because the threat of mutually assured destruction will discourage potential aggressors.

Group Captain Leonard Cheshire, the highly decorated leader of No. 617 Squadron – the Dambusters – was stationed on the Pacific Island of Tinian as an official British observer of the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Two decades later, he said the attack represented ‘the ‘destruction of the impotent by the invincible’ but felt the Allies had been ‘undeniably’ right to carry out the bombings because the attack ended ‘the most terrible war’. Japan surrendered on 15 August 1945. Leonard had a great desire to make the world a better place. He established Cheshire Homes which cared for disabled people and continued to fight injustice and work towards a society in which everyone is equally valued.

The Bible speaks about God’s ultimate purpose for his world and gives us real hope for the future. The prophet Isaiah wrote, “In the last days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will be established as the highest of the mountains; it will be exalted above the hills, and all nations will stream to it. They will beat their swords into ploughshares and their spears into pruning hooks. Nation will not take up sword against nation, nor will they train for war anymore.” This hope centres on Jesus, the Messiah, who is establishing his growing Kingdom in which, “They will neither harm nor destroy on all my holy mountain, for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD as the waters cover the sea.”