Only by divorcing it from Romans 12. Better off blaming whoever came up with those chapter divisions. :)
Was droping bomb on Hiroshima in 1945 evil?
by new hope and happiness 108 Replies latest jw friends
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Terry
Point taken!
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wifibandit
AWAKE! NOVEMBER 2014
“A Stark and Powerful Symbol"
ON THE east bank of the Motoyasu River in Hiroshima City, Japan, stands a building that has remained partly in ruins since 1945. Why has it not been rebuilt for nearly 70 years?
Completed in 1915, the original three-story brick-and-mortar structure served as an exhibition hall to promote industry. But that changed on August 6, 1945, at 8:15 a.m. At that moment, the first atomic bomb ever used in warfare detonated about 1,800 feet (550 m) above the city and almost directly above the exhibition hall. Everyone inside died instantly. The core structure of the building, however, remained standing.
Preserved unchanged, it is “a stark and powerful symbol of the most destructive force ever created by humankind,” says a UNESCO *article. In 1996 the building was added to the UNESCO World Heritage List as the Hiroshima Peace Memorial.
Sadly, though, such poignant memorials have not stopped war, which is often caused by greed, nationalism, and racial, religious, and tribal hatred. So, will warfare always be with us?
The Bible answers no! “[God] is bringing an end to wars throughout the earth,” says Psalm 46:9. “He breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the military wagons with fire.” At the same time, God will replace human rulership with his own world government—God’s Kingdom in the hands of Jesus Christ, who is designated “King of kings.”—Revelation 11:15;19:16.
Thereafter, memorials to the folly of war will be unnecessary. “The former things”—today’s distresses and heartaches—“will not be called to mind, nor will they come up into the heart,” says Isaiah 65:17.
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Band on the Run
I believe that Pearl Harbor was no surprise attack for the White House. No one can prove that FDR himself received reports. Radar was new and it signaled the attack. My prof said there was a lot of tension concerning California. The US/California did many things to antagonize the Japanese. A lot of it was clearly racist. My Chinese friends hate the Japanese more than any Westerner does.
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hamsterbait
The Germans started a major european war in the 1870s, and were the first to deploy the Krups Gun against civilian populations many miles behind the lines.. They started BOTh world wars and were the first to use airships for ariel bombing of towns. They had to be stopped. Hitler saw the pacifism and appeasement of the European powers as weakness, and so invaded Poland.
Would it have been any good to say "war is bad and we refuse to fight and kill like the Nazis." Benjamin Britten the composer actually argued that Britain should let the Germans invade, then "set them a good example." !!!!!
Why didnt the US show Japan a good example after Pearl Harbor? As was pointed out, when the US first approached Japan with less punitive conditions of surrender, it was rejected as the Japanese saw this, not as compromise, but weakness, so they refused.
Had America not joined the war, Europe would have fallen under nazi control. They were planning a nuclear bomb themselves, and would have used it. The Germans were already trying to design three stage missiles that could nuke America. (a concept suggested in "Woman on the Moon" 1923)
When your enemy despises your very existence no amount of sweet smiles and concessions will save you.
Sometimes there is NO CHOICE but to fight back with deadly force, unpleasant thought.
And can we have less of the "conspiracy" ideas about the US bandied about by the likes of Noam Chomsky and Gore Vidal. (convincing though they sound)
Setting good examples and special treatment to terrorists in our midst is also seen as weakness, and will sadly lead to even more violence and the need to fight for our survival in the future.
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Band on the Run
This reminds me of a John Lennon statement. He was arguing for peace at all times. A prissy, arrogant British female journalist told him he was a lunaatic if peace would have stopped Hitler. She talked down to him with much contempt. John did not miss a beat. No, not if Hitler learned peace as a middle aged man. What if Hitler were taught peace from the moment he was born? I could not believe how quick he was.
When 9/11 happened I was uptown. I worked across from the WTC. It did not seem real. When I reached home, it took hours to travel a small distance.Every trucks and many cars were pulled over. It reminded me a coup d'etat. The famous French film about Algeria. I was wondering why it was taking so long to send Afghanistan back to the Stone Age. If no else would do it, I would. People on the street did not understand the delay. We were always the people screaming "peace." New York University built a dorm across my building. The students had taken their sheets and written "Peace" and "Imagine." I had no idea Lennon took in so many generations. I worried about loud noise from the dorm. The school kept it under control. Students had turned speakers to the street and blasted "Give Peace a Chance." It calmed me down. I was crying.
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sammielee24
DWIGHT EISENHOWER
"...in [July] 1945... Secretary of War Stimson, visiting my headquarters in Germany, informed me that our government was preparing to drop an atomic bomb on Japan. I was one of those who felt that there were a number of cogent reasons to question the wisdom of such an act. ...the Secretary, upon giving me the news of the successful bomb test in New Mexico, and of the plan for using it, asked for my reaction, apparently expecting a vigorous assent.
"During his recitation of the relevant facts, I had been conscious of a feeling of depression and so I voiced to him my grave misgivings, first on the basis of my belief that Japan was already defeated and that dropping the bomb was completely unnecessary, and secondly because I thought that our country should avoid shocking world opinion by the use of a weapon whose employment was, I thought, no longer mandatory as a measure to save American lives. It was my belief that Japan was, at that very moment, seeking some way to surrender with a minimum loss of 'face'. The Secretary was deeply perturbed by my attitude..."
- Dwight Eisenhower, Mandate For Change, pg. 380
In a Newsweek interview, Eisenhower again recalled the meeting with Stimson:
"...the Japanese were ready to surrender and it wasn't necessary to hit them with that awful thing."
- Ike on Ike, Newsweek, 11/11/63
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sammielee24
BRIGADIER GENERAL CARTER CLARKE
(The military intelligence officer in charge of preparing intercepted Japanese cables - the MAGIC summaries - for Truman and his advisors)
"...when we didn't need to do it, and we knew we didn't need to do it, and they knew that we knew we didn't need to do it, we used them as an experiment for two atomic bombs."
Quoted in Gar Alperovitz, The Decision To Use the Atomic Bomb, pg. 359.
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hamsterbait
Wifibandit:
Thank you for pointing out that the biggest most genocidal killer in history is going to bring war to an end by slaughtering more humans, mostly children under 10, than in all the wars of the last 6 000 years. I just go warm and fuzzy thinking about this.
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Paralipomenon
Really tough to say.
Japan doesn't share a border and while the government had surrendered it could remain a sleeping giant. Look at Germany from WWI. They surrendered but within a couple decades were remilitarizing. (granted, made easier by punitive sanctions by allied forces)
Hitler and Stalin ruled with charisma and fear, Japan was ruled by religion. The emperor was thought to be a divine incarnation. They needed to dismantle the emperor or it would be a mere postponement of hostilities.
The bombs broke the spirit of the Japanese. While they could have hit Tokyo, if all the generals were killed, negotiating a surrender may be difficult. The allies needed the war wrapped up and the bombs did it.
I don't minimalize the loss of life but on one side, the bombs needed to have been used to show the world what they were. Not to create fear, but so that we could fear what we created. It has created a culture where not a sane person on the planet advocates atomic war. There is a difference between seeing videos of bomb blasts and their destructive capacity and two leveled cities.
Due to their detonation we, as a species have vowed to do all in our power to never see them used again. This could have only happen after they were dropped somewhere. To the American's credit they did hit many cities in Japan with leaflets warning about the destructive power of the bombs and urged the people to leave the cities and force those in power out. People didn't leave and to me that is an indication that a surrender would not have been taken seriously.
We don't have the luxury of knowing what would have happened if they weren't dropped. Perhaps the first military use would have been milder, or so much worse.
