Volunteer Missionary Movement - USA

personal and silent encounters with God for which there can be no

substitute. We can learn to be still and to listen in all types of

prayer, not only to the needs of our brothers and sisters in the

noise and action of today's world, but also to that silent movement

of God's action within us which leads us to a deeper awareness of

God's love for each of us and a greater sensitivity and caring for

all God's People. We bring together in harmony the voice of the

people and the voice of the Spirit, and we strive to respond to both. Spirit and Lifestyle

Once again, this week, I picked up "Taking Sides" a small 10-page

booklet written years ago by South African Albert Nolan OP. The last

paragraph is still very pertinent. Even though the Cold War ended 20

years ago, the large nuclear armament industry and the rapid spread

of nuclear energy present unprecedented dangers today.

"In countries marked by grave injustice, joining the conflict, not

judging it from a distance, is the only effective way of bringing

about the peace that God wants. To take an example closer to home: in

countries possessing nuclear weapons, there may be no short cut

around the conflict with governments if the world is to progress

towards disarmament. It is not possible to 'balance' or 'reconcile'

the needs of the forty million people who die from starvation each

year in the Third World with the needs of arms manufacturers and

military strategists or the demands of a few wealthy nations to be

able to destroy any potential attacker many times over. Decisions

have to be made; one has to 'take sides.' "

The last two weeks, I've been working on three articles: one for the

Hiroshima and Nagasaki Memorial of the nuclear bombing in 1945 and

two to insure that the government of Alberta hears the voices of

Albertans who reject a nuclear power plant. If you are undecided

about nuclear power, I strongly recommend Helen Caldicott's Nuclear

Power is Not the Answer.

To close here is a reason to choose nuclear disarmament:

What Nuclear Weapons Cost

In the 21st century around $40 billion a year or 10 per cent of the

annual US military budget, is spent on nuclear weapons. This is

roughly the same cost as universal access to basic education,

healthcare, adequate food, clean water and safe sewers for the

world’s population.

Top-secret Manhattan Project, through which the US developed the

first nuclear weapons in 1945, cost $20 billion – about 7 per cent of

the cost of the entire war. The US spent $5.8 trillion on nuclear

weapons between the early 1940s and 1996. Trident, the UK’s nuclear

weapons system, costs up to $4 billion a year to run, and plans to

replace it will cost $154 billion.

The Eco-Cost of One Bomb

The radioactive waste created in the manufacture of an average

nuclear bomb includes 2,000 tons of uranium mining waste, 4 tons of

depleted uranium and 50 cubic meters of ‘low-level’ waste. "Clean up"

following nuclear weapons production and testing in the US will cost

more than $300 billion through to the year 2070.

July 27, 2009, appeared an article "Radioactive Remnants: Scientists

monitoring groundwater from Nevada Test Site area for contamination"