nuclear-news

But for the Bishop of Chelmsford, Stephen Cottrell, voicing his opposition to nuclear weapons is an important part of his Christian faith. Bishop Stephen, 52, who grew up in Sylvan Way, Leigh, and attended Belfairs High Schoolbetween 1969 and 1976, has always supported the peace movement, but it wasn’t until he became Bishop of Reading in 2004 that he began to take part in protests.

The position required him to move to the village of Tidmarsh, in Berkshire, seven miles from Aldermaston – home of the Atomic Weapons Establishment, where the UK’s nuclear weaponry is developed, maintained and scrapped.

Bishop Stephen said: “Suddenly for me, this international issue became a local issue and many of the people I got to know worked at Aldermaston.”…..

“The Christian faith requires me to be a witness to peace,” he said. “There are a whole range of arguments which can be deployed against nuclear weapons and I choose to focus on five.”

He argues nuclear weapons are illegal and cost a lot of money, which could be better used.

He said: “A number of members of the Armed Forces have just received redundancy notices and there’s better ways of spending money on defence than investing it in nuclear weapons – for example, better body armour for troops.”

His other three arguments are moral.

He says the Bible says people should love their enemy. Using nuclear weapons is always a disproportionate response to any violence, and the church has a vision for peace…..

http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/9235642.Why_go_to_anti_nuclear_demos__It_s_part_of_my_faith/