Religion and ethics « nuclear-news

Catholic priest gaoled with other anti-nuclear protestors

Jean Gump and Jesuit Fr. Bill Bichsel, were sentenced by Guyton yesterday to time served and three months in jail, respectively…..

Anti-nuke activist gets eight months, National Catholic Reporter, by Joshua J. McElwee on Sep. 14, 2011 In the third of eleven sentencing hearings expected in coming days for a group of anti-nuclear activists opposing a $7.5 billion new nuclear weapons manufacturing facility, a veteran of the peace movement was sentenced to eight months in jail this afternoon. Continue reading →

September 15, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Religion and ethics, USA | Leave a comment

International Atomic Energy Agency gears up to preach spin to public

IAEA Vows to Restore Faith in Nuclear Power and Sees Further Growth in China, India, Nuclear Street, Sep 14 2011 The United Nations’ nuclear agency announced it will work to restore faith in nuclear power following the Fukushima Daiichi accident in Japan, ….

. The agency is in the process of drafting a post-Fukushima plan that considers a number of ways to improve the international response to nuclear accidents.

As it does, a UN release dated Monday also indicated the IAEA will put its weight behind efforts to reassure the public that the world’s 432 operating civilian reactors are safe. The release also announced the IAEA will trim its estimates for growth in the nuclear field…

September 15, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, Religion and ethics | Leave a comment

Some USA extreme Christians look forward to nuclear war

At least some portion of the population also practices mental readiness for a nuclear strike. The country’s solitary final assembly plant for nuclear weapons is located in Amarillo, Texas. Twenty-five years ago the journalist A. G. Mojtabai set out to understand how the people of this city bear the psychic burden of this work. As she reported inBlessèd Assurance: At Home with the Bomb in Amarillo, Texas, many members of the population believe in the Rapture—the end of the world and the gathering of true believers into the arms of Christ. For many of these believers, nuclear weapons, far from being something to repudiate, are vehicles to this blissful end-time event…….

Jerry Falwell stated, “In terms of its impact on Christianity, [Left Behind is] probably greater than that of any other book in modern times, outside the Bible.” But whether or not readers believe in the literal claims of the book, they are surely being counseled to regard nuclear disarmament as morally sinister and nuclear weapons as morally good, even godly...

Until late July 2011, the Air Force had a mandatory course on Nuclear Ethics and Nuclear Warfare for its missile officers…The course—“mandatorily teaches its nuclear missile launch officers that fundamentalist Christian theology is inextricably intertwined with the ‘correct’ decision to launch nukes.”

Extreme Injury, Boston Review, Elaine Scarry, September 2011 “…….Our nuclear weapons are, at every minute of the day and night, ready for use Continue reading →

September 9, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Religion and ethics, USA | Leave a comment

Christian Bishop Explains His Anti Nuclear Campaign

Why go to anti-nuclear demos? It’s part of my faith, Echo (UK) 7th September 2011 BLOCKING the gates to an atomic weapons research centre and taking communion outside a weapons store aren’t typical activities for a bishop.

But for the Bishop of Chelmsford, Stephen Cottrell, voicing his opposition to nuclear weapons is an important part of his Christian faith. Bishop Continue reading →

September 8, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Religion and ethics, UK | Leave a comment

Bravery honors for Fukushima’s nuclear emergency workers

Spain honors Japanese nuclear responders VOA Sept 11 Crews in Japan that worked to bring a damaged nuclear plant under control after a deadly earthquake and tsunami earlier this year have won Spain’s prestigious Prince of Asturias humanitarian award.

The Prince of Asturias Foundation said Wednesday it is honoring the workers who braved dangerous levels of radiation at the Fukushima nuclear facility, about 220 kilometers northeast of Tokyo.

In a statement, the foundation said members of the crew represent the “highest values of the human condition,” and that their actions reflect the most deeply rooted values in Japanese society, such as a sense of duty, personal and family sacrifice for the common good, and dignity in the face of adversity.

The foundation said it award goes to three groups of Japanese: employees of the company that operated the nuclear plant, firefighters who worked to cool dangerously overheated reactors, and military personnel who flew helicopters over the nuclear plant, cordoned off an exclusion zone and evacuated residents…. http://blogs.voanews.com/breaking-news/2011/09/07/spain-honors-japanese-nuclear-responders/

September 8, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, Religion and ethics | Leave a comment

New Apostolic Reformation and Perry for USA President?

what makes the New Apostolic Reformation movement so potent is its growing fascination with infiltrating politics and government. The new prophets and apostles believe Christians—certain Christians—are destined to not just take “dominion” over government, but stealthily climb to the commanding heights of what they term the “Seven Mountains” of society, including the media and the arts and entertainment world.…In Rick Perry, they may have found their vessel. And the interest appears to be mutual

AUDIO Rick Perry’s Army of God – The Texas Observer Rick Perry’s Army of God – The Texas Observer, Rick Perry’s Army of GodA little-known movement of radical Christians and self-proclaimed prophets wants to infiltrate government, and Rick Perry might be their man.by Forrest Wilder, August 03, 2011 “…….The pastors told Perry of God’s grand plan for Texas. A chain of powerful prophecies had proclaimed that Texas was “The Prophet State,” anointed by God to lead the United States into revival and Godly government. And the governor would have a special role…… Continue reading →

September 2, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Religion and ethics, Resources -audiovicual, USA | 1 Comment

Japan – prejudice against residents of Fukushima Prefecture

Teachers lack knowledge It is important to teach children the meaning of “becquerel,” which indicates how much radiation a radioactive substance emits, and “sievert,” the unit for calculating the effect radiation has on the human body. This will help children better understand daily news reports about radiation….

Better radiation education needed to end prejudice, The Yomiuri Shimbun, 20 Aug 11 Ever since the accident at Tokyo Electric Power Co.’s Fukushima No. 1 nuclear power plant, many evacuees from Fukushima Prefecture have been subjected to discrimination and prejudice.

A student who transferred from the prefecture to a primary school in the Kanto region was shunned by classmates and eventually stopped going to class. Some gas stations in the Tokyo metropolitan area have refused to serve cars bearing Fukushima license plates. Continue reading →

August 22, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | - Fukushima 2011, Japan, Religion and ethics | Leave a comment

Churches unite against uranium mining in Virginia

The Interfaith Center said it will join forces with the Keep the Ban coalition and work with the faith-based community to keep Virginia free of uranium mining…..

Virginia Interfaith Center opposes uranium mining, Canadian Business, By AP | August 17, 2011, RICHMOND, Va. (AP) — The Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy announced its opposition Wednesday to ending a 1982 state ban on uranium mining.

The faith-based group, which has advocated for expanded health care for children and low-income families and battled predatory lending practices, said it joins environmental groups and others opposed to uranium mining. Continue reading →

August 18, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Religion and ethics, USA | 1 Comment

A Christian argument for action on Climate Change

How do climate sceptics respond to the cloud of witnesses for global warming? By denying the full body of evidence. ……There are similar false arguments against clean energy. ……

The crux of climate change for Christians is the poorest, most vulnerable countries are those hardest hit by global warming.

The poor are least able to adapt to the impact of climate change and ironically, have contributed least to it. The carbon footprint of the poorest 1 billion people on the planet is estimated to be around 3% of the world’s total footprint. This is the social injustice of climate change: poor, developing countries will suffer because of the fossil fuels emitted by developed nations..

Eternity 16 Aug 11, John Cook a leading campaigner on climate change and, yes, a Christian too, puts the case for taking action.“…….Just as an Old Testament judge required multiple witnesses, scientists look for multiple sources of evidence. Our understanding is considered robust when scientists have found independent measurements all pointing to a single, consistent conclusion.
On the question of global warming, natural witnesses are found in our climate. Warming is directly measured by thermometers scattered across the globe, which find that the two hottest years on record were 2005 and 2010.
In addition, we have many natural thermometers painting a similar picture. Ice sheets in Greenland and Antarctica are dissipating at an accelerating rate, shedding hundreds of billions of tonnes of ice every year. Scientists are observing tens of thousands of species shift towards cooler regions. Arctic sea ice is melting faster than even the worst- case predictions. Even tree-lines are shifting in response to warming temperatures.

To properly understand what’s happening to our climate, we must listen to all the witnesses and consider the full body of evidence. The consonance of evidence paints an unmistakable picture of a warming planet. Continue reading →

August 16, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, climate change, Religion and ethics | Leave a comment

A Hiroshima Day Apology

We inherit from the past our own conditions of living. We inherit the burdens, responsibilities and sacrifices, as well as the opportunities. Whether I like it or not, I am part of the rationale against you, that led to the US atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. All this I owe to you, Japan, when I apologise. ..

Apologising for the bomb: a letter on our anniversary, The Drum, Luke Stickels, 5 August 11 Dear Japan, Today marks 66 years since your city, Hiroshima, faced the world’s first ever nuclear attack, and I thought I would write to apologise……..

at approximately 8.15am on 6 August, 1945, the United States dropped a gun-type atomic bomb called Little Boy on Hiroshima. Between 70,000-80,000 people, or approximately 30 per cent of Hiroshima’s population, were killed instantly by what the subsequent US Bombing Survey termed “inefficient” nuclear fission, which nevertheless cleared 12 square kilometers of the city and 69 per cent of its buildings. Continue reading →

August 7, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | 2 WORLD, Religion and ethics | Leave a comment

Jesus does not love nukes – Christians and Atheists agree on this

The Christians Bryan Cones at U.S. Catholic was elated by the news. “We can be grateful today that the U.S. Air Force will no longer include biblical or Christian justifications for the use of nuclear weapons in its ethics training for officers,”

Atheists, Christians Agree: Jesus Wouldn’t Launch Nukes – – The Atlantic Wire, John Hudson,4 Aug 11, A curious mix of vigilant atheists and devout Christians are celebrating the Air Force’s decision to suspend a Christian-themed course taught to nuclear missile launch officers at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.

For almost 20 years, military chaplains presented these officers with slides filled with biblical references such as “Revelation 19:11 Jesus Christ is the mighty warrior” and Christian literature, such as St. Augustine’s Just War Theory, in an attempt to dismantle the moral and ethical qualms of annihilating human beings with nuclear weapons. Surprise! Not everyone liked it. Continue reading →

August 5, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Religion and ethics, USA | Leave a comment

USA Air Force to discontinue religious justification for nuclear war

In addition to using Jesus to justify nuclear war, the course also referenced German rocket scientist Wernher Von Braun as an authority on the morality of nuclear war. A questionable reference since Von Braun was once a member of the Nazi Party and used Jews imprisoned in concentration camps to build V-2 rockets for Hitler’s Third Reich.

Secular victory: Air Force ends Bible study for nuclear launch officers, Michael Stone, Humanist Examiner, August 3, 2011 In a victory for secular America and the U.S. Constitution, the United States Air Force has suspended a Bible based, Christian themed course mandated for all nuclear launch officers. Continue reading →

August 4, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Religion and ethics, USA | Leave a comment

How Air Force Officers are taught that nuclear bombing is OK with God

the intent of quoting Bible passages was to make officers feel “comfortable” about launching nuclear weapons and signing a legal document stating they had “no moral qualms” about “turning the key” if ordered to do so.

‘Jesus loves nukes’ Bruce Ross’s Blog 27 July 11. “…….Former Air Force Capt. Damon Bosetti, 27, who attended missile officer training in 2006 and was stationed at Malmstrom Air Force Base in Great Falls, Montana, said he and his colleagues used to call the religious section of the ethics training the “Jesus loves nukes speech.” Continue reading →

July 28, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Religion and ethics, USA | 2 Comments

Brief memorial visit to Okuma’s irradiated zone

Wearing full-body protective gear and white face masks because of the continued risk of radiation exposure, the families bowed their heads in silence

Villagers hold memorial in nuke plant’s shadow, The Modesto Bee, By ERIC TALMADGE – Jul. 24, 2011, OKUMA, Japan — Under tight government supervision, dozens of villagers from a town where the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear plant is located ventured deep into an irradiated no-man’s land Sunday to hold a belated memorial for friends and relatives killed by Japan’s earthquake and tsunami. Continue reading →

July 24, 2011 Posted by Christina Macpherson | Japan, Religion and ethics | Leave a comment

Tragedy of a Japanese farmer who cares about his cows

VIDEO http://www.ukprogressive.co.uk/new-japan-law-cleanses-bad-nuclear-news/article13589.html New Japan Law Cleanses Bad Nuclear News,,UK PROGRESSIVE THEODORA FILIS | JULY 24, 2011 “……..Uncanny Terrain: Yoshizawa’s ranch is 14km downwind from the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The government ordered him to kill his 300 cows. Most of his neighbors’ animals are gone, but some have been released and joined his herd. Yoshizawa refuses to kill his cows. He wants them to be studied for the effects of radiation. Continue reading →