Nuclear Weapons Policies Raise New Alarms
As the end of the New START treaty nears and the two nuclear superpowers fail to make progress toward a replacement agreement, the risk of nuclear annihilation is rising.
October 28 began the 100 day countdown to the expiration of New START, the last remaining arms control treaty between the United States and Russia, threatening a new, reckless, and ruinously expensive nuclear arms race.
On October 29, President Trump announced that he had ordered the U.S. “Department of War” (not the Department of Energy, which oversees the U.S. nuclear arsenal) to start testing nuclear weapons. Energy Secretary Chris Wright has said the president did not mean exploding nuclear bombs, but rather testing other elements of nuclear weapons delivery systems. But other statements by the president imply he did mean bombs – a move that would reverse a 30 year moratorium on nuclear weapons tests.
Ongoing wars and growing nuclear arsenals compelled the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists to set the Doomsday Clock at 89 seconds to midnight this year, the closest we’ve ever been to global catastrophe.
The release of the Netflix movie A House of Dynamite has further heightened awareness of the threat posed by nuclear weapons. The Back From the Brink Campaign for nuclear disarmament is offering resources for hosting screenings of the film and conversations afterward.
The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists has also created resources to accompany the film.
In this same spirit, the Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns joined faith partners and disarmament advocates across the nation in a crucial week of action October 27-31, calling on Congress to:
1) Prioritize and support immediate negotiations of a new U.S.-Russia arms control agreement.
2) Pass legislation aimed at stopping and reversing a new arms race.
3) Commit to the ultimate goal of total nuclear disarmament once and
for all.
The danger is not theoretical—it’s immediate. Tensions over nuclear weapons are rising and the nuclear testing moratorium is under threat. Now is the time to unequivocally say no to nuclear weapons.
FAITH IN ACTION: Write to your Members of Congress and learn how to host a film screening of “A House of Dynamite”: https://bit.ly/NuclearCrisis
Read Back for the Brink’s faith-based resource guide on nuclear weapons: https://bit.ly/BackfromBrinkFaithGuide