Posted on Aug 7, 2019
Remember, repent, resist: 74 years since the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
1.32K
25
9
5
5
0
Thomas Merton, in his "Original Child Bomb," vividly describes the firepower, death and destruction that was unleashed on Hiroshima: "The bomb exploded within 100 feet of the aiming point. The fireball was 18,000 feet across. The temperature at the center of the fireball was 100,000,000 degrees. The people who were near the center became nothing. The whole city was blown to bits and the ruins all caught fire instantly everywhere, burning briskly. 70,000 people were killed right away or died within a few hours. Those who did not die at once suffered great pain. Few of them were soldiers."
Remember, repent, resist: 74 years since the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki
Posted from ncronline.org
Nuclear
Christianity
World History
Japan
Religion
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 6
4
4
0
We've got zero starships built, done no exploring of the cosmos to speak of, continual yakking about a Space Force, and the human race seems continually bent on internecine squabbling and mutually assured destruction, 75 yrs after WW2...sometimes, truly, all fascination with technology aside, I really think even God must really sometimes despair of our species, ya know?
(4)
(0)
3
3
0
Apparently, the author would rather we wage war with swords and lances, as if that is somehow less barbaric.
The Japanese well and truly earned their complete and utter destruction. They had launched a war of aggression with millions of casualties among civilians in China, Manchuria, and Korea well before their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. It was a declared war and any and all means at our disposal to usher in victory were to be employed.
One can wonder what would have happened if we hadn't used the bomb(s). Would the invasion of Japan been more costly in human terms? Probably. What I think we can know though is that the world needed to see exactly what these weapons were, or else they would have been employed in later conflicts with even more dire consequences. Would Kruschev have blinked during the Cuban Missile Crisis if the specter of Leningrad resembling Nagasaki not entered his mind? I doubt it.
A lot of horrible things have been done in the name of religion, and indeed on behalf of Catholicism. Too many to even begin to list here.
But when it comes to warfare, I believe you bring all of your power to bear to bring about victory, and let historians judge good/bad/evil from the luxury and safety afforded by the defeat of the enemy.
The Japanese well and truly earned their complete and utter destruction. They had launched a war of aggression with millions of casualties among civilians in China, Manchuria, and Korea well before their surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. It was a declared war and any and all means at our disposal to usher in victory were to be employed.
One can wonder what would have happened if we hadn't used the bomb(s). Would the invasion of Japan been more costly in human terms? Probably. What I think we can know though is that the world needed to see exactly what these weapons were, or else they would have been employed in later conflicts with even more dire consequences. Would Kruschev have blinked during the Cuban Missile Crisis if the specter of Leningrad resembling Nagasaki not entered his mind? I doubt it.
A lot of horrible things have been done in the name of religion, and indeed on behalf of Catholicism. Too many to even begin to list here.
But when it comes to warfare, I believe you bring all of your power to bear to bring about victory, and let historians judge good/bad/evil from the luxury and safety afforded by the defeat of the enemy.
(3)
(0)
3
3
0
British POWs who survived Nagasaki bomb sought for compensation offer
It was the most powerful weapon ever used in war, and when it was dropped on Nagasaki in 1945 it destroyed almost every living thing within two square miles.
(3)
(0)
Read This Next
Continue with Facebook 
Continue with Google