wfn.org | Kinnamon: Now is the time to eliminate all nuclear weapons

["Philip Jenks" <pjenks@ncccusa.org>]

Nuclear weapons 'must be removed from the face of the earth,'
NCC General Secretary Kinnamon tells New York rallies

>See www.ncccusa.org/news/100502npt.html

New York, May 3, 2010 -- On the eve of the United Nations historic  review 
conference of parties to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons  treaty, the 
General Secretary of the National Council of Churches told  gatherings in New 
York's Times Square and at the Church Center for the  UN that nuclear weapons 
"are a crime against humanity" and must be  removed from the face of the earth.

The Rev. Dr. Michael Kinnamon, standing with other peace activists in a  
bustling Times Square hours after the area had been closed following a  failed 
attempt to explode a car bomb, addressed his remarks to "lovers  of peace."

Quoting a resolution enacted by the General Assembly of the National  Council 
of Churches and Church World Service in Minneapolis last  November, Kinnamon 
said, "The time has arrived to eliminate all of these  weapons before they are 
used to eliminate all of us.  Be it therefore  resolved that the National 
Council of Churches hereby recommits itself  to the total worldwide eradication 
of nuclear weapons."

The Sunday afternoon rally in Times Square was attended by an estimated  15,000 
people. Participants included the Hibaukusha, survivors of  Hiroshima and 
Nagasaki in 1945, including Kimura Hisako, a survivor of  the atomic bombing of 
Hiroshima.

In addition to Kinnamon, other speakers included Mayor Akiba of  Hiroshima and 
Mayor Taue of Nagasaki; Nadine Padilla, activist  addressing uranium mining in 
Native American communities; Raed Jarrar,  Iraqi blogger and political analyst; 
Maryam Shansab, Afghan-American  activist; Pierre Djedji Amondji, Governor of 
the district of Abidjan in  Ivory Coast; Kristin Blom, Campaigns Manager, 
International  Confederation of Trade Unionists; and performances by The 
Recipe, spoken  word duo from Kansas City, Mo.; Stephan Said, Iraqi-American 
musician  known for his anti-war song, "The Bell;" and Emma's Revolution, known 
 for their songs of peace.

Kinnamon described the National Council of Churches as a diverse  community 
that doesn't always agree on issues.

"But on this we do agree: Nuclear weapons are a threat to the human  future," 
Kinnamon declared. "They siphon off resources that could have  been used to 
promote true security through economic and cultural  development. If they ever 
played a stabilizing role in the balance of  power, they surely do so no longer 
in this post-Cold War world."

In his remarks to the Interfaith Convocation at the Church Center for  the UN, 
Kinnamon cited three historic statements by the World Council of  Churches and 
the National Council of Churches in the nuclear age.

"The first comes from the World Council of Churches' first assembly,  just 
three years after the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki," he said.   It is only 
eight words, but I wish these words could be chiseled  above the door of every 
church: 'War is contrary to the will of God.'   For much of its 2000 year 
history, the Christian church has justified  violence against other children of 
God by claiming that such violence  was carried out in God's name!  But in the 
aftermath of the bombings  in Japan, this lie became even more monstrous, and 
Christians (some of  them, at least) were ready to affirm that at the heart of 
the universe  is a Spirit of peace.  'War is contrary -- always -- to the will 
of  God.'"

The second statement, also from the WCC, was 17 words long, Kinnamon  said: 
"The production and deployment of nuclear weapons, as well as  their use, 
constitute a crime against humanity." 

"Such weapons," Kinnamon said, "do not protect us from the enemy; they  are the 
enemy.  They do not prevent evil; they are evil in its most  devastating form."

The third statement was 2009 resolution of the NCC/CWS General Assembly  
calling for the worldwide eradication of nuclear weapons.

"I am thankful for these statements, even proud of them," Kinnamon told  the 
convocation. "But all of us know that nuclear weapons are not a  Christian 
problem or a Muslim problem or a Jewish problem or a Hindu  problem or a 
Buddhist problem or a Native Religions problem or a Shinto  problem or a 
Unitarian Universalist problem. They are a human  problem!  That's why it is 
fitting that, on the eve of the review of  the Nuclear Non-Proliferation 
Treaty, we gather across the street from  the United Nations as an interfaith 
community to say, 'Stop this  insanity!'  We who gather here are remarkably 
diverse; but together,  as one community, we long for the day when nuclear 
weapons are abolished  from the face of this good earth."

The full text of Kinnamon's remarks to the Times Square rally:  
http://www.ncccusa.org/news/MK.npt.timessquare.htm

The full text of Kinnamon's remarks to the Interfaith Convocation:  
http://www.ncccusa.org/news/MK.ccun.npt.html

Jim Luce's account of the rally in "Daily Kos":  
http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2010/5/3/853758/-National-Council-of-Ch 
urches-Head-Inspires-Global-Crowd-at-NYC-Anti-Nuke-Rally

NCC News contact:  Philip E. Jenks, 212-870-2228 (office),  646-853-4212 
(cell), pjenks@ncccusa.org