Today at Westminster Abbey a service was held to ‘recognise the commitment of the Royal Navy to effective peace-keeping through the [continuous at sea] deterrent over the past fifty years and to pray for peace throughout the world.’
I am extremely grateful for the peace we in the West have enjoyed over the past fifty years. I recognise that there are many in our armed forces who are committed to peace keeping and long, as I do, for peace throughout the world.
And yet I struggle with the very concept of celebrating what is ultimately the world’s most deadly weapon of mass destruction in a Christian service of worship. To me, this is totally at odds with the God I believe in, and with the very life and teaching of Jesus Christ, the ‘Prince of Peace.’
‘This sends out a terrible message to the world… that, here in Britain, we celebrate weapons – in a place of worship – that can kill millions of people.’ – Kate Hudson, general secretary of CND
In 1969 Britain launched its nuclear deterrent service. I have grown up with the very real threat of nuclear war. I am grateful that that threat has not materialised, and I am grateful to the women and men of our armed services and to those working in international diplomacy who have helped ensure that we have lived in peace.
Whatever our views about the effectiveness of policies of nuclear deterrence, however, we have to acknowledge that they are built on the foundation of the most awful weapons of mass destruction.
The UK holds 120 operational nuclear warheads. The atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki at the end of World War II killed between 100,000 and 250,000 people. Today’s nuclear warheads are far more powerful.
Westminster Abbey describes their service as a service to recognise the commitment of the Royal Navy to effective peace-keeping through the deterrent over the past fifty years and to pray for peace throughout the world. However, by linking it to the nuclear deterrence programme, whatever the intention, it gives the message that the Church of England not only condones, but actually celebrates – in a service of worship – these weapons that carry the potential to indiscriminately kill thousands of innocent people.
‘To celebrate a device that is designed to indiscriminately kill and destroy thousands of innocent civilians is totally incompatible with the gospel of Jesus Christ, and with our commitment as a Church to peace and to the flourishing of all humanity.’ – Rt Revd Roger Morris, Bishop of Colchester
For me, the very existence of nuclear weapons is a cause for lament, not for celebration.