Among those fundamentals are these two pillars of decency
and civilised co-existence:
- First,
there's the 'Golden Rule' also known as the 'ethic of reciprocity'. I know
best the Christian version from the Sermon on the Mount and rendered in
the King James Bible as ... "Therefore all things whatsoever ye would
that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and
the prophets." (Matthew 7:12) Do unto others as you would have
others do unto you. It's a maxim one finds in every major
religion and, I have no doubt, in any moral framework where religion isn't
the driver.
- Second,
there is this ... "Blessed are the peacemakers". Same
sermon but this time Matthew 5:9. It speaks for itself, don't you
think?
Those thoughts came to mind while I was reading an article
in my beloved Guardian. You can read it here:
Chancellor says cash will create thousands of jobs at home
of Trident deterrent and criticises Labour leadership hopeful’s anti-nuclear
stance
The replacement cost for the Trident nuclear missile system
on the UK's four - allegedly independent - nuclear-armed submarines is
estimated to be at least £100 Billion over the next 35 years.
One hundred billion pounds - at 2012 prices - to replace a weapon that has
never been used, should never be used, and which, if used, would signal the end of all human life.
 |
| The Trident-class nuclear submarine Vanguard. |
The Trident submarine base is located in a sea loch on the River Clyde in
Scotland about 30 miles from where I was born and raised. As the crow
flies ... or nuclear missile soars, come to think of it ... the submarine base is
just over 63 miles from the isle of Iona where - in 563 AD - an Irish prince by
the name of Columba arrived on a missionary expedition that led to the
introduction of Christianity across Scotland. When I was maybe two or three years old my
father carried me on his shoulders as our family made its way across the beach to
what's known as the Iona Community - blessed peacemakers if ever there were
such people - where he and other volunteers were working to renovate and
refurbish the community's buildings.
 |
| Iona, Scotland |
Today's story in the Guardian made me sad and angry.
Scotland needs investment in its people, infrastructure and future.
Half a billion pounds to bolster the nuclear offensive capability of NATO
is, however, something no one needs.
As sometimes happens, maybe often, the news set me off on
one of my below the line rants in the paper's comments section. This is it:
It seems we still have to ask the question the proponents
of Mutually Assured Destruction have never been able to answer ... In what
conceivable circumstances would or could a British Prime Minister independently
authorise the firing of nuclear armed missiles and at which - or any - known,
likely or foreseeable 'first strike' enemy?
Given there are none - not one, not ever - Trident is not
now and never has been the UK's nuclear deterrent. It deters nothing and no one
and would never be used independently of an authorisation from the USA via its
front organisation NATO. Trident is a tool of MAD in a box wholly owned and
controlled by American foreign policy
And given the genocidal consequences of nuclear war, MAD
and the impossibility of a 'first strike capability' resulting in anything
other than those two outcomes what social, economic or moral purpose does
Trident serve?
That's right ... none. Not one. Never.
Have we still not learned? Make peace, not
war. Join CND.
