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Defusing the Bomb
by Fr. John S. Rausch
September 2006
Fr. Bob Cushing traveled to Japan with Pax Christi, U.S.A., on a "Pilgrimage for Reconciliation" to observe the 60th anniversary of the dropping of the first atomic bomb. In the Hiroshima cathedral, Fr. Bob read a letter signed by 500 people from his peace group in Augusta, GA. It began: "We are citizens of the United States who wish to express to you our profound sorrow for the atomic bombing of your cities in 1945."
Reaction to the symbolic gesture brought stinging letters to the editor from readers of both the Catholic and secular press. An editorial in The Augusta Chronicle criticized the pilgrimage with an editorial entitled, "Apologize for What?" stating that the Japanese are the ones who should apologize. The backlash grew so intense that Fr. Bob was relieved of his parochial duties in Augusta and eventually reassigned to another parish.
The emotional reactions over the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki revolve around the tenaciously held belief that the bombings saved American lives by expediting the Japanese surrender and avoiding an invasion of the islands. Historians agree the bombings probably shortened the war by a few months, but some claim the bomb served more as a demonstration to the Russians for the post war era.
The atomic bombing of Hiroshima killed immediately 140,000 men, women and children. Three days later, the atomic bomb hitting Nagasaki killed 70,000. In the next five years, another 130,000 people from these two cities died of radiation poisoning.
The numbers mask the intense human suffering from the bomb. Kimuko Laskey testified before a U.S. Senate hearing: "A woman with her jaw missing and her tongue hanging out of her mouth was wandering around, in the heavy black rain, crying for help." Richard Rhodes, author of In the Making of the Atomic Bomb, writes: "People exposed within half a mile of the Little Boy fireball were seared to bundles of smoking black char in a fraction of a second as their internal organs boiled away." Another woman, then a 5th grader, recalls: "I do not know how many times I called begging that they would cut off my burned arms and legs."
The principal justification for dropping the bombs emphasized the American lives saved by not having to invade Japan. At one point Truman said the invasion would cost a half million Allied casualties. Churchhill cited a million. Both numbers appear baseless, because even the official projections never went beyond 46,000.
Because the Allies had broken their code, they knew the Japanese were in a hopeless military situation and pursuing peace negotiations in Moscow. President Eisenhower recalled telling Secretary of War Henry Stimson that he opposed the use of the atomic bomb on Japan: "I told him I was against it on two counts. First, the Japanese were ready to surrender and it wasn’t necessary to hit them with that awful thing. Second, I hated to see our country be the first to use such a weapon."
Perhaps the emotional reaction to Fr. Bob’s symbolic apology taps the trauma many WW II vets and others still feel by the rumored expectation of invading Japan.
Political leaders consistently create perceptions to promote their agendas. In the climate of fear over terrorism, security concerns tolerate torture and the suspension of the Geneva Accords. Yet, people of faith can bring the analysis of Gospel values. The end does not justify the means, and might does not make right. Only forgiveness derails violence, and healing comes from building a just peace.
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