By Mimi Lang – Published in the Morning Call – February 7, 2022
Thanks to Monica McAghon (The Morning Call, Jan. 24) for reminding us that Martin Luther King wanted to rid the world of nuclear weapons at the risk of his stature on the world stage.
Along with Dr. King were famed Trappist monk Thomas Merton, Vietnam War resister Father Daniel Berrigan, Catholic Worker founder Dorothy Day, imprisoned nuclear resister Sister Megan Rice and Liz McAllister, one of the many courageous voices of the Plowshares Movement.
We have the powerful witness of South African Bishop Desmond Tutu and Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh, asking all of us to decry the terrible threat posed by nuclear weapons.
As former Secretary of Defense William Perry noted, intercontinental ballistic missiles are “some of the most dangerous weapons in the world” because the president would have only minutes to decide whether to launch in a crisis, greatly increasing the risk of an accidental nuclear war.
Nearly 700 scientists, including 21 Nobel prize winners, are dedicated to the abolition of nuclear weapons. They are calling to end first strike capability and to eliminate ICBMs.
Thich Nhat Hanh said, Peace is “every step we take.” Choose to make your step for peace.
Mimi Lang
Bethlehem