Setsuko Thurlow, who, as a 13 year old schoolgirl survived the U.S. atomic bombing of Hiroshima, received the Nuclear Age Peace Foundation’s Distinguished Peace Leadership Award on October 25, 2015.
“If You Love This Planet brings to life Hiroshima survivor Setsuko Thurlow’s passionate call to action, on the day that the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons was adopted at the United Nations – 7 July 2017.” http://www.icanw.org/campaign-news/short-film-if-you-love-this-planet/
The calls to fire the Hawaii state employee who triggered the false alarm of an imminent nuclear attack on Saturday January 13, 2018, grow more shrill by the hour, as panic subsides and anger takes over.
But how useful is that call? We have no inside knowledge of how competent or reliable this employee has been. If he or she has been a conscientious worker, it may be safer to assume that this person is less likely to repeat this awful blunder than to have complete confidence that the person who takes his or her place will not make the same mistake. More troubling is the broader failure of leadership, initiative and communications that let nearly 40 minutes go by before the state felt empowered to issue a cellphone notice to say that the 8.07 a.m. alarm was a mistake. That knowledge was already circulating by word of mouth and on social media while the wheels of state-led communications turned slowly, waiting on Federal permission to issue a correction. The Hawaii State Emergency Management Agency and the Governor have acknowledged the failure and the need to fix the system of notification and process for correction.
What can each of us do? Be “co-creators with God.”
Instead of clamoring for heads to roll, if we feel moved to act, it should be to pressure our leaders locally, nationally and internationally to do more to rid the planet of weapons that threaten to destroy us all.
To that end, here is a local call to action from a Hawaii church leader:
Peace,
The Rev David J. Gierlach
Rector
St. Elizabeth’s Episcopal Church, Honolulu.
Note: The US and Russia together have about 90 percent of the world’s nuclear weapons. https://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/2016/03/31/82465660/
The silent vigil is on the first WORKDAY of every month is from 11:30-12:00. The siren goes off at 11:45. All AM. 😇. The group stands in front of the Damien statue by the road.