|
Dorothy Day on the Atom Bomb at Hiroshima
by Dorothy
Day
Reprinted from The Catholic Worker, (New York) September 1945
Mr. Truman was jubilant. President
Truman. True man; what a strange name,
come to think of it. We refer to Jesus Christ as true God and true Man.
Truman
is a true man of his time in that he was jubilant. He was not a son
of God, brother of Christ, brother of the Japanese,
jubilating as he did. H
went from table to table on the cruiser which was bringing him home from the
Big Three conference,
telling the great news; "jubilant" the newspapers
said. Jubilate Deo. We have killed 318,000 Japanese.
That
is, we hope we have killed them, the Associated Press, on page one,
column one of the Herald Tribune says. The effect
is hoped for, not known.
It is to be hoped they are vaporized, our Japanese brothers, scattered,
men, women
and babies, to the four winds, over the seven seas. Perhaps we
will
breathe their dust into our nostrils, feel
them in the fog of New York on
our faces, feel them in the rain on the hills of Eaton.
Jubilate Deo. President
Truman was jubilant. We have created. We have
created destruction. We have created a new element, called Pluto. Nature
had
nothing to do with it.
The papers list the scientists (the murderers) who are credited with
perfecting
this new weapon. Scientists, army officers, great universities,
and captains of industry-all are given credit lines
in the press for their
work of preparing the bomb-and other bombs, the President assures us, are in
production
now.
Everyone says, "I wonder what the Pope thinks of it?" How everyone turns to
the Vatican for judgment, even
though they do not seem to listen to the
voice there! But our Lord Himself has already pronounced judgment on the
atomic bomb. When James and John (John the beloved) wished to call down fire
from heaven on their enemies, Jesus
said:
"You know not of what spirit you are. The Son of Man came not to destroy
souls but to save." He said
also, "What you do unto the least of these my
brethren, you do unto me.
Pax Christi Long Island www.peacelongbeach.com 631 385 3250
|
