Against the arms race
Wars are a crime against humanity. A nuclear war would surely be the final war, for afterwards there would probably be no people left who could wage another war.
The warning cry of a conscience that has so far been ignored is: Do not forget the lessons of the great nuclear catastrophes! Eighty-one years ago, aeroplanes dropped atomic bombs for the first time on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. As long as 40 years ago, the mayors of these cities vowed that the mass nuclear slaughter in their cities must never be forgotten or suppressed by humanity, and founded the global organisation ‘Mayors for Peace’, which has since been joined by 8,584 mayors from 166 countries – including the mayors of more than 900 German towns and municipalities, also from across the whole of Baden.
For 2,000 years, the ancient Roman principle has held true: ‘He who wants peace must prepare for war.’
The result of this policy: 2,000 years of wars, mass murder and endless suffering. In light of these experiences, we must finally adopt this philosophy: ‘Those who want peace must prepare for peace.’ In other words, we must disarm rather than rearm, as the current federal government is doing by pouring ever more money into armaments, primarily to appease the US President. One would expect a CDU/CSU-led federal government to be guided more by the principles of the Sermon on the Mount than by the wishes of a dangerous US President who has lost all moral compass.
The US spends more than eight times as much on armaments and the military as Russia, and three times as much as China. Who is actually threatening whom here? With a tenth of global military spending, we could ensure that no child ever has to go hungry again. And with another tenth, we could ensure that all children can go to school.
Wouldn’t these be more worthwhile goals than starting a new arms race, as the US, China and Russia – but also Germany – are currently doing once again? When will we finally learn that the purpose of our existence is not hatred and an arms race, but love and peace? We must rethink peace and security, just as Jesus called for in the Sermon on the Mount.
