At the moment I am preparing for the public resolutions at BUGB Assmebly in Plymouth later this month. Norman Kember and I are proposing a BUGB stance on Nuclear weapons and the Non Proliferation Treaty review: It is over 20 years now since I visited Hiroshima but the images and stories of what humanity is capable of doing to one another have never faded behind the fear mongering of deterance arguments. Recognising that such instant and decimating violence can be inflcited on those also made in the image of God and purposed for God's blessing makes the continued presence of 23,000 nuclear weapons (each more powerful than the Hiroshima bomb) in our world unncessary and immoral.
The BUGB resolution will say:
Recognising the continuing threat to peace posed by the existence and development of nuclear weapons, and the potential significance of the May 2010 conference to review the Treaty on the Non-proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), this Assembly:
· affirms its commitment to uphold the vision of a world free of nuclear weapons.
· calls upon the UK Government to join with others in taking courageous steps to strengthen the non-proliferation regime and build a secure future for all.
· calls upon churches to give support to the ‘Now is the time’ campaign.
If you don't know about the 'Now is the Time' campaign then have a look at Global Zero, an international movement for the elimination of nuclear weapons. Presidents Obama and Medvedev just signed a historic agreement to reduce their nuclear arsenals. With Russia and the US standing ready to lead, the following months could see the beginning of the end of nuclear weapons, but that will only happen if we seize this moment. To join me and the hundreds of thousands of people in every country in the world who believe in zero, click below:
We must now choose between two very different futures. In one, nuclear weapons continue to spread, increasing the chances that a country or terrorists use them, with catastrophic consequences. In the other, all nuclear weapons are eliminated according to a comprehensive global agreement for phased and verified reductions.
We want to show world leaders that the public supports the idea of a world free of nuclear weapons as they prepare to attend a special summit to address this global crisis.
If you are going to be at BUGB Assembly please don't skip the Public Resolutions, come and listen and debate and help us discern what God is saying to us and to the world.
8 comments:
Can we add an amendment calling for Trident to be scrapped? Please. Pretty please.
I would love to ... as would many others ... and if you want to speak to it from the floor please do so ... but i think the resolution as it stands was perceived to be the best that we could do for now, esp in the light of the NPT.
Interestingly only Lib Dems would scrap Trident ... will that affect how people vote ...
The difficulty with leaving Trident out of the resolution is that it makes what we say just look like a pious wish list with no actual practical consequence for our country.
If we're serious as a nation about reducing the numbers of nuclear weapons, we shouldn't be proposing to replace a weapons system but to scrap one.
Simon makes an important point. I've long thought that public resolutions at assembly lack teeth probably because we are overly concerned about avoiding sharp debate preferring instead to get something through. I understand this desire but ultimately I feel it is probably misguided.
We ought not to kid ourselves about the extent to which the government or the media pay any attention to the stuff we have to say but the resolution as it stands is not worth noting. That's not meant to sound harsh and dismissive or disrepectful to the work that you and others have done on this Craig - though I guess that is how it has turned out.
For the record, the Green Party would also scrap Trident. Not sure if any of the other smaller parties would. However the prospect of the Lib Dems holding the balance of power in a hung parliament is extremely enticing even if scrapping Trident might be beyond their bargaining strength!
On the small matter of whether Assembly resolutions have teeth, can anyone tell me what actually happens to a resolution after it's passed?
We passed a resolution about 'just employment' practises a couple of years back and I took that back to the Church Meeting and said this is what we must do! But apart from informing the church family, what do we do with these resolutions and what if any difference do they make?
And finally, sorry Craig, but I'm with Glenn on this. Let's at least nail our colours to the cross on this one. Violence begets violence. But on the cross God says enough. Scrap Trident!
Thanks for the feedback on this: With regret and a somewhat heavy heart I think this is comes down to the Art of the Possible in the here and now with the coalition of those willing: it does not mean i do not want to see the back of Trident (or any alternative system Lib Dems may have in mind) but it does mean I recognise that (if BUGB Council was anything to go by) a resolution to scrap Trident would be heavily disputed and we would loose the important chance to add our clear support to what I hope will be a significant move towards non proliferation and eventual erradication of nuclear weapons.
In Plymouth BPF launches the Peace Church initiaive, developing fellowships committed to non violence, inc nuclear weapons: come and find out more and lets return to our constitiuencies / (sorry churches), and prepare them for peace.
Not entirely at eas with the idea that ecclesial bodies are about the art of the possible. The community of the resurrection ought not to be shaped by the merely possible - or at least not until we've given the impossible a really good chance. Turning the other cheek is not realistic. Loving enemies is not expedient. It think I'd rather risk having the debate than settle too quickly for what's possible - that's the job of politicians not the church. Idealistic I realise but then ... ;-)
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