Monday, August 08, 2005
Fighting so grim, so true, so real...
I hate to start out what will be a post about a heavy topic with this new, but the news is so good I need to share it. My friend Rich and his wife Layla have delivered their first child! It is a baby boy, 19 inches long, and 5 pounds 13 ounces. His name is Andrew Ronald Wood. I am so happy for them!!! Mother and baby are doing fine (or so I hear), and I can't wait to see pictures!
Now on to the show.
This weekend was the seventh anniversary for my wife and me. It was (unfortunately) also the grim anniversary of the tragedy in Hiroshima. The event was so horrible, so stark, that the name Hiroshima seems to only conjure up one image... destruction.
60 years ago, the United States made the hard decision to use atomic weapons. They dropped the first atomic bomb ever used in warfare on a city in Japan named Hiroshima. August 6, 1945 was the day. And the effect it has had on the world is still felt today.
In the USA, whenever the bomb is discussed, it is most often followed with the phrase "... which ended World War 2." The justification was that if we could show our superiority through such a powerful weapon, that the Japanese would be forced to surrender. Two bombs later (a second was dropped on Nagasaki), and the US got its wish. To this day, there is a monster lurking in the soul of every American, as we realize how horrible the act was, and those of us who are patriots still feel the need to justify and qualify all statements regarding our assault on Japan.
I myself find it chilling to think about, and I am very ashamed of my country. I have no idea what alternative we had, but the murder of so many innocent people seems so vulgar. The decision to use the bomb, and the deployment of it on such a metropolitan area does nothing but hold a mirror to what is wrong with militarism. Over 100,000 people died, for no other reason than for inhabiting the land in which they were born. A soldier dies in war, and it is tragic... but to me that seems logical. Grandmothers, children, and fisherman dying in war does not seem logical. The dropping of the bomb seemed like something out of the book of Caesar or Atilla... make examples, hang 'em high, nail them to a cross for all to see... Show them our might makes right, and they may as well succumb to it.
In a testament to humanism of the highest order, Hiroshima today is a thriving city, completely rebuilt and strong in its convictions. It is a city full of people proud to be from Japan. Hiroshima is also the home of many pacifists and forward thinkers. And during the solemn services of remembrance, there was a quiet dignity and pride in the current inhabitants of Japan who stood and said "this is our home, we cannot be be driven from it, even in the face of ultimate horror."
I am glad that there is little ill will between Japan and the US. I am happy that I am able to learn their culture and language. I am glad that I can sit here and type while I drink my umeshu (which I am doing). I am glad I have made friends who brighten my life. And I am glad that I can dream of visiting Japan someday.
And when I do, perhaps I will travel to Hiroshima, and visit the park that stands in honor of the tragedy of August 6th, 1945. I will see the horrible artifacts that remain; I will see the mangled children's tricycle, and the watch that eternally stopped at 8:15 AM. I will see these things, and I will probably cry.
I hope that the USA starts to move away from the muscle approach, and heads in a more humanistic direction. I hope that in the future, we do not see mass slaughter as the only end to conflict. Our current war exposes our own darkness; we hate the terrorists who attack innocent people due to an ideology, only to have come to where are by the same means. The end of God's labors is not to see America proud and strong. America is not the goal of God or evolution. America is just another civilization that hopes it will be the first to last forever.
I hope America changes. I hope that wars become fewer, and I hope that my children can live in a world where Americans are not seen as monsters, and instead appreciated for the diverse and interesting culture we are. I hope that my friendships with Japanese people are not threatened by the image my country gives its citizens. And most of all I hope that we (as a planet) never use nuclear weapons again.
Horns up.
Now on to the show.
This weekend was the seventh anniversary for my wife and me. It was (unfortunately) also the grim anniversary of the tragedy in Hiroshima. The event was so horrible, so stark, that the name Hiroshima seems to only conjure up one image... destruction.
60 years ago, the United States made the hard decision to use atomic weapons. They dropped the first atomic bomb ever used in warfare on a city in Japan named Hiroshima. August 6, 1945 was the day. And the effect it has had on the world is still felt today.
In the USA, whenever the bomb is discussed, it is most often followed with the phrase "... which ended World War 2." The justification was that if we could show our superiority through such a powerful weapon, that the Japanese would be forced to surrender. Two bombs later (a second was dropped on Nagasaki), and the US got its wish. To this day, there is a monster lurking in the soul of every American, as we realize how horrible the act was, and those of us who are patriots still feel the need to justify and qualify all statements regarding our assault on Japan.
I myself find it chilling to think about, and I am very ashamed of my country. I have no idea what alternative we had, but the murder of so many innocent people seems so vulgar. The decision to use the bomb, and the deployment of it on such a metropolitan area does nothing but hold a mirror to what is wrong with militarism. Over 100,000 people died, for no other reason than for inhabiting the land in which they were born. A soldier dies in war, and it is tragic... but to me that seems logical. Grandmothers, children, and fisherman dying in war does not seem logical. The dropping of the bomb seemed like something out of the book of Caesar or Atilla... make examples, hang 'em high, nail them to a cross for all to see... Show them our might makes right, and they may as well succumb to it.
In a testament to humanism of the highest order, Hiroshima today is a thriving city, completely rebuilt and strong in its convictions. It is a city full of people proud to be from Japan. Hiroshima is also the home of many pacifists and forward thinkers. And during the solemn services of remembrance, there was a quiet dignity and pride in the current inhabitants of Japan who stood and said "this is our home, we cannot be be driven from it, even in the face of ultimate horror."
I am glad that there is little ill will between Japan and the US. I am happy that I am able to learn their culture and language. I am glad that I can sit here and type while I drink my umeshu (which I am doing). I am glad I have made friends who brighten my life. And I am glad that I can dream of visiting Japan someday.
And when I do, perhaps I will travel to Hiroshima, and visit the park that stands in honor of the tragedy of August 6th, 1945. I will see the horrible artifacts that remain; I will see the mangled children's tricycle, and the watch that eternally stopped at 8:15 AM. I will see these things, and I will probably cry.
I hope that the USA starts to move away from the muscle approach, and heads in a more humanistic direction. I hope that in the future, we do not see mass slaughter as the only end to conflict. Our current war exposes our own darkness; we hate the terrorists who attack innocent people due to an ideology, only to have come to where are by the same means. The end of God's labors is not to see America proud and strong. America is not the goal of God or evolution. America is just another civilization that hopes it will be the first to last forever.
I hope America changes. I hope that wars become fewer, and I hope that my children can live in a world where Americans are not seen as monsters, and instead appreciated for the diverse and interesting culture we are. I hope that my friendships with Japanese people are not threatened by the image my country gives its citizens. And most of all I hope that we (as a planet) never use nuclear weapons again.
Horns up.
Comments:
Had we not dropped those bombs, it was estimated at the time that the US Military would suffer up to a mllion casualties (dead and wounded combined) Japanese casualties would most likely have been much higher.
They started the war. They committed atrocity after atrocity aeverywhere they landed. Perhaps they should be the ones to be ashamed.
I share your hope that we will never have to use them. They are terrible things. But had the Japanese had the bomb before us, rest assured, they would have used it.
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They started the war. They committed atrocity after atrocity aeverywhere they landed. Perhaps they should be the ones to be ashamed.
I share your hope that we will never have to use them. They are terrible things. But had the Japanese had the bomb before us, rest assured, they would have used it.