MAKING A DIFFERENCE

One of the major issues facing our nation as we enter into an Election year is the question of the renewal of the Trident nuclear weapons system. And now the Church of Scotland’s Church and Society Council has launched a postcard campaign calling on Christians across Scotland to make their views known before the Election to prospective candidates – a simple, yet powerful action. 

For nearly thirty years the Church of Scotland has spoken with one voice on this matter, calling on the government to abandon its reliance on what it calls the nuclear deterrent, and these days all the mainline churches are saying the same thing. Not much has changed over the years when it comes to our Christian response to this issue.

But other things have changed. In this time of recession and financial squeeze, the idea of spending £78 - £100 billion on a nuclear weapons project seems absurd. It is not hard to imagine how that money could be better spent – on education, on our health service, on combating climate change or child poverty. And over the last couple of years we have heard retired military personnel and politicians (now able to speak freely), arguing that from a defence perspective Trident is actually strategically useless. Why not spend more money in ensuring that our soldiers are adequately provided for and protected?

 

It seems as if our continued possession of nuclear weapons amounts to no more than a political status symbol.

 

As the Church and Society Council put it in their report to the General Assembly of 2007: “We will continue to ask the basic question of Trident or any replacement: what is it for?”   

Change is in the air politically too. The Scottish parliament has made clear it’s opposition to a new nuclear weapons programme, the Liberal Democrats nationally have now moved from support to opposition, and questions are being asked within Labour and Conservative ranks.

But this is more than a political and economic matter. There are huge moral and theological issues at stake here too. There are questions that arise from the teachings of Jesus. Jesus seemed to be angered by hypocrisy more than anything else. There is today a breathtaking hypocrisy surrounding the UK government’s stated need to continue with a nuclear deterrent while denying that right to other countries.

Then there are Christ’s commands that his followers should be peacemakers and that we should love our enemies. Over the years this has created a divide among Christians between those who are pacifists and those who believe that war may be justified as a last resort – in defence when all other options have failed, and where the responsive force is kept to the minimum necessary. But this is still a far cry from first-strike nuclear weapons which destroy indiscriminately – not simply enemy combatants but innocent civilians and the environment in which they live. 

 

The most fundamental objection of all to the existence of nuclear weapons is that they fail the moral test. The indiscriminate nature of these killers make them incapable of use in a proportionate way, and the idea of threatening to destroy the planet (or vast areas of it) is seen by most people of faith as deeply immoral.

At last year’s General Assembly, the Church of Scotland agreed with the statement that “nuclear weapons are inherently evil.”

Later that summer, a poll on the subject of peace was taken at the Greenbelt Christian Arts Festival held in England where Christians from churches across the UK were in attendance. Unsurprisingly, the poll showed that vast majority of Christians of all ages were opposed to renewal of Trident, but the respondents also said they wished the churches would be seen speaking out on the subject of peace more often, and that Christians would have opportunities to make their voices heard on the issue.

On Advent Sunday each year in our congregation, we take time to write letters and cards to prisoners of conscience held around the world on behalf of Amnesty International. My cards don’t seem like much, but when they are added to those of the rest of the congregation, and then to those other cards written throughout the country, the response is enormous. Every year prisoners are released as a result of cards and messages sent.

The new postcard campaign is a chance for us all as Christian people to get involved by making our voice heard on a matter of huge importance. The leaders of churches in Scotland have already set an example by signing the first postcards. But if we follow their lead and play our part the campaign is certain to have a huge impact.

Here is an opportunity for us all to witness to our faith, and to respond to Jesus’ call to us to be peacemakers. Not only is this the right thing to do, this time we can really make a difference.  

David McLachlan.