Nuclear Weapons

Last month a group from the World Council of Churches was meeting here in Scotland to discuss nuclear weapons.

The group, which was made up of policy experts and church leaders from around the world, including South Korea, Japan, Kenya, USA, Canada, Belgium, Switzerland as well as Britain, had come to meet in Scotland in recognition of the work that the Churches, civil society and the Government here have done in speaking out against nuclear weapons. Scotland is also in the unique position of having a Parliament, Government and general public opposed to nuclear weapons yet we have to host the Trident submarines on the Clyde. Speaking about the meeting Bruce Crawford MSP, Cabinet Secretary for Parliamentary Business and Government Strategy said:

“The Scottish Government remains firmly opposed to the possession, threat and use of nuclear weapons – and the Scottish Parliament has clearly voted against the UK Government’s plans for a new generation of these costly, unnecessary and immoral missiles.

“An independent Scotland would not have such weapons of mass destruction based in its waters. Until then, the Scottish Government is committed to building Scotland's role in international peace building, and I welcome the opportunity to meet with the World Council of Churches and to work with others to take this important agenda forward, with and for the people of Scotland.

“We must work together to maximise the opportunities for engaging with international partners on matters of peace, conflict resolution and nuclear disarmament.”

The UK Government has put off any discussion of Trident replacement until after the next election, yet campaigners fear that secretly the Government is already investing in the new technology for the design of new warheads and missiles.

Nuclear weapons are inherently evil, and their possession, threat of use, or use, are so terrifying that we should all continue to do our utmost to seek their ultimate abolition.

We in Scotland have been recognised by the World Council of Churches for our campaigns on the issue. I hope the group have been inspired by what they have seen here in their week, and that the Churches may continue to work internationally for peace and reconciliation. Scotland has the opportunity to show how we can lead on peace through education and awareness raising. I will be at Faslane to protest on 31 March, at an event organised by SCANA. Why don't you join me?

Approving Trident Replacement by the back door?

Greenpeace has uncovered through the Freedom of Information Act that the Ministry of Defence seems to have committed £2 billion in advance purchase of major elements of submarine body and equipment. The shopping list is available by following this link to the Greenpeace website.

It is very worrying to commit to the purchase of submarine parts because there were firm reassurances that no decision would be taken on a Trident replacement programme before 2016. Moreover, if so much money has already been committed in advance purchase orders, how can the cancellation of the Trident replacement programme be justified later on?

One more manifesto pledge seems to be broken. The continuous breaking of trust eventually inspires suspicion. No government can afford to lose the trust of the population, particularly when it involves the judicious use of tax-payers money. There should be much more honesty and transparency on the amount of money being spent in relation the Trident nuclear weapon system. The Church of Scotland remains opposed to nuclear weapons, and calls for the UK Government to have the courage and leadership to repudiate them to help facilitate international nuclear disarmament.

An Easter Message from Church Leaders in Scotland

At Easter, Christians of all traditions express their shared belief that God so loved the world that he sent his son Jesus Christ to suffer and die as a man. The resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead demonstrates that security comes from faith in the vulnerability of God in Christ and not in any human creation.

Christian moral reasoning leads us away from violence towards loving relationships with others. Violence is expressed in threat as well as in deed. The indiscriminate nature of nuclear weapons makes it impossible to justify them as weapons of war as their effect cannot be considered as either limited or proportionate. Therefore, the very possession of nuclear weapons is unjust and thus wrong. Churches have often expressed this concern.

Christ came for the whole world and the security of the whole world is Christ’s concern. Nuclear weapons by their very existence undermine the security of the whole world and are inconsistent with the traditional theories of just war. We believe that tackling injustice, poverty and inequality would lead to a safer world for all. At a political level that transformation means choosing to spend money on changing the lives of the poor and oppressed and not on nuclear weapons.

All of us have a political choice in the next few weeks. We call upon all people of goodwill to make it clear to candidates of all parties that we should choose life over death and the alleviation of poverty over the replacement of Trident."

1)“Authentic peace is characterised by the transformation of relationships emanating from the ongoing presence of God in the world”

2)Submission to the Defence Committee in relation to the inquiry into the White Paper “The Future of the UK’s Strategic Nuclear Deterrent” by the Baptist Union of Great Britain, the Methodist Church and the United Reformed Church
3) Pope Benedict XVI has said, “The foundations of authentic peace rest on the truth about God and man”
Pope Benedict XVI for the World Day of Peace, January 1, 2006

 

 
The Most Revd David Chillingworth
Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane, Primus of the Scottish Episcopal Church

The Right Rev William Hewitt
Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland

Rev John Ll Humphreys
Moderator, The National Synod of Scotland, United Reformed Church

Rev Martin C Keane
Moderator of the General Assembly of the United Free Church of Scotland

Rev Malcolm T. Muir
Chair of Congregational Federation in Scotland

Cardinal Keith Patrick O’Brien
Archbishop and Metropolitan of the Archdiocese St Andrews and Edinburgh, President of the Roman Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Scotland

Leslie Stevenson
Religious Society of Friends

Rev Lily P. Twist
Chair, Methodist Church Scotland District

Against Nuclear Weapons

On the 13th of March I will be in Edinburgh marching and speaking against nuclear weapons. I do this out of a firmly held personal convictions that nuclear weapons are wrong as they kill indescriminately but also because the Church of Scotland has long spoken out against such weapons.


Recently, the Moderator of the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland, the Rt Rev Bill Hewitt, joined the Scottish Clergy against Nuclear Armaments pressure group to launch a new campaign placing Trident and nuclear weapons at the heart of the general election campaign. The Church and Society Council which I convene supports this campaign and has been actively distributing postcards encouraging people to contact their MP’s regarding their stand for or against nuclear weapons.

The march will assemble at the Scottish Parliament at 11 am and march off at 11.30 with the Rally at the Grassmarket at 12.30. Speakers will include

I will be sharing the platform with Alex Salmond,   Mark Lazarowicz MP (Labour), John Barrett MP (Lib Dem), Alis Ballance, candidate, (Greens), Kate Hudson (CND Chair) Trade Union representative Mike Kirby, and broadcaster Lesley Riddoch, chaired by actor David Hayman. More information on the march is available at the Scotland for Peace website.