Dear President,
I am writing to implore you to take some bold actions for peace. Here are the actions you, as President of the United States, can take to make our planet safer and our nuclear policy healthier.
I am writing to you as a citizen and as a fellow Christian. I am a retired United Methodist pastor and North Physician for Social Responsibility. He is the current president of the Western Carolina Chapter.
As a senator, and now as president, you’ve seen defense appropriation bills come and go, and nuclear posture reviews. They are full of data, figures, and carefully worded justifications for not only maintaining the status quo, but increasing funding for nuclear weapons. Will they eliminate or even reduce the threat of nuclear catastrophe? Conversely, every new weapon or addition to the nuclear program intensifies the arms race and increases the likelihood of a nuclear accident or, worse, all-out nuclear war.
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Nuclear weapons are an existential threat to everyone on Earth. The possibility of total devastation does not distinguish between nuclear and non-nuclear states. Even a “limited” exchange of nuclear weapons between countries far from us, for example India and Pakistan, would create soot in the atmosphere that completely blocks out the sun’s rays, crop failures and people I know I will starve. Billions People’s (the so-called nuclear winter). A nuclear detector is run by a computer. Your computer makes an error. False indicators of nuclear launches have already occurred. people make mistakes.
And if you make a mistake with nuclear weapons, the consequences are devastating.
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As you know, the United Nations Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons prohibits possession of nuclear weapons, as well as nuclear testing and development, in violation of international law. The recent war against Ukraine has proved that military assistance to a democratic, peace-loving nation under attack by an aggressive state with nuclear weapons has been severely hampered.
The inevitable conclusion is that nuclear weapons must be reduced and ultimately eliminated. In this regard, we have postponed decisive action for too long. you are in a unique position. Here are some actions you, as President of the United States, can take now to reduce the threat of a nuclear accident or, worse, nuclear war.
- Unilaterally order the minimum number of nuclear warheads necessary for deterrence. By unilaterally reducing the number of nuclear weapons, you show your friends and opponents that you are serious about reducing and ultimately eliminating them.
- Remove the president’s sole authority over the launch of nuclear weapons. The power to launch a nuclear attack can be dangerously placed in the hands of highly questionable individuals with the ability to think clearly. This is unacceptable.
- Establish a policy that makes it clear that the sole purpose of nuclear weapons is deterrence. This is despite the wording of the Nuclear Posture Review.
- Get rid of nukes from ‘Hair Trigger Alert’ and ‘Day to Day Alert’. This reduces the threat of computer error, human error, or nuclear accidents.
- Provide strong leadership in the pursuit of the reduction and eventual elimination of nuclear weapons globally.
These are actions we can take now to reduce the threat of a nuclear disaster. These aggressive steps will be met with fierce resistance from both military and economic interests, but the voices of sanity and morality will be needed to interrupt the inertia and escalation that has characterized our nuclear policy from the beginning. As a Christian, I believe that God wants us to preserve the creation with which He has blessed us.
We are the only country to have used nuclear weapons in war. We need to eliminate them and lead the way in making our planet a safer place.
No problem is more important than this.
You are uniquely positioned to change the course of the world and free life on Earth from the danger of nuclear annihilation. We urge you to take these bold steps for international security and peace.
Sincerely,
Scott Alan Baker, D. Min.
Dr. Scott Alan Baker is president of the Socially Responsible Physicians Association of Western North Carolina and a former pastor of United Methodists.
