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2009/08/08(土)
ヒロシマ、ナガサキ
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戦争反対を訴える、町の小さな小さな市民グループに呼ばれて、スピーチをした。核廃絶を訴えるスピーチである。ほんとは、外でやって、犠牲者を悼んで、川に花を投げることになっていたが、雨だったので、教会でみんなでろうそくの火を囲んだ。２０人弱ほどの集まりである。アメリカ人の口から、ヒロシマ、ナガサキの名を聞くのはすごく不思議な気がした。彼らは少数派の中の少数派である。（悲）でも、広島市長は、平和公園での追悼式典で、我々は多数派である、オバマジョリティなんて言ってたなあ。。。どこの国の話だろうか。。（笑）
記録のために、私のスピーチは以下の通り。。
Albert Einstein, premier scientist of the 20th century, said that deeply regretted writing to president Roosevelt to initiate the Manhattan project, the birth of nuclear weapons. He, and other scientists know and have known about the reality of nuclear weapons for years, but their voices were silenced by the louder voices of politicians, who will never send their precious children to the battlefields.
I respect and admire the courage of veterans who risked their lives for their country in World War II, but as someone from the only country in the world which has not once, but twice been exposed to the devastating consequences of atomic bombs, I would like to say that the time has come to draw a clear line between the historical justification for using atomic bombs on Japan 64 years ago and the current understanding of the fact that any use of these weapons means the end of the human race. Period.
As long as politicians from any country and any people justify the use of nuclear weapons, we threaten our own survival, and the lives lost in the war, Japanese, American, and those from countless other countries, will be wasted since the politicians did not get the message: This can never happen again.
I heard that President Obama will be visiting Japan this fall. I sincerely hope that he will be able to visit Hiroshima to witness what the bombs did to human bodies, and that he will have the courage to address his own country and the world, and advocate the complete abolition of nuclear weapons. Such a statement would be REAL leadership from a superpower of the modern world, and a statement of faith in the future of this planet.
One last thing: Many of the Japanese exposed to the radiation of the atomic bombs are still suffering. The war is not yet over for them. I pray for all lost lives in the war.
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