Nagisaki: Christians Killing Christians

When the United States detonated a plutonium bomb over the Catholic Urakami Cathedral in Nagisaki, Japan on Aug. 9, 1945, 10,000 Christians were among the 70,000 unarmed children, women and men killed in the flash of a second. Christians killing Christians.

Three days before, the U.S. dropped the first nuclear bomb on the people of Hiroshima. Six days after Nagasaki, Japan surrendered to the Allies, effectively ending the war.

Americans have little of idea of the breadth of human suffering, on both sides.

By the time Japan’s aggression was finally extinguished, 25 million people died in the Pacific War; 90% of whom were non-combatants.

In the weeks that followed the nuclear bombings, between 150,000 and 246,000 people died, many children, women, and the elderly. Tens of thousands more lived with the painful and debilitating effects of burns and radiation sickness.

Today, 15,000 nuclear weapons are spread across the world, each more powerful and deadly than the damage unleashed in 1945.

Most wars are fueled by racism. It was easy for the U.S. to kill hundreds of thousands of unarmed civilians after years of vilifying “Japs” as less than human.

After the Nazis took control of Germany’s government, more than 2,000 anti-Jewish laws were passed, stripping fellow Germans of their rights, property and ultimately their lives.

Christian Americans murdered unarmed Christian Japanese in Nagasaki, because their allegiance to the country was greater than their commitment to their faith.

People call themselves Christian and then do things that Jesus says not to do. But because they claim to be Christian, they redefine what it means to be Christian or simply ignore Jesus.

When Jesus disarmed his disciple in Mat. 26:52, he disarmed all of his followers. “Put your sword back in its place,” Jesus said to him, “for all who draw the sword will die by the sword.”

Violence begets violence.

Hate begets hate.

In Donald Trump’s first weeks in office, he signed an executive order discriminating against Muslims. If elected again, Trump intends to discriminate against Hispanics and destroy millions of families.

Genocides begin with dehumanizing, marginalizing and segregating.

When racism and nationalism replace the message of Jesus – for whatever rationalization we choose to offer – we are no longer Christians, but people who only claim to be Christian.

Christians don’t love those they treat with hate. Without love, you can not be a Christian, regardless of what you claim.

We either follow Jesus, or we redefine what following Jesus means. Sometimes, we can acknowledge what Jesus says, and then we rationalize why we don’t do what Jesus tells us to do.

We are either Christians—struggling mightily to do what Jesus tells us to do, or we are simply people who call ourselves Christians who do what we feel like doing.