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PASTOR GENERAL'S REPORT, NOVEMBER 23, 1983
PAGE 7
clear arms control.... It is important that our rightful revul
sion at the consequences of nuclear war does not blind us to the
fact that the system of mutual deterrence has prevented that war
from occurring.
Edward Hume, the scriptwriter of "The Day After," is quoted in
the NEW YORK TIMES as saying, "I would like to see people start to
question the value of defending this country with a nuclear ar
senal." That attitude is dangerously wrong. It can bring on the
catastrophe that all rational beings want to prevent.
� �-
In the discussion panel that followed, former Secretary of State Henry
Kissinger said virtually the same thing, calling the film "a simple-minded
notion" of a very complicated question. He added that if the Soviet Union
feels that the United States has mentally disarmed itself, "then precisely
what we've seen tonight will happen."
Brent Snowcroft, head of the bipartisan Snowcroft Commission examining the
deployment of the MX missile, touched on the dilemma confronting the United
States and mankind in general.
"There is no simple solution, no simple
nostrum," he said. The Soviets, he added, take such signs as nuclear freeze
or disarmament as "signals of weakness." Elie Wiesel, a Jewish philosopher
basically agreed, adding that the whole picture frightened him, and that "I
can't see realistically the way out." (He wondered later, if I recall cor
rectly, whether the answer did not lie in the improvement of human nature.)
Conservative editor (of the NATIONAL REVIEW) William F. Buckley was, as to
be expected, the most outspoken.
Nuclear disarmament does not stand a
chance given the nature of the adversary relationship between Moscow and
Washington.
What was necessary, he said rhetorically, was to "do a
lobotomy on the men in the Kremlin."
Overall, the nuclear freeze side came off best. It was their show: they
wrote the script and stood to gain the most. One night later, ABC's "Night-
1ine" originated from Lawrence, Kansas, story locale of "The Day After"
episode. The audience (many of whom were University of Kansas students)
was overwhelmingly pro-freeze (perhaps it was stacked that way).
One
townswoman said she believed the real issue still involved standing up for
freedom, not to be intimidated into a peace-at-any-price posture. She re
ceived an applause--from one person in the back of the room.
Pro-freeze movement leaders began mobilizing their forces behind the film
last spring, organizing screenings of pirated copies of the film and laying
the groundwork for "trauma workshops'' to be offered to shaken viewers after
the actual playdate, to help them cope with anticipated despair.
But
journalist Tyler Marshall, writing in the November 21, 1983, LOS ANGELES
TIMES noted there is a touch of evangelism to such offered help:
The purpose of such gatherings is not solely therapeutic: there
was an aspect of recruitment to them.
Participants...will be
urged to "commit to do something that will assure there is a
future." Writing congressmen regarding a nuclear freeze will be
a recommended course.