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HUMAN
SURVIVAL
(Continued from previous poge)
end results speak for themselves -
one
·
thlrd ofal/ humanity dead
h's no wonder that the prophet Jere·
miah, referring to these tumuhuous–
times, stated: "Alas! for that day is
great, so that none is like it: it is even the
lime ofJaceb's trouble ..." '(Jer. 30:7).
"for then shall be great tribulation,
such as was not since the beginning of
the world to this time, no, nor ever shall
be." And were tltis military madness
allowed 10 continue on 10 its final biuer
conclusion, Christ went on to say that
"there should no ftesh be saved [Mofl'att
adds 'saved
a/ive1:
but for the elect's
sake
those days sha/1 be shoruned"
(Mau. 24:21-22).
Unless God Almighty puts a sudden
stop to man's misguided activities,
Christ plainly states that the human race
will not survive!
Thank God thal he provided an "es·
cape clause" guaranteeing
human sur–
viva/
in an age when man is rapidly
· heading toward extinction. O
WHAT PRICE OVERKILL?
Obsessed with the desire to be like defense industries. The Trident was
thc nalions around lhem, the ancient originally scheduled to cost $1.2 billion,
lsraclites demanded a king instead of the B-1 . $46 mmion.
the succession of theocratic judges who
One may assert that defense spend–
had previously govemed them. The de- ing represents
a
good infusion ofmoney
cision stemmed from their desire to rely to the economy as a whole, as defense
upon their own resources, as distinct industries employ more workers who in
from God's direct guidance.
.
turn b.ave more money to spend.
The prophet Samuel
warned
them ofthe
There is a serious fallacy in this argu-
consequences of their dccision. "And he ment. h fails 10 realize that, except for
said, This will be the manner ofking that the purpose of war, no one would ever
shall reign over you: He will take your want a tank, a missile submarine, or a
sons, and appoint them for himself, for bomber. Not one of these items, of it·
bis chariots, and to be his horsemen; and self, would ever be desired by anybody
sorne shall
run
before b.is chariots. And he except for "defense" purposes. They
will appoint him captains over thou- add nothing in the way of enjoyable
sands, and captains over fifties; and will wealth 10 the prívate economy. Further–
set them . ..
10
reap his harvest., and to more, tbe money, man-hours, and raw
ma.kc:..b.is..,ins.tngnents..pf war, and. in- materials whicb go iniO· building tanks
strumentsofbiscbariots"(l Samuel8: 11- and bombers could also go intó build·
12).
ing schools, theaters, furniture, or
Whal the fsraelites were soon
lo
dis- houses: items which
do
contribute to
cover was tbat tb.e attendant statecraft the total enjoyable wealth within the
of making war is an expensive business, economy. War then, involves a tradeofl'
one whicb drains the resources of a of finite resources. Tbis means for every
community and lowers tbe general_ bomber, tbere are so many houses
standard ofliving.
wbich are
not
built.
Three thousand years later we are
Here are sorne simple facts which
still discovering the same thing. In the show the incredible expense of modero
past thirty years, tbe U.S. has spent warfare:
over $1
trillion
on its defense estab-
• The entire world spends more than
lishment. largely the result of an arms $244 billion a year on military pro–
cace with tbe Soviet Union.
yams, enough mo9ey to give every
The latest and most controversia! ex- man, woman, and chi.ld in tbe world
amples of American weapons tech- over $600 a year.
$600
per person a
nology are tbe T rident submarint and year -
th~retically,
of course - would
the B-1 bomber.
allow a family of four in India or
More than twice the size of the cur- Bangladesh to eat at Ieast as well as a
rent "Polaris" submarine, lhe Trident middle<lass American fami.ly.
will carry 24 missiles, each capable,
• The enimated cost of what the So–
with multiple warheads, of hitting over viet Union spends on its military estab–
ten individually selected, pre-pro- lishment eacb year - over $100
grammed targets. One submarine could billion - would raise eacb Russian's
theoretically destroy 240 cities! Eacb standard of living by over twenly-five
Trident submarine is expected to cost percent.
$1.6 billion!
• The annual cost of America's total
Each B-1 bomber will carry over 40 military spending. SilO billion, would
tons of weapons. and be equipped with be enough to pay for a
total
environ-
the most advanced electronics. Epvi- mental cleanup.
.
sioned as a replacement for the aging
• The cost of just one Trident sub–
fleet of
600
B-52s, each B-1 system. marine would pay for more than 30,000
inch,¡ding tankers and other support suburban bornes at $50,000 eacb.
equipment., could cosl $76 million.
• The funding for the entire B-1 pro-
Because of the ways in which defense gram could bring all poor Americans
contracts are made, military spending above the poverty line.
has proved especially vulnerable to in-
• The price of the C-5A aircraft pro–
ftation. The "cost plus profit" method of gram,
$5
billion, could eliminate all
defense procurement has given individ- hunger in America.
ual companies little incentive to cut
The world is aftlicted with a conlin–
COSIS -
so, many subcontractors have ual shortage of wealth and resources, a
an easy time pushing through increases. shortage exacerbated continuously by
As
a
result, the "cost overrun" has man's tragic tcndency to war witb him–
become a corporate way oflife for sorne self.
10
DISARMAMENT–
THE DISMAL RECORD
The efl'orts for world disarmamcnl go intolerable means for seuling inter–
back to the turn of the century. The national disputes."
Hague Conferences of 1899 and 1907
In tbe early six.ties, Presiden! Ken–
outlawed expanding (dum-dum) bullets nedy said: "The achievement of
and oodified the laws of war on land controlled disarmament
is
a necessity to
and sea in an attempt to "humanize" guarantee world peace ...."
warfare.
Since then, a dozen major multilate-
After World War
1,
one of the 14 ral and bilateral treaties have been
major points proposed by Woodrow signed - most stipulating controls on
Wilson and accepted by participants in the growfh pf, but not the dismantling
the peace trealy provided that "na- of, nuclear weapons.
tional armaments will be reduced to the
Weapons control talks continue, but
lo¡vest point consisten! with domestic no one is disanning. SALT
11
(not yet
safety."
ratified by tb.e U.S.) is designed to "put
The period between the two world a cap oo tbe arms race" unt.il 1985. But
wars bustled with ooncerted anempts to instead of dampening the arms race, it
achieve disannament goals.
In
1928, al- pennits eacb side to build up in arcas
most aU nations renounced "aggressive where it is weakesl vis-A-vis tbe other -
war" in the Kellogg-Briand Pact.
the United States in throw weight.. the
Tbe Washington Naval Treaty of Soviet Union in MIRVs and accuracy.
1922 and the London Naval Confer- The SALT negotiations will also do
ence of 1930 soughtto limit the number absolutely nothing to slem tbe
qua/ita·
of warships maintained by big powers.
tive
arms race among the 1wo super–
The League of Nations f.ounded many powers - the race to develop the means
commissions that led to the 1932 Dis-
10
deliver deadly payloads with grea1er
armament Conference in Geneva, accuracy.
whence carne calls for total dis- "Events in 1974," reported the presti–
armament - even by Soviet 'diplomats gious Stockholm lntemational Peace
w)w:f~a.resurgentG«;.!IDany.
Research lnstitute, "repeated the .no':"–
• Góvernments
dur~lhe
thirties at· familiar pattem of relatlvely ra:pid
tempted to achieve disannament by re- progress in mililary tecbnology and
ducing tbe ca liber of naval guns. Iittle progress in attempts to control
limiting certain heavy weapons. and tbe nuclear and conventional arms races
outlawing the practice of bombing civil- taking place acroSs tbe globe."
ian 'populations. But none of the count-
The fact is thatthere
is
no diminution
Iess discussions led anywhere of the arms race because nations every–
substantially.
wb.erc are still enslaved by fears, ha-
All the talk of anns cutbacks was treds, prejudices and vanities of self-
done with an eye lo the development of aggrandizing power.
.
new weapons. Agreements could be
Presiden! Lyndon Johnson said
\0
a
easily reacbed on ou tlawing obsolescenl speecb iri 1965: "Tbe guns, the bombs,
weapons - scoring good public reta- the rockets and warships are all sym–
tions points at the same time. Mean- bols of humanity's failure to find lhe
.while, efl'orts could be devoted to
new
way to true peace."
arms developments.
Professor Morgenthau summarized
A perfect example was the limits tbe entire historical legacy of dis–
placed on the number of battlesbips armament failures as follows: "Meo do
permitted each nation under the terms not fight because they have arms. Tbey
of the Washington Treaty of 1922. have anns because tbey deem it neces–
Huge capital ships were becoming ob- sary 10 fight. Take away their arms, and
solete; il was easy for aU to agree to they will either fight wilh their bare fists
their scaled-down use.
or get. tbemselves new arms with which
As tbe eminent international reta- to fight.
tions expert Hans Morgenthau writes ·in
"What makes for war are tbe condi–
his classic work,
Politics
Ainong
Na-
tions in the minds of men whicb make
tions,
"the Washington Treaty was the war appear the lesser of two evils.
In
signa! for an annament race arnong the those conditions must be soughtthe dis–
signatories in all vessels not covered by case of 'fhich the desire-for, and posses–
the Treaty, especially in cruisers, de- sion of, arms is but a symptom. So long
stroyers and subma.rines."
as men seek to domínate each otber and
In 1933, both Japan
an~
Germany to take away each other's possessions,
witbdrew from the league, denounced and so long as they fear and bate each
previous arms limitations agreements, other, they will t.ry to satisfy their de–
and proceeded 10 massively rearm in sires and lo pul their emotions to rest."
preparation for the coming war.
His words are very close to the cause
In tbe early fiflies., Presiden! Eisen- ofwar given clearly in the Bible: "Whal
hower emphasized the urgency ofgrad- causes wars, and wbat causes fightings
ual disarmament under the most among you? ls it nol your passions that
stringent inlemational- controls. He are at war in your members? You desire
said:
"lt
had beoome clear.
by
1953, and do not have:
so
you krll. Aad
you
that the accumulation of atomic weap· covet and cannot oblain; so you fight
ons stockpiles. whose use could deslroy and wage war ..." (James 4:1 -2,
civilization, made resorting to force an RSV).
·
JANUARY 1976