Death is a reality. Men should be conscious of that reality. I say men because the willingness to die for a cause is most likely inherent to our sex. We, the man, were hunters running after wily beasts, and nature most likely gave us the cruel gift to be contentedly conscious of our fate (the jaws of the prehistoric predator before us!). If the soldier can imagine his enemy to be the beast, then perhaps he can die with this intrinsic honor. Leave the unprepared civilian be.
The death of a civilian bombarded by the atomic bomb is wrong. The atom bomb is a manipulated force, a product of the human mind misdirected to defile humanity and nature simultaneously. It gives victims no time to prepare for their sudden exit or a life tortured by atomic mutilation and shame. Should a human be granted a death of peace or at least one of honor? The soldier has been forced to accept his role. He is fighting for his nation against another nation, which he perceives as evil. Perhaps he has considered his death.
This will give him honor in death, an otherwise empty destination. Let those who do not wish to be heroes or enemies be. It is morally wrong to end a war by killing civilians, regardless of whether their lives will save the lives of soldiers. These bombs were hurriedly created by physicists under the guidance of Oppenheimer to save American soldiers. Later, he would refer to it as the scientist’s sin”. Perhaps all of human civilization is an atom bomb.
We harness nature in order to destroy both it and ourselves. Yet, nothing in our civilization is as overt as the atomic bomb. Who are these moralists? Who bear objective truth? Is there no truth? Is the atomic bomb natural? It is in our nature to destroy ourselves, so it is inevitable that we would forget the bomb, and that our destructive nature would reach for the golden apple. But what is it? It’s a vile apple with worms, rot, and dripping poison. We annihilated two cities filled with human civilians (not living in a democracy, but under an emperor with no influence on the government’s decision to bomb Pearl Harbor) for a golden bomb.
It wasn’t gold. The United States would not extend an apology years after the fact. An apology would mean nothing. But the absence of a national apology leaves one wondering if we still justify Hiroshima? There is no honor in the bomb.
It is not gold. The atom bomb is not just. The bombing of Hiroshima was immoral beyond justification.
Bibliography:
- Lifton, Robert and Greg Mitchell, Hiroshima in America, NY:1995, Avon Books
- Hershey, John, Hiroshima, NY:1995, Avon Books
Category: History
