New possibilities for a secure and just world

摘要

More than a decade ago individuals from three significant institutions in East Bay Area began discussions in response to the apprehensions that were so deep in the early 1980s. These apprehensions were a result of the intense rhetoric between the two superpowers and the casual commentary about limited nuclear war. The discussions spoke to the mortal danger as well as to the profound moral question revolving around nuclear arms. The issuance of the US Bishops' Pastoral on War and Peace in 1983 gave the group focus and momentum. The Chancellor at the University of California at Berkeley, the President of the Graduate Theological Union (the consortium of theological schools in Berkeley), and the Director of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (one of the chief designers of American nuclear arms) encouraged us to complete plans for a symposium. It was an era of activism. We chose, however, to serve the theme expressed by Albert Einstein, Peace cannot be kept by force, it can only be achieved by understanding. After a decade, all of us can commend the leadership of the three institutions and the individuals involved for their perseverance. Their commitments to the pursuit of peace and to the development of an approach to manage the weapons of our time remain a concern of this group even though the great anxiety of a decade ago has subsided. We are now in a time different from that in which the Bishops' Pastoral was written. The talks of Fr. J. Bryan Hehir, Dr. Michael M. May, and Prof. Robert N. Bellah move into new areas of exploration; thus, our theme for this colloquium is New Possibilities for a Secure and Just World. During our early encounters, one member of our founding group stated that: This project will be a work of thirty years. Such a profound change in attitude may well be the work of an entire generation.