Morally necessary, morally wrong? Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki
This week marks the anniversary of what everyone can agree was a troubling moment in world history: the atomic bombing of Japan. Tomorrow marks the 64th anniversary of the bombing of Hiroshima, followed three days later by the anniversary of the Nagasaki bombing.
This morning, looking for a Christian perspective on this anniversary, I pulled up an essay by Al Mohler reflecting on the spiritual and moral questions raised by the atomic bombings. Mohler offers some opinions that could be debated, but his closing point resonates strongly:
The 60th anniversary of the Hiroshima bombing should serve as a catalyst for Christian reflection on the morality of warfare, the reality of human sinfulness, the frailty of human wisdom, and the burden of history. For all these things, we will give an answer. Until then, we must do the very best with what we have, what we know, and what we face.
Endless ink has been spilled over the morality and necessity of the atomic bombings, and many essays have been written about what a Christian attitude toward war should look like. As an American Christian, I find the atomic bombings to be a particularly difficult moral question even decades after the fact: on the one hand, it’s impossible not to view the ending of World War 2 as a morally good outcome; but I’m unable to say that even such a good outcome makes the bombings themselves morally good. Can something be both morally necessary and morally evil? (I’ve read quite a bit about the final days of World War 2, and the book that captures most harshly and vividly the moral bleakness of the war—the European war, but it’s certainly relevant to the Pacific war as well—is Max Hasting’s Armageddon. Hastings was interviewed at Christianity Today on the topic.)
So as Mohler says, perhaps the most appropriate response at this point is for Christians to simply keep asking the difficult questions raised by this, and other, morally upsetting moments in history. (I recommend this essay/study guide on different Christian attitudes toward war if you really want to delve into the topic, perhaps in a small group discussion.)
Although, our hearts grieve for the causalities and wounds because of our frail wisdom and sins, it blesses me to know that no matter how grim or deep the wounds are God is good and always in control! In His sovereignty which may make little sense to no sense to us, I know that God has a plan working for His Kingdom to come.
You’re absolutely right, Gladys. In thinking back about terrible subjects like this, sometimes we just have to cling to the promises of Psalm 46:10 and Romans 8:28, among others.
You’re making the assumption that the atomic bombing caused the end of the war, a typical American attitude. In fact it was the entry of the USSR into the war, and their invasion of Manchuria being Japan’s largest ever defeat that lead Japan to surrender to the US.
Brett, thanks for your comment. While I don’t think the atomic bombing was the only thing that ended the war (as you know, Japan was on the path to defeat well before the atomic bombs were dropped), I do think it was the single most important factor in causing the war to end when it did, and under what terms it did. I think the bombs were a much bigger factor than the USSR’s entry into the war, but of course I could be wrong–if you’ve got any good books to recommend, I’d love to hear them. A lot of my thinking on this has been shaped by Stanley Weintraub’s “The Last Great Victory,” which pretty thoroughly documents the final weeks of the Pacific War.