No one wants nuclear war, but many in the U.S. contend nuclear weapons are required for deterrence. In his thought-provoking and timely Marianist Lecture at Mystical Rose Oratory this month, Archbishop John Wester argued that thinking is not only naive but dangerous.
“I believe that deterrence is not the answer. In fact, I believe that deterrence is the enemy. Deterrence is what we should fear the most,” Wester told attendees. “Deterrence does not work and here’s why: Human beings aren’t always rational and we can’t read minds. For nuclear deterrence to work, all stakeholders must be determined to act … predictably.
“But we know that’s not true. That’s not how people work.”
Wester, the archbishop of Santa Fe, has become a staunch proponent and leading voice in the movement for nuclear disarmament. In 2022, he garnered headlines after issuing a pastoral letter entitled, “Living in the Light of Christ’s Peace: A Conversation Toward Nuclear Disarmament.”
In his Chaminade lecture—called “Nuclear Weapons: It’s 89 Seconds to Midnight—Does Anybody Care?”—Wester stressed the importance of talking and of education. He said the conversation on nuclear disarmament is critical but long overdue.
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Wester’s remarks come as the world marks eight decades since the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, which killed and injured hundreds of thousands of people and continue to have profound effects on communities. Wester says visiting Japan in 2017, including the sites of the bombings, underscored for him the importance of disarmament to achieve a lasting peace.
In addition to giving the Marianist Lecture on October 12, Wester delivered a similar talk to Chaminade students, faculty and staff earlier in the week. Andrew Peter Ancheta II, director of Student Engagement at Chaminade, said after Wester’s address at the Mystical Rose Oratory that he was buoyed by the message of hope. “Hope can be a very contagious thing should we allow it to be,” Ancheta said. “It’s important for us to not let this conversation die in this beautiful oratory.”
The Marianist Lecture series, which is sponsored by the Marianist Center of Hawai‘i, Chaminade University and Saint Louis School, is aimed at fostering inclusive dialogue on Catholic thought and responsibility. Marianist Lecture presenters, including Wester, are honored with the Mackey Award for Catholic Thought—named after the first president of Chaminade University.
In his talk, Wester outlined the chilling but real potential fallout if a nuclear war were to happen. In addition to the millions killed and injured in the blasts and billions more who would die because of the nuclear winter, Wester noted that nuclear war promises an end to modern life as we know it.
“It would mean an end to just about every book ever written, every medical advance made, every technological development, every philosophical or theological insight gained, every transportation mode we now take for granted. No communication, no hospitals, no first responders, no schools, no libraries, nothing,” he said. “I’m not doing this to create fear but to invite all of us to an enlightened self-interest and to be the change that we want to see in our world.”
Wester closed out his lecture with recommendations for further study and continuing the conversation. The title of his talk, “80 Second to Midnight,” refers to the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists’ “Doomsday Clock,” aimed at spotlighting the existential threats facing humanity.
Wester also challenged attendees to bring more than logic to the conversation of nuclear disarmament. Heart, he said, is also required.. “We need a sense of morality, a sense of how we live with one another,” he said. “We need to do everything we can to end nuclear weapons.”