Remembering Hiroshima and Nagasaki

It was the first atomic bomb ever to be used. It killed 70,000 people immediately and destroyed 63% of all buildings in the city. In the months that followed another 70,000 people died from their injuries and the effects of radiation. On 9 August an even more powerful bomb was dropped on Nagasaki killing at least 70,000 people. On 15 August Japan surrendered to the Allies. President Truman and Winston Churchill justified the use of atomic weapons because it shortened the war and saved far more lives than were lost.

Group Captain Leonard Cheshire was one of the most distinguished airman of World War II. In 1944 he was awarded the Victoria Cross. He was a British observer on board an American plane when the atomic bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. He was deeply affected by what he witnessed in the destruction of Nagasaki and resigned from the RAF. In 1948 he established The Leonard Cheshire Homes which provided care for disabled ex-servicemen to encourage and enable them towards independent living and the freedom to live life as they wished.

Today there are far more nuclear weapons in the world. For the first time in history it is possible for all human life on earth to be destroyed. This is a terrifying prospect, especially because some nations and terrorist groups have hostile intentions towards their enemies and the Western world in general. Some people feel it is only a matter of time before nuclear weapons are used again with even more devastating consequences. Jesus said there would be continuing wars and conflicts, “Nation will go to war against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be great earthquakes, and there will be famines and plagues in many lands, and there will be terrifying things and great miraculous signs from heaven.” He also taught that God is in control of world history and that, whatever happens, hope is held out to all people in him, “The Good News about the Kingdom will be preached throughout the whole world, so that all nations will hear it; and then the end will come.”