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Remeber
the lessons of Hiroshima.
On August 6, 1945, a bomb exploded 580 meters above
downtown Hiroshima. In 100 millionth of a second
after the start of the chain reaction, everyone
out in the open within one kilometer of the hypocenter
received a lethal dose of neutron radiation before
the bomb even exploded. After the explosion, everyone
in the open within 1 kilometer was burned through
the skin and into their internal organs. Houses
were crushed out to two kilometers. Within a few
minutes, fire was everywhere. Anyone too weak to
run or trapped under heavy beams or furniture burned
to death. Nearly everyone who survived left someone
behind who couldn't make it.
An entire city was wiped out, including women, children,
the elderly, and non-combatants whose only crime
was losing control of their country to an insane
military. Those who survived suffered from the aftereffects
of radiation, physical and mental scars, and poverty
for decades after the war was over. The A-bomb was,
and nuclear weapons are, massive, indiscriminate,
cruel, and long-term in their damage. As such, by
any standard of international law or common human
decency, they are illegal and should be banned.
There is absolutely no excuse for anyone to possess
or even think about using such heinous weapons.
The fact that we have them at all shows the depths
to which human consciousness has fallen in the pursuit
of material security and dominance. We don't even
think it's strange living this way.
That's because the struggle for dominance began
with amoeba. The strong have always eaten first
and best. The toughest males have always gotten
the females. Since the beginning of evolution, we
have been working primarily on courage and intelligence.
Communication and love were important as well, but
secondary. We have gotten increasingly out of balance.
Even worse, along way we decided we could do it
without God. Our pursuit of material security and
dominance led to agriculture, which led to slavery
and empire building, which led to weapons development,
which led to nuclear weapons. But Hiroshima marks
the end of this stage of evolution. Nuclear weapons
have, of course, continued to evolve, to the point
where if they are used again, they could very well
bring down our entire civilization and even exterminate
our species. It is not just the heat, blast and
radiation. Nuclear weapons are concentrated hatred.
Then next time that much hatred is released in this
world, it will not stop with one bomb. If India
bombs Pakistan, no Muslim will sleep until India
has been bombed with something worse. And the hatred
will spread through the world just like the radiation.
The deep meaning of nuclear weapons is that we can
no longer resolve our conflicts through violent
power struggles. In fact, we can no longer attempt
to solve our problems by releasing our hatred and
anger. We have to find another way. We have to rise
to a higher level of consciousness. We have to replace
the goal of winning with the goal of solving the
problem in a way that works for everyone. We have
to replace the techniques of violence with the techniques
of absolutely non-violent negotiation. We have to
replace our leaders with public servants. We can
no longer take refuge behind or identify with the
most powerful male. We don't need or want kings.
We all need to understand that each of us has a
special gift, a special medicine, and it is our
divine duty to use that gift not for ourselves but
for the benefit of the entire community. And we
have to stop revering people for their ability to
take from others and amass great wealth or power.
Instead, we need to follow those who prove their
ability and willingness to take as little as possible
and give as much as possible. We do not need any
more Clintons, Gores, or Bushes. We need a few Gandhis.
We have to believe to the bone that anyone who becomes
violent or advocates violence is an ignorant dinosaur,
a low-brown Neanderthal, and a threat to all of
us. They must be attacked, defeated and converted
by love.
The folks now walking from Tokyo to Hiroshima are
evolving and modeling the new consciousness. The
pipe Tom is carrying is a pipe of peace, forgiveness,
and love. The Flame of Peace returning with this
walk to Hiroshima is a physical embodiment of the
required transformation-hatred to love. And the
people who are supporting Tom and the Flame embody
the new paradigm. None of them will get rich or
famous from this walk. None of them even thinks
like that. All are sacrificing their bodies, their
time, their money, and their energy in the effort
to make the world a better place. For me personally,
the most valuable harvest from the Walk and, in
fact, from the Gathering of 2001 in Hiroshima, is
the discovery that there are already so many such
people in Japan and elsewhere in the world. I am
amazed and inspired. I want to join this new breed
of human being. I want to become one of them. I
intend to begin by conquering my own greed and anger,
then do everything in my power to facilitate the
birth of this new consciousness in a world that
must make this change or die.
Steve
Leeper |
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