In Pasadena, at the recent evangelical Conference on Church and Peacemaking in a Nuclear Age, I was reminded of a conversation that took place in 1977 between Wes Granberg-Michaelson, Gordon Cosby, Richard Barnet, Mernie King, and myself. We asked ourselves whether the threat of nuclear war might become a galvanizing issue in the churches.
Public actions opposing nuclear weapons had already begun in 1976 and 1977, largely undertaken by small Christian communities and often including nonviolent civil disobedience. The first Sojourners special issue on nuclear war came out in February, 1977.
In retrospect, I believe our biblical paradigm was Ezekiel 33, in which the watchman on the wall who saw the sword coming was to warn the people. But because there was little or no public awareness at that time about the nuclear threat, at first these actions seemed strange, extreme, foolish, hard to understand. Then slowly the danger of nuclear war began to make itself known in the public consciousness. A number of factors contributed to this awareness.
First, the government's strategic nuclear policy shifted from deterrence to counterforce and first strike. The first signs of this change appeared in the Carter administration with the statements of then Secretary of Defense James Schlesinger. The new policy culminated in Carter's Presidential Directive 59, which publicly articulated the doctrine of first strike willingness and subsequent reliance on counterforce weapons.
A second factor was the new military buildup that began during the Carter years (contrary to what people think) and was greatly accelerated to unprecedented levels with the onset of the Reagan administration. A whole new generation of nuclear weapons was brought on line for research and development, production, and deployment: the MX, cruise, and Pershing II missiles, the Trident submarine and missiles, and the B-l bomber.
A third factor was Ronald Reagan himself--his personality, ideology, anti-Soviet antagonism, and aggressive military posture. The Reagan administration startled the public with loose talk of "fighting and winning limited nuclear wars" and its deep cuts in social programs which signaled an undisguised abandonment of the nation's poor.
The last factor was the return to a more aggressive and violent foreign policy, especially in Central America. We began to see the beginnings of a U.S. war in Central America, which is now escalating almost weekly. Together these factors sparked the nation's conscience.
The churches were the first to speak out. One by one, Protestant denominations, religious orders, and Catholic bishops made their growing concerns known. We saw the proliferation of official church statements in opposition to nuclear weapons, a fresh concern for the poor, and the beginning of dissent to U.S. policies in Central America. More importantly, preceeding the official statements was a whole new level of grassroots activity in the churches, ignited by the historical crisis and bringing about a renewal of faith.
Soon other sectors of society were also awakened, most notably the doctors. Physicians in great numbers assumed a new and unprecedented public role in warning about the medical consequences of nuclear war. The reality of what nuclear war would be like hit the pages of the nation's largest newspapers and magazines, and was broadcast in films, documentaries, and on special television programs.
The 1979 NATO decision to deploy medium-range missiles (cruise and Pershing II) in Europe sparked a European peace movement, which became strong and visible in the early stages of the Reagan administration. The clear word came to the United States from across the Atlantic that a majority of Europeans were against the new missiles; they were more afraid of nuclear weapons than they were of the threats from which they were supposed to be protected.
The movement in the United States came together around a specific proposal to halt the arms race: the freeze. The freeze grew out of the SALT II debate in the fall of 1979. The simple proposal had won surprising victories in New England town meetings during the 1980 elections despite the Reagan landslide. By the spring of 1982, it drew national attention and became the freeze movement.
Front-page newspaper and magazine stories spoke of the threat of nuclear war, the awakened public consciousness, and the new freeze movement. On June 12,1982, a million people gathered in New York City for the largest demonstration in U.S. history. During the subsequent fall elections, 12 million Americans voted for a freeze in the largest referendum in U.S. history. Hundreds of municipalities, town meetings, city councils, and states went on record in support of the freeze.
The watchman's job was over. People were aware of the danger. Christians saw the issue as a matter of faith, and began efforts centered on organizing educational meetings and programs, signing petitions, letter writing, and lobbying for legislative initiatives like the freeze. Now, for more than a year, all the polls have shown that the majority of Americans--as high as 70 percent--are afraid of nuclear war, oppose the Reagan military buildup, and support the freeze.
Yet due to the administration's intransigence and congressional acquiescence, the arms race speeds ahead, regardless of what the people want.
After a long delay, the freeze resolution passed in the House of Representatives. But the resolution was non-binding, and a few weeks later the same House voted to support funding for the new MX missile. The limits of electoral action alone are painfully clear.
This year on Pentecost, 3,000 clergy and lay leaders gathered in Washington, D.C., to seek the empowering of the Holy Spirit. Strengthened with song, prayer, and scriptural exhortations, 242 of us entered the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol to make a witness for peace. We turned the Rotunda into a sanctuary, filled with gospel songs and prayers for peace. Within earshot Congress was debating funding for the MX missile system.
We were arrested that day for praying for peace. It was the largest mass arrest in Washington, D.C., since the Vietnam war days.
Press and political observers noted that the Pentecost witness at the Capitol represented a new escalation of Christian opposition to nuclear war. It was the lead story on the NBC Nightly News as Roger Mudd reported, "The churches are escalating their opposition to the nuclear arms race."
The Peace Pentecost events represent a new stage in the formation of a movement of Christians committed to the abolition of nuclear weapons. Our witness at the Capitol demonstrated that there are now large numbers of church people willing to make deep personal sacrifices, risk arrest, and even go to jail to end the nuclear arms race.
We have moved through the period of the watchman's warning. We have moved past the period of raising public awareness. We are now entering a new phase of building a movement of conscience and nonviolent direct action--a mass movement of public refusal, non-cooperation, and civil disobedience on a scale as never before.
Such a movement could prick the conscience of the nation and the world, change our way of thinking and living, to break our trust in nuclear weapons for national security. The church's role is obvious: to obstruct with its faith the gathering madness of nuclear war preparation.
It is time for a faith decision on nuclear weapons, an altar call in the face of nuclear war. It is time for Christians to get up out of their seats, walk down the aisle of history, and take their places alongside brothers and sisters from all church traditions to form a new peace church in our time.
The issue is no longer what the Christian position is on nuclear weapons. The question now is what Christians will do for the sake of peace.
It will not be easy to end the most perilous threat to life the world has ever faced. Who will be willing to bear the cost of peace? Will the churches and the religious community provide the critical leadership we desperately need now? Such leadership will not come with mere words. It will come through the power of example.
In the midst of a seemingly hopeless world situation, a new hope is being born in the heart of the churches. Like on the first Pentecost, the wind of the Spirit is transforming lives, causing conversions, establishing communities, bringing a new love for the poor, creating a hunger for justice, turning lives toward peace, filling hearts with worship and praise.
People are changing, and the role of the church is changing. The church is becoming a new source of resistance to policies that crush the poor and move us ever closer to nuclear war. It is offering an alternative vision rooted in the biblical vision of justice and peace.
The clock is ticking and, in the words of Paul in Romans 8, "The whole creation waits with eager anticipation for the sons and daughters of God to come into their own."
Jim Wallis was editor-in-chief of Sojourners magazine when this article appeared.
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