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By: Patricia Anton
A coalition of faith organizations has endorsed the Global Security Priorities Resolution, a new resolution introduced in Congress this March by Congressmen Jim McGovern (D-MA) and Dan Lungren (R-CA). Reading the resolution, I was encouraged to see several of the points we have advocated in the Muslim-Christian Initiative statement coming together as proposed policy. In the name of security, particularly when considering the threat of terrorism, the resolution calls for reducing the U.S. and Russian nuclear arsenals to 1000 deployed/3000 total weapons each by 2015 and that some of the financial savings from such a move be redirected to the Nunn-Lugar program, as well as $6.5 billion to "child survival, hunger, and universal education" programs worldwide in an attempt to address the root causes of terrorism.
One of the points in the MCI Statement is that “possession of nuclear weapons is an unacceptable risk for the human community…The risk of theft of nuclear weapons by non-state actors for nuclear terrorism as well as the continuing risk of accidental use of nuclear weapons by nation state themselves makes even the possession of nuclear weapons a danger to God’s creation.” The resolution recognizes this by stating the need to “protect the global security of the United States by reducing the number and accessibility of nuclear weapons and preventing their proliferation.” Though the resolution does not advocate complete nuclear disarmament, it sets the proposed actions within the context of U.S. Non-Proliferation Treaty obligations to pursue nuclear weapons elimination. This supports an additional aspect of the MCI statement that calls for supporting the NPT and for all nations to “abide by the international treaties, agreements and other international covenants of which they are signatories.”
Another position that the Muslims and Christians who composed and endorsed the MCI Statement agreed upon is that “the enormous resources spent on nuclear weapons can be put to much better use to deal with the problems of poverty, disease and ignorance and to promote a peaceful pluralistic civil society, free of hate and prejudice.” This aspect is reflected in the resolution as it calls for reducing poverty, saving the lives of children, supporting education and addressing the root causes of terrorism (or in other words promoting peace). I encourage you to read the resolution to see the statistics they site and the interventions they propose.
A final item from the statement that relates to this resolution is the encouragement for civil society to engage in the debate and policy making decisions relating to these issues. There is an opportunity for you to ask your Members of Congress to cosponsor the Global Security Priorities Resolution and if you have not already, to endorse the MCI Statement.
Patricia Anton is the coordinator for the Muslim-Christian Initiative on the Nuclear Weapons Danger a partnership between the Islamic Society of North America and the Churches’ Center for Theology and Public Policy.
LINKS:
- Global Security Priorities Resolution
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