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Mr. Truman was jubilant. President Truman. True man; what a strange name, come to think of it. We refer
to Jesus Christ as true God and true Man. Truman is a true man of his
time in that he was jubilant. He was not a son of God, brother of Christ,
brother of the Japanese, jubilating as he
did. He went from table to table on the cruiser which was bringing him
home from the Big Three conference, telling the great news; "jubilant"
the newspapers said. Jubilate Deo. We have killed 318,000
Japanese.
That is, we hope we have killed them, the Associated Press, on page one, column
one of the Herald Tribune says. The effect is hoped for, not known.
It is to be hoped they are vaporized, our Japanese brothers, scattered,
men, women and babies, to the four winds, over the seven seas. Perhaps
we will breathe their dust into our nostrils, feel them in the fog of
New York on our faces, feel
them in the rain on the hills of Eaton.
Jubilate Deo. President Truman was jubilant. We have created. We have
created destruction. We have created a new element, called Pluto. Nature
had nothing to do with it.
The papers list the scientists (the murderers) who are credited with perfecting
this new weapon. Scientists, army officers, great universities, and
captains of industry-all are given credit lines in the press for their
work of preparing the bomb-and other bombs, the President assures us,
are in production now.
Everyone says, "I wonder what the Pope thinks of it?" How everyone
turns to the Vatican for judgment, even though
they do not seem to listen to the voice there! But our Lord Himself
has already pronounced judgment on the atomic bomb. When James and John
(John the beloved) wished to call down fire from heaven on their enemies,
Jesus said:
"You know not of what spirit you are. The Son of Man came not to destroy
souls but to save." He said also, "What you do unto the least
of these my brethren, you do unto me.
Reprinted
from The Catholic Worker, September 1945
Who
was Dorothy Day?
American
social activist and journalist, born November 8, 1897 in Brooklyn,
New York died November 29, 1980 in New York:
"Recognized
as a monumental peace and justice activist in Cuba, Italy, Africa, the
U.S.S.R., and the U.S., American journalist and activist Dorothy Day
was rejected for the Nobel Peace Prize as "too radical." The Nobel committee
was not wrong. Day's belief in "the primacy of the spiritual" in social
change, and her desire "to associate [herself] with ... the masses in
loving and praising God" (Day) led her to found the Catholic Worker
Movement – truly a radical fusion of activism and faith.."
(from longer profile
at Luise F. Pusch's biographical database Fembio,
which contains information on more than 30,000 notable women worldwide.)
Dorothy
Day Profile from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Dorothy
Day, from Illuminating
Lives
"Illuminating Lives is a series of biographical essays written
by Beth Randall, who is solely responsible for their content. Its purpose
is to provide a thought-provoking look at various people whose lives
illuminate some aspect of the religious quest."
Dorothy
Day, Prophet of Pacifism for the Catholic Church by Mark and
Louise Zwick
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