Is it just a tragic coincidence that an atomic bomb was used
against innocent civilians for the very first time in human history on the day
of the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord, 1945?
There have been a lot of comments on this. But, most of them
simply compare the bright light of Jesus’ transfiguration to the blast of
uranium-235 atomic bomb in Hiroshima. To me, such a comparison does not draw a
meaningful reflection. Sometimes, this kind of comparison leads to
see the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, as well as the atomic bombing of Nagasaki,
as “divine punishment” against Japan for Japan’s military aggression. One example
of this kind of problem is the May 21 2013 Korean newspaper column by Kim Jim,
an editorial writer for the JoongAng Ilbo, arguing that
atomic bombings in Hiroshima and Nagasaki were divine retribution, as well as
human retaliation for Japan’s war crime.
Clearly, Jim uses “God” to support his anti-Japan view,
rather than applying a theological concept of God’s roles in dealing with evil
actions committed by humans. There is always a danger in using “God” for our
own personal political or ideological arguments. Such an application can offer even
a “theological” and “moral” justification for slavery and colonization. For
example, invasion and colonization of Americas by Christian Europeans since
Christopher Columbus can be justified biblically as “divine will”, by citing and
comparing to the Jewish conquest of Canaan. We have committed sins of using God
and the Bible for justifying our own biased views, as to “privatize” God.
Comparing God and Devil – comparing Transfiguration and an
atomic bomb – is prone to make not only futile arguments but also even
blasphemy, by confusing Devil with God, as Kim Jim did. As Japan’s military aggression was acts of
Devil, so were American use of atomic bombs against civilians in Japan –
whether the latter is considered as a revenge or not. There is no reason that God would approve
killing a greater number of Japanese civilians as a justifiable revenge for
Japanese military’s killing of civilians in Asia in the past – though Jim’s
argument may make it sound plausible. Such a retaliation cannot be justified by
the international law, either. Taking God’s name into this sort of nonsense
argument can be an act of Devil.
An act of Devil easily leads to another evil phenomena, as
it only promotes hatred.
Viewing the atomic bombings in Japan as divine
punishments is like seeing the M. 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that devastated
the northeastern Japan in 2011 also as God’s punishment. There were some
people, such as Glenn Beck, who wrote that God punished Japan with the
earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011, so that Japan would repent its sins
and convert to become a Christian nation.
This kind of thinking had its place during the time of the
Old Testament, through which many people draw an impression of God as vengeful.
Back then, people believed that misfortunes, including illnesses, disabilities,
and disasters, were acts of God, either because of their sins or their
ancestors’ sins. However, the teaching of Jesus denies this view of the Old
Testament years. If not, what would be the reason for God to incarnate and send
Jesus as the Messiah and the Christ? What would be the reason for Jesus’ to die
on the Cross, to fulfill the Isaiah’s prophesy (Isaiah 52-53)? Would the
redemption by Christ a fiction, then?
When a disciple of Jesus saw a man who was born blind, he
asked Jesus, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he would be
born blind?"(John 9:2) , assuming that the blindness was due to sins. To
this, Jesus replied, “It was neither that this man sinned, nor his parents;
but it was so that the works of God might be displayed in him”(John
9:3).
With this teaching of Jesus, concluding the atomic bombs as
divine punishments does not bode well with the way God is to us through Jesus,
the Christ. Based on Jesus’ teaching about infirmity and calamity, our focus
should be on how we can discern the works of God amidst struggles and
suffering, as indicated in John 9:3.
Even if the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are
not believed to be God’s retributions, the hellishness that these Japanese
cities had to endure may make us wonder if God was absent from – or if God abandoned
people in Hiroshima and Nagasaki in desolation. It is like how the dying of
Jesus on the Cross was viewed at first – as if God forsook him.
But, was God really absent? Did God really abandon?
Let’s ponder these words of Jesus, “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachtha – My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”(Matthew
27:46, Mark 15:34). These are words Jesus spoke as he was dying on the Cross. In
fact, it is understood that Jesus quoted the words from Psalm 22:1, David’s
intense prayer of anguish, “My God, my
God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from
the words of my groaning?”
Though the above-quoted Jesus’ words on the Cross, recorded
in the Gospels of Matthew and Mark, give an impression that even Jesus had felt
abandoned by the Father, feeling intensifying desolation.
We may think that God had abandoned Jesus at that moment on
the Cross. Jesus appeared very passive, like a lamb on his way to be
slaughtered. But, it is a kind of interpretation that our weak faith, plagued
with doubt of God’s salvific power makes.
Jesus had to die with such a passive and helpless
impression, as if being abandoned by his Father in heaven - being mocked and
jeered, because it was prophesized in the Book of Isaiah, 52-53. And, it was to
fulfill this “suffering Messiah” prophecy. Additionally, by citing Psalm 22:1,
these words of Jesus on the Cross are to reflect the very agony of humanity and
how we often respond to. The humanness of Jesus became a projection of this
darkest aspect of human experiences, collectively and psychoanalytically
speaking.
It is not necessarily to say that God, as the Father in
heaven, abandoned His beloved Son, Jesus, while he was suffering – while he was
fulfilling the salvific prophecy of Isaiah 52-53. In fact, God raised Jesus
from the dead on the third day from his death, as to fulfil Jesus’ own
prophetic words in John 2:19, “Destroy
this temple, and in three days I will raise it up”, as the temple to be
destroyed was mean to be the old corrupted humanity plagued by sins projected
to the flesh of Jesus that died on the Cross, while the newly raised temple was
a metaphor of the new clean human hearts symbolized with the resurrected body
of Jesus.
To those who believe, there is always what ordinary human
psychology cannot understand. In the secular psychological paradigm, experiencing
hellish realities, like the ones in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, invoking Armageddon,
sinks our spirit into despair. But, our faith – faith in God, who raised Jesus
from the dead, whose judgements are followed by salvific reconstructions, there
is always hope that guides us through the darkest hours of sufferings, even
experiencing despair.
The faith will not let us sink in despair irreversibly. And, through the eyes of faith in God, rather
than not using “God” for our own ego-centered views, the horrific experience of
atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, we can certainly realize that God
did not abandon. In fact, God was at work through the hands of those who
survived, helping each other and already rebuilding the destroyed cities. We
find God at work through works of love carried out by many good people to take
care of the wounded and to bury the dead, in spite of their own sufferings and
struggles. We find God at work in the resilient spirit exhibited by them
in Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Hiroshima and Nagasaki today make good testimony to
this truth, too.
In the scorched ashen lands of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, those
who survived immediately began their acts of charity.
One of such people was Fr. Pedro Arrupe, a Spanish Jesuit
priest, who was teaching Japanese Jesuit novitiates in Hiroshima, when a
uranium bomb was dropped there. Because he also studied medicine before he
entered the Jesuits, Fr. Arrupe immediately stepped up in providing not only psychological,
and spiritual care, as a priest, but also medical care to atomic bomb victims,
who wondered around like sheep without a shepherd in agony. He also turned his
Jesuit facility for the novitiates into a make-shift field hospital, though the
building was damaged by the bombing. Though damaged by the atomic bomb, the
Jesuit facility that Fr. Arrupe managed, became a good example of what Pope
Francis called the Church to be, “field hospital”, embodying the divine mercy.
This act of love by Fr. Arrupe S.J. in the atomic bomb hell
in Hiroshima reminds that God was present, manifesting compassion of him and
many other people, who selflessly helped the wounded and the dead – practicing
the works of mercy.
It is important that we rather focus on God’s presence in
response to calamities and infirmities in our lives, rather than seeing them as
God’s punishments or wondering if God abandon.
……
There is a subconscious psychological underlining to the
mentality that tends to view tragedies, such as atomic bombings of Hiroshima
and Nagasaki, as divine retributions. The psychological issues here is
insecurity. And, this psychological problem of insecurity manifests in our
behavioral tendencies for clinging – or as Buddhism teaching calls it,
attachment.
A human problem with insecurity and behavioral problem to be
obsessed with a sense of security is what is commonly discerned from the
scripture readings for the feast of the Transfiguration and the tragedies of
Hiroshima.
In the Gospel reading (Matthew 17:1-9), Peter’s initial
reaction to the Transfiguration of Jesus on the Mt. Tabor was to settle in the
glorious light that Jesus body illuminates. Psychologically, what was behind
this Peter’s reaction was subconscious insecurity, manifesting in Peter’s
tendency to form attachment. So, Peter suggested to set up tents on this place
of glorious illumination.
But, Peter’s insecurity manifestation in his suggestion to
“settle in” the glorious illumination was immediately snapped by God’s voice,
now frightening him. Then, Jesus said, “Rise, and do not be afraid”(Matthew 17:7).
On the feast of this event,
described in this Gospel story, in 1945, a uranium bomb was dropped in
Hiroshima, during busy morning commute rush hours – at 8:15 am. The Devil
behind the bombing knew that’s when many people are out – thus, the bombing can
kill and affect the most possible people. And, it did with bright light with
intense heat and winds, along with radiation, followed by radioactive
fallouts. Its deadly effects continue even today – even it has been
69 years.
What was behind this deadly
weapon to be dropped in Hiroshima?
Many people still believe
that it was to end the war against Japan faster, saving lives that would be
lost otherwise – if the war had further prolonged. But, the one who reasoned
this to justify the use of the atomic bomb knew that Emperor of Japan was ready
to end the war and find a way to reconcile with the United States as early as
July 1945. But, Devil made the United States to justify the use of
this evil weapon, rather than approaching Japan for negotiations.
So, what kept the United
States from seeking alternative options but prompted to cling to the option of
using the bomb, in spite of knowing of Japan’s openness to negotiate to end the
war?
Behind the popular
justification to end the war and the utilitarianism reason, arguing
to saving more lives by using the bomb than not using it (at the
expenses of people of Hiroshima and Nagasaki) was the Untied States desire for
hegemonic security as the Cold War was already brewing. There was a
sense of insecurity in the Untied States, driving this already powerful nation
to become even more powerful, fearing its rival, the Soviet Union to become the
No. 1 world power. To prevent the Soviet Union from becoming the world’s No.1
powerhouse, the Untied States felt that they had to use the atomic bomb. For
this, Japan’s non-surrender status became a convenient justification.
See what can fear drive us?
When we are insecure inside,
we want to cling to a glorious condition, as Peter did. With
insecurity, we also become obsessed with a thought of dominating and keeping
the hegemony, in order to feel “secure”, as the Untied States felt so, when it
used atomic bombs in August 1945, to deter the Soviet Union from becoming
threatening.
This is not to compare Peter
in reaction to Jesus’ Transfiguration and the Untied States dropping a uranium
bomb in Hiroshima. But, it is to see how our insecurity can affect
us.
Insecurity in us can make us
cling to a great illumination, such as the divine light Jesus was in. But, it
can also make us a great blast. Thought the blast may come with an
appearance to evoke a divine light, as some people who cannot understand the
aforementioned teaching of Jesus tend to see the blast as an act of
God. But, the blast made out of our insecurity is not an act of God,
as God is not insecure. It was Devil that thrives on our insecurity – making us
cling to a sense of false security, the hegemony in the world or even the
divine light of the Transfiguration.
As St. Thomas Aquinas reminds
us, the Transfiguration was meant to be transient. Thus, it was not an object
of our sense of security. Nuclear weapons are not objects of our
security, either.
Has the United States become a more secure
nation as a result of dropping atomic bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki – besides
Japan is no longer its threat? Have the use of the atomic bombs against Japan
helped the United States attain true sense of security?
In pondering this question,
we can take a lesson from Peter’s insecurity-driven behavioral reaction in
reaction to the Transfiguration and its consequence.
Additionally, the first
reading for this feast, Daniel 7:9-10, 13-14, reminds us that Devil
can make himself look like God in his manifestation.
The narratives from the Book
of Daniel Chapter 7 describes four beasts appeared in Daniel’s
dream. These are symbolic figures of the Babylonian Empire (the
first beast like a lion), the Persian Empire (the second beast like a bear),
the Greek Empire (the third beast like a leopard), and the Roman Empire (the
fourth beast with large iron teeth and ten horns). These empires
were the world powers that brought afflictions to the Jews. But, the
fourth beast, the Roman Empire, destroyed the biblical Jewish nation for good
in 70 A.D. The first reading for this feast day of the
Transfiguration describes this powerful enemy world power to the Jews.
In the narrative, the beast,
which is the Roman Empire, the most powerful symbol to God’s people, in
Daniel’s dream, is described to wear clothing as white as snow, with the throne
and wheels of fire (Daniel 7:9). Given that Jesus’ cloth
became white as light upon his Transfiguration (Matthew 17:2), the fourth
beast, which is Devil in the form of the Roman Empire, also makes an appearance
similar to a divine manifestation as the illumination of Jesus in the
Transfiguration.
The Devil behind the atomic
bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki certainly made appearances that evoke divine
light for their extraordinary brightness. But, the brightness from
the light was evil and killed people. On the contrary, the divine brightness
transform us with its logos. In the glorious bright light of the
Transfiguration, God spoke directly to tell His love, “This is my beloved Son, with
whom I am well pleased; listen to him”(Matthew 17:5).
Does the bright light comes
with love or with deaths? This is a litmus test to see if the light is of God
or Devil. This test is critically necessary, as Devil can easily make himself
appear divine, as the first reading from Daniel 7:9, 10, 13-14 can teach us.
Let us not be fooled by
Devil. Also, let us fight insecurity inside us, as it is our true enemy.
So, was it a coincidence that an atomic bomb was dropped against humans for the
first time in history on the feast day of the Transfiguration in 1945, in
Hiroshima? If we discern a lesson from the meaning of the Transfiguration
and history in light of the psychology of insecurity, we cannot say it was a
mere coincidence.
