“Nothing so dramatically expresses the discordance between physical capacity and moral immaturity than a thermonuclear device.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. succinctly described our current predicament posed by the threat to use
nuclear weapons: nonviolence or nonexistence.
The friends of violence are fear, denial and falsehood. The friends of nonviolence are love, truth and
peace. The dynamics of both begin in the hearts of each of us.
The most offensive expression of the violence that grows from the heart bereft of peace is the threat
to use nuclear weapons and ultimately destroy all life on the planet earth in order to exalt a human
creation, a nation state.
Not only do nuclear weapons constitute a threat to our physical security and our sense of reason and
proportionality, but they also exemplify a thoroughly modern dilemma where the means of pursuing
security undermine the end of obtaining security.
Jonathan Granoff is the President of the Global Security Institute, a representative to United Nations of the World Summits of Nobel Peace Laureates, a former Adjunct Professor of International Law at Widener University School of Law, and Senior Advisor to the Committee on National Security American Bar Association International Law Section.
