Confessing our Sin of the Atomic Bomb

70 years ago today, the United States of America dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Instantly some 80,000 lives were ended. Three days later another bomb was dropped on Nagasaki, killing 20,000 more. Over the next few months, the death tolls doubled, as the lasting effects of radiation took its toll, killing a total of over 200,000. Most were innocent civilians.

That is appalling.

That is sinful.

It is something that must be confessed, and repented of.

Sadly, most of the time when I hear of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, I hear arguments that we actually saved lives that would have been lost in battle. I’m sorry. In my eyes, the end of saving lives in combat does not justify the means: killing over 200,000 people, many of them unarmed civilians.

Jesus talked a lot about the forgiveness of sins. It was central to the Gospel he preached, and often we talk about what to do when we’ve been wronged. How do we forgive the perpetrator?

We spend very little time talking about what to do when we’re the ones who have done wrong.

The first step when we sin is to admit the wrong we’ve committed. It’s hard to do, and something we as a nation struggle to do, but in the search for forgiveness, there is no other way.

Transformation begins with forgiveness.

Forgiveness begins with repentance.

Repentance begins with a confession of sin.