Campaign Nonviolence National Conference and Los Alamos Vigils

"I regard the employment of the atom bomb for the wholesale destruction of men, women and children as the most diabolical use of science." - Mohandas Gandhi

The 70th anniversaries of the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki are being observed at Los Alamos, where the bombs were built, with vigils and a "Campaign Nonviolence National Conference" organized by Pace e Bene. Most of it is being live streamed and is worth watching. The schedule of events and livestream broadcast is available online. Mohandas Gandhi who achieved national independence in India using nonviolence also spoke out on the significance of the dropping of the atomic bombs on Japan:

"So far as I can see the atomic bomb has deadened the finest feeling that has sustained mankind for ages. There used to be the so-called laws of war which made it tolerable. Now we know the naked truth. War knows no law except that of might. The atom bomb brought an empty victory to the allied arms but it resulted for the time being in destroying the soul of Japan. What has happened to the soul of the destroying nation is yet too early to see. Forces of nature act in a mysterious manner. We can but solve the mystery by deducing the unknown result from the known results of similar events. A slave-holder cannot hold a slave without putting himself or his deputy in the cage holding the slave. Let no one run away with the idea that I wish to put in a defence of Japanese misdeeds in pursuance of Japan's unworthy ambition. The difference was only of one degree. I assume that Japan's greed was more unworthy. But the greater unworthiness conferred no right on the less unworthy of destroying without mercy men, women and children of Japan in a particular area."

Below is the keynote address by Reverend Jim Lawson at the Campaign Nonviolence National Convention at Los Alamos on August 7, 2015: