by Art Laffin, in Tikkun
A Review of The Forgotten Bomb, a film by Bud Ryan and Stuart Overbey (available on DVD January 17, 2012) [Click here for order information]
When I first saw The Forgotten Bomb, I recalled the following words from Deuteronomy: “You shall not make for yourself an idol, whether in the form of anything that is in heaven above, or that is on the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. You shall not bow down to them or worship them” (Deut. 5:8-9). This film is a stark reminder of how we, as a people, have betrayed our trust in God and, for sixty-six years, have instead placed our trust in a nuclear idol.
We have, in fact, become a nation that worships the bomb and glorifies war. As a consequence we find ourselves morally blind, psychically numb, and forgetful of the fact that nuclear weapons, deployed on land, air, and sea, still endanger all life and, in a matter of minutes, could destroy our planet and God’s sacred creation. I agree with the late Jesuit peacemaker, Father Richard McSorley, who said: “Our intention to use nuclear weapons destroys our souls. Our possession of them is a proximate occasion of sin.”
The Forgotten Bomb, produced by Bud Ryan and directed by Stuart Overbey, looks at the political and legal implications of nuclear weapons and also digs deeper into the cultural and psychological reasons behind the atomic bomb’s existence…