Last week, the archbishop of Santa Fe, John Wester, issued a document on nuclear warfare that is crucial reading regardless of one’s religious inclination or lack thereof:
pastoral letter on the Catholic position on nuclear disarmament. Santa Fe and its state, New Mexico, are home to two of the three nuclear labs of the USA (Los Alamos National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratories).

Major objections to continuing the conception, production, and strategic or tactical deployment of these weapons: first, the fact that nuclear weaponry is systematically targeted at large population centers and would have long-term climatic consequences; second, the framing of international relationships within a balance of terror or mutual assured destruction that relies on the absence of trust and hope and contributes to it; finally, the immense cost incurred by countries pursuing these programs instead of spending the intellectual, social, and financial capitals on other urgently needed pursuits such as social programs and the eradication of poverty. The dangers posed by nuclear armament have recently increased and are at their peak: increased risk of launching errors—with several incidents in the past—, the discontinuation or rejection of treatises—including the Non Proliferation Treaty—, and the more recent danger of electronic warfare.