Pearl Harbor, Hiroshima & Beyond: Subversion of Values

The attack on Pearl Harbor and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki define for many Americans the momentous twentieth century. The evil Japanese empire attacked innocent Americans and forced us into an unwanted war. As payback we ended the war with the Bomb, and at the same time we prevented the loss of millions of lives that an invasion of Japan would have cost. We believe that we fight only when enemies attack us, and that by imposing overwhelming power we accomplish great good.

Skilled researchers using previously classified documents obtained through Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) now tell us that President Franklin D. Roosevelt followed a careful strategy to entice Japan to attack Pearl Harbor to get us into World War II. Soon after the bombs incinerated Hiroshima and Nagasaki, authorities learned that Japan was on the brink of defeat and would have surrendered without the Bomb. Our government concealed the evidence and led us to believe that this terrible weapon made deadly invasion unnecessary, and therefore the Bomb is really good.

Author Taylor describes how this flawed self-image of America as innocent victim accomplishing good by overwhelming power subverted moral and ethical values. We are on course that many people see as imperialistic and threatening to ourselves and to the world. Taylor brings to bear a Christian biblical perspective on this condition and offers suggestions for healing.

Arch B. Taylor, Jr. is an ordained Presbyterian minister who served for over thirty years in Japan and taught Bible at Shikoku Gakuin University. After retirement he went on short delegations twice to Nicaragua, with Witness for Peace and Habitat for Humanity, and once to Israel/Palestine wth Presbyterian Peace Fellowship and Christian Peacemaker Teams.