On Tuesday, November 8 the National Association of Evangelicals, whose denomination members include the Presbyterian Church in America, the Christian Reformed Church, Evangelical Presbyterian Church, the Anglican Mission in the Americas, and nearly 40 others, released the following Press Release. Following the NAE statement, we have included a critical commentary from the Institute on Religion and Democracy,

NAE PRESS RELEASE

The Board of Directors of the National Association of Evangelicals (NAE), representing more than 45,000 local churches from over 40 different denominations, approved a resolution at its semiannual meeting in October calling for new efforts toward verifiable multilateral reductions in nuclear weapons and ratification of the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. The resolution comes on the 25th anniversary of the NAE’s Peace, Freedom and Security Studies1 project and of the Reykjavik summit between President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

“The rules have changed in the past 25 years,” said Leith Anderson, NAE President. “Nuclear weapons don’t serve as a deterrent to the dangers of our post-Cold War era, which include rogue nations and terrorist groups. We must re-engage the dialogue on nuclear peace and security for the sake of our world.”

Evangelicals have displayed a longstanding commitment to protecting the sanctity of human life, based on the belief that God created human beings in his image. Nuclear weapons pose a threat to life many orders of magnitude greater than conventional arms. Their unique destructive potential raises profound spiritual, moral and ethical concerns.

Considering biblical foundations and current realties, the NAE resolution, titled “Nuclear Weapons,” states, “We renew our call and pledge our support to national leaders who adopt policies and pursue negotiations that will contribute to peace, freedom and security at home and abroad, giving particular attention to the threats posed by nuclear weapons.”2

Former Secretary of State George Shultz said, “The National Association of Evangelicals does the world a profound service in calling for an end to nuclear weapons and identifying key steps to be taken for achieving that objective – a moral imperative.”

Galen Carey, NAE Vice President of Government Relations, said, “Two decades after the end of the Cold War, thousands of nuclear missiles remain on alert, posing a remote but deadly threat to our survival. By honoring our treaty commitments and working toward reducing the number of nuclear weapons, our leaders can make an important contribution toward improved national security and a more stable peace.”

“Guidelines: Peace, Freedom and Security Studies” built on earlier resolutions, dating back to 1952.3 The publication of the NAE Guidelines coincided with the historic summit in Reykajavik, Iceland, where President Reagan proposed negotiations leading to the total elimination of nuclear weapons to Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

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IRD PRESS RELEASE
The National Association of Evangelicals (NAE) has adopted a new stance on nuclear weapons that carefully falls slightly short of renouncing all nuclear weapons. Their statement lists arguments against nuclear weapons without citing arguments for continued U.S. possession.

The NAE’s new anti-nuclear weapons stance seems to reflect its ongoing shift to the left on issues ranging from the environment to immigration to enhanced interrogation of terrorists to now nuclear weapons.

Mark Tooley, President of the Institute on Religion and Democracy, responded:

“A nuclear weapons free world in an idealistic sense would be wonderful in the same way that a world without all weapons or all violence would be wonderful. But our fallen world must be addressed realistically and not just idealistically.”

“The NAE targets nuclear weapons but not the reckless regimes that have them. The Cold War’s hair trigger nuclear stand-off ended when the Soviet Union fell. Today’s chief nuclear threats are not French or British or even Russian nukes but chiefly rogue regimes such as North Korea and Iran, or possibly Pakistan. Would global abolition of nukes affect such regimes?”

“Even if nukes were successfully banned, the technology would survive and renegade regimes could reassemble nuclear programs. The NAE cites Ronald Reagan’s dream of a world without nuclear weapons. But his vision was premised both on a strong America and also on anti-missile defenses that would make nuclear missiles technologically obsolete.”

“Christians, including evangelicals, understanding humanity’s fallen nature, should shun utopian dreams and prudentially advocate policies that hopefully contain evil while knowing that no human actions can eliminate evil.”

“During the 1980s the NAE wisely stood apart from other religious groups that embraced the easy but dangerous advocacy of unilateral disarmament. It would be wise for today’s evangelicals to continue in that path of pragmatic peacemaking.”

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