Little children and nuclear energy: Peace Song of the Day for 8/8/2011

This weekend marked the anniversary of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima. Here on Long Island, South Country Peace Group and the peace community held an event in Bellport.

The Royal Song of the Day for 8/8/2011 is “I Come and Stand”, which is also sometimes known as “Dead Little Girl of Hiroshima”. The lyrics can be found in the Rise Up Singing songbook on page 160.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vZ0KgLifjI]

NPR/National Public Radio reports that in Japan this past Saturday, there were big events to commemorate the anniversary of the 1945 nuclear bombing of Hiroshima. As a result of the nuclear disasters of March, the focus and tone of this annual event changed. Instead of being simply against nuclear weapons, the government and the people of Japan are beginning to see the risk and the danger of nuclear energy, as well.

The Prime Minister of Japan apologized for having believed in the old security myth, which NPR summarized as “the Japanese government’s pledge that it could control the atom. Officials [had] said the same forces that leveled Hiroshima could be harnessed to power this resource-poor nation. Most Japanese believed it for years.”

Japanese anti-nuclear activists believe that more and more people are beginning to agree with them, that nuclear energy poses a risk, and that new nuclear power plants should not be built.

Related Articles

Nagasaki Mayor: We must do away with myths and face reality in The Mainichi Daily News: here. The nuclear bombing of Nagasaki happened on August 9, 1945.

A poem, with some similar sentiments to this song, about identifying with the children of Haiti after the earthquake:The Children of Haiti Tapping

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