Do Not Lose Faith

Many stimulating messages of faith and hope have been written since the world emerged, shaken and bewildered, from the devastating upheaval of war … World War II, the Korean conflict, followed by Vietnam. Hardly had the flames of these fires been extinguished (after a fashion) when suddenly soldiers were fighting in the deserts of the Taliban. And, among the weapons stockpiled by many nations were those bearing the symbol of radio-active power―these were nuclear weapons.

Nagasaki and Hiroshima have the best memory of such power as it was unleashed upon them with the most unimaginable force leaving in its wake the raw exposed burned-out framework of death and destruction.

David E. Lilienthal, one of the then best-informed men on the potentialities of nuclear power, left a message that has had unusual influence:

“This I Do Believe” was his answer to all the gloomy, long-faced prophets of doom who predicted a terrifying future and the end of civilization. To them he said: “Civilization will survive and will flourish … the future will be better than ever … we stand at the gateway of vast new developments, widening horizons.”