Science Must Improve Life, Not Eliminate it: Obama on Hiroshima

He said that the memory of Hiroshima allows us to change and fight complacency.

As the first incumbent US president to visit Hiroshima in Japan, Barack Obama laid a wreath at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park at the site of the first atomic nuclear bombing on Friday.

A solemn-looking Obama addressed a gathering which was attended by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and members of Japan Confederation of A-and H-Bomb Sufferers Organizations, during a ceremony at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park in Hiroshima.

In his speech, he referred to how the relationship between the two global powers has evolved from warring opponents to an alliance and a friendship.

Obama has been a staunch supporter of nuclear disarmament for which he won his Nobel Peace Prize in 2009, reports Reuters.

He said that in the race for material advancement and social innovation, there is no justification for violence against those who are lagging behind.

We cannot justify violence in the name of a greater cause. We have a shared responsibility to look directly in the eye of history. We must ask what we must do differently to curb such suffering again.

In a speech tinged with emotion, Obama reflected on what was running in the minds of the innocents who were affected by the horrendous attack.

“It is the memory of Hiroshima that allows us to fight complacency. It allows us to change.” said Obama, adding,

In Hiroshima, we are forced to imagine the moment that the bombs dropped on 6 August 1945. We remember all the innocents killed in the arc of that terrible war.

Concerns About Terrorism and Nuclear Misuse

Referring to growing terrorism in different parts of the world, Obama said that dangerous material needs to be kept away from the hands of fanatics. And that nations, including his own, who have nuclear stockpiles should not get carried away by fear and the need to defend.

In his speech, Obama also referred to the Hibakusha, the Japanese word for the surviving victims of the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Every act of terror and oppression around the world shows our work is never done, we can’t eliminate evil .

Scientific Responsibilty with Moral Conscience

“Along with the scientific advancement involved in the splitting of the atom, a moral revolution is also required”, he said

He emphasised that as members of one human race, we are obliged, not by genetic code, but by moral responsibility to look out for each other.

Science must focus on improving life, not eliminating it. When the choices made by nations and their leaders reflect this, the true lesson of Hiroshima will have been learned.

Barack Obama