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19 - Atone

from Part II - Saviors

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 January 2023

Zachary Shore
Affiliation:
Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California
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Summary

When the United States dropped atomic bombs on Japan, Reverend John MacLean did not rejoice at the mass slaughter. Instead, he accepted the notion that the bombs brought an end to the war, but he felt that America had a duty to help rebuild. On January 6, 1946, MacLean announced to his church that God wanted him to raise money among American Christians for the restoration of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. He chose not to declare the atomic bombings as right or wrong; he simply tip-toed to the edge of calling it immoral. He did not go as far as to claim that the United States needed to apologize for the nuclear attacks. He merely pointed out that “a Christian nation had not only killed many thousands of helpless civilians, but destroyed the homes of countless others, leaving them shocked, wounded, terrified and deprived of a means of livelihood.” What began as a fund-raising drive by American Christians to atone for the atomic bombs quickly morphed into a campaign to build a Christian university in Japan. This chapter follows the American efforts to create this university and the leading ex-officials who played the most vital roles, from Ambassador Joseph Grew to Will Clayton to Eleanor Roosevelt.

Type
Chapter
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This Is Not Who We Are
America’s Struggle Between Vengeance and Virtue
, pp. 262 - 273
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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  • Atone
  • Zachary Shore, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California
  • Book: This Is Not Who We Are
  • Online publication: 19 January 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009203418.021
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To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

  • Atone
  • Zachary Shore, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California
  • Book: This Is Not Who We Are
  • Online publication: 19 January 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009203418.021
Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

  • Atone
  • Zachary Shore, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California
  • Book: This Is Not Who We Are
  • Online publication: 19 January 2023
  • Chapter DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009203418.021
Available formats
×