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The Arms Trade
"Every
gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired
signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and
are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. The world
in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of
its labourers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its
children…” Dwight Eisenhower
While we might wish to do
away with war and weapons altogether, the Bible makes it clear
that this isn’t something that will happen until Jesus comes
again. In the meantime, here are a few ideas as to how we can
pray...
Responsible
buying - The military expenditure of some governments is
greater than their spending on healthcare, communications
infrastructure and social development combined. Every nation has
the right and the need to ensure its security, but pray for
wisdom for world leaders as they assess the needs and priorities
of their people.
Responsible
selling - The five permanent members of the UN Security
Council (US, Russia, France, United Kingdom and China), together
with Germany and Italy, account for around 85 percent of arms
sales worldwide - a market worth between 30 and 40 billion
pounds every year. Of the arms sold, about 75 percent go to
developing countries and some to regimes where human rights
violations will occur. Corruption is thought to frequently
accompany arms sales due to the large sums of money involved.
For countries such as the UK, overseas military contracts are
important for job creation and international trade but we should
pray against any unhealthy dependence on arms sales which leads
to weapons being distributed irresponsibly.
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Civilian casualties -
It’s estimated that in modern conflicts over 80
percent of the casualties have been civilians. A major cause of
this is the enormous number of military small arms in
circulation - thought to be around 500 million. Small arms are
responsible for 90 percent of all civilian casualties and kill
hundreds of thousands of people every year. The use of landmines
is widely prohibited as a result of a huge international
campaign in the 1990s which culminated in the Ottawa treaty.
Nevertheless, recent estimates put the number of unexploded
landmines around the world at over 100 million in 66 countries.
Pray for those working to clear the minefields and for the
successful rehabilitation of the thousands of landmine victims
every year.
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