Jared Gassen

Confronting Nuclear War: the Role of Education, Religion and the Community Jared Gassen

Nuclear war prevention continues to rank low on the list of immediate citizen concerns. Despite the fact that nearly twenty years after the Cold War has ended, humankind is potentially even closer to a nuclear event. It is still faced with the genuine risk of instant extinction without representation. Even worse, this possibility could occur by accident, as a single computer miscalculation or mechanical error could lead to a civilization-ending nuclear war. This book was written to equip concerned members of the world with the tools needed to engage in ending nuclear weapons. These tools have been shaped and tested over nearly fifty years of work towards this end by Dr. Bill Wickersham and includes some of his personal experiences that have, and haven't, worked over the years. With the help of Jared Gassen, The book concisely revisits the nuclear weapons issue and provides a step-by-step roadmap for the abolition of nuclear weapons taken from the writings of Jonathan Schell, David Cortright, David Krieger, and Randall Caroline Forsberg. It describes various social and psychological obstacles to education and action related to nuclear disarmament, and devotes separate chapters to the role of education, religion, media, and the local community on behalf of nuclear weapons abolition. A unique feature of the book is the educational philosophic underpinning for instructional course development, with an emphasis on curriculum construction for academic institutions, faith communities, and local civic organizations.