The Doomsday Clock Warning
"The clock has been moved forward to five minutes to midnight. The main threat to the earth is nuclear war."
In 2007, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the Doomsday Clock forward, signaling increased danger to humanity from nuclear weapons. This warning galvanized peace activists worldwide, including the founding members of Peace Source.
About PAND
PAND (People and Nations for Nuclear Disarmament) was envisioned as a unified international disarmament community. The initiative proposed establishing virtual "multistory offices" next door to the UN and all world centres of government in capital cities.
The fundamental position was clear: nuclear weapons must be abolished before, as President Kennedy said, they abolish us.
Key Principles
Unity Over Division
"There is a tendency in peace and environmental movements to form small self-righteous groups—we must counteract this tendency and unite in one powerful organisation."
Nuclear Weapons Are Immoral
Nuclear weapons are fundamentally immoral whether used as defense or attack—a fact acknowledged by the late President Reagan, who privately told military chiefs he would never authorize their use.
Universal Family
"We are all God's children. If there is a God, God would not have selected one country or religion. We pray to the same God—the ritual practices and customs vary."
The Last Letter Initiative
One of Peace Source's most poignant initiatives invited people worldwide to write imagined "last letters" to their families—as if awaiting death from a nuclear war. The purpose was to wake the world to the urgent need for peace.
Letters were solicited from both adults and children in every country, with the original language and English translations, to create a universal testament to our shared humanity and the horror of nuclear destruction.
Letters from Gaza
The initiative also reached out to children in conflict zones, including Gaza, Iraq, and Afghanistan, inviting them to write essays on:
- My life until now
- How I see my future
- How I see God
The goal was to help people everywhere identify with families across all borders and cultures—recognizing that "we need to be able to identify with the families of our so-called enemies."
Historical Context
This content was created during a period of heightened concern about nuclear proliferation and international conflict. The advocacy reflected growing civil society efforts to pressure nuclear-armed states to honor their Non-Proliferation Treaty commitments.
The message remains relevant today: the threat of nuclear weapons persists, and the call for disarmament continues.