It was a little more than two years ago when I was at the Q Conference in Austin, TX when the idea of nuclear disarmament became important to me. If memory serves me right, this particular presentation was slotted right after lunch. I remember looking at the pre-conference schedule and thinking that this one interests me the least and perfect, they put it right after lunch. I figured I had more time for one of Austin’s better bbq restaurants.
Long story short, my lunch companions and I made it back in time and I was absolutely stunned by what Tyler Wiggs Stevenson had to say.
You can watch it here. Aside from hugging your loved ones, it will be among the best 20 minutes you have spent this week (and it will motivate you to hug your loved ones when you see them again).
My favorite part is when Tyler talks about how this is an issue for everyone and how Christians need to be leading the way on this. He even goes so far as saying, “It’s a sin issue,” calls our non-action an act of blasphemy and (God forbid it ever happen but after you watch this or the documentary Countdown to Zero, a nuclear bomb detonating is unfortunately possible in our unstable world) says a nuclear detonation would be the “Devil’s cigar stubbed out on the earth.”
At this year’s Q Conference, they screened it. Unfortunately I was not able to attend it but had seen enough of the trailers and enough of the emails to know that I wanted to. Last week I got an email that it was coming to my area, sort of. So we went to the AMC Empire theaters (in Time Square. Cool but obviously not my closest theater) and asked some good friends to join us. Like all these documentaries, it’s intense, it’s depressing, and you could easily make the case that an evening doing almost anything else in New York would be much more enjoyable. But here’s why I watch them. It seems rather obvious for people whose Christianity claims to make the world better that this (and many others) are essential issues to be engaged in. And as Tyler uses the example of Christians like William Wilberforce fighting slavery and making the world better, I am convinced that a world without nuclear weapons does the same.
Obviously it was an excellent presentation so when the documentary was released, I really wanted to check it out. Not because of death and gloom (truth be told, I am pretty bored with the ‘”End of the World” movie genre like 2012 and Day After Tomorrow). And so it was finally released and it was date night and how many romantic comedies can one marriage take? Besides Inception, there are not any good movies this summer. So go see Countdown to Zero.
Here’s the trailer:
We will definitely need to have breakfast to discuss this one, even before all of our undiscussed books and topics. As a child of the Cold War, I have lived with nuclear weapons all of my life and have seen the various disarmament movements come and go. Some were nothing but covers for the then Soviet Union, others simply naive – at best. I argued and debated with some of them in college. We may need more than one breakfast for this one. Eagerly awaiting the discussion(s).
Sounds great (only I don’t really want to debate but listen and discuss).
If you haven’t yet and you get a chance, watch the 20 minute presentation by Tyler Wiggs Stephenson up there.
But agreed, we are definitely overdue for breakfast (or lunch if that’s easier.
As always, thanks for reading.