Sample Resolution Supporting a Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty 

WHEREAS, regular and rigorous testing of any nuclear weapon is needed to ensure that it will work as planned in a war; and

WHEREAS, underground nuclear explosions permit scientists to test new nuclear weapons and to increase the destructive capabilities of existing nuclear weapons; and

WHEREAS, all weapons begin to deteriorate at a certain age, and reliability is ensured by test firing a representative sample; and

WHEREAS, lessening of confidence in weapons reliability (if testing is forbidden) discourages either side from contemplating a preemptive "first strike" nuclear attack (since such an attack requires absolute certainty that the weapons will work as designed); and

WHEREAS, a total nuclear explosions ban would stop development of new, more devastating, and "usable" nuclear weapons such as those with reduced response time and increased potential for accidental firing; and

WHEREAS, compliance with such a ban can be reliably certified by national technical means; and

WHEREAS, over time, such a ban will result in a sharp reduction in the number of weapons fully ready for war; and

WHEREAS, worldwide end to all nuclear explosions would slow nuclear proliferation; and

WHEREAS, detrimental health effects, particularly to infants, do result from the fallout from nuclear weapons testing, even from the venting of underground testing; and

WHEREAS, international research now indicates that the use of even a small portion of the exiting stockpiles could cause a nuclear winter;

BE IT RESOLVED: That the 1985 General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association urges the United States to enter into a comprehensive nuclear test ban treaty with the USSR and all other countries of the world; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED: That this Assembly requests the Washington Office for Social Justice of the Association and the Social Responsibility Committees of member congregations in the United States and Canada to lobby on behalf of federal legislation implementing these concerns.

The General Assembly of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in North America approved this General Resolution by a two-thirds or greater vote in June 1985.