WHEREAS President Dwight D. Eisenhower, in his address before the United Nations General Assembly on December 8, 1953, outlined the horrifying possibilities of atomic warfare and emphasized that the United States should do everything to lessen international tensions and to seek more than the mere reduction or elimination of atomic materials available for military purposes and

WHEREAS "never before in history has so much hope for so many people been gathered together in a single organization," the United Nations, a major channel for joint international action and

WHEREAS the stated purpose of the United States is to make agreements, not wars, among nations and to 'find a way by which the minds of men, the hopes of men, the souls of men everywhere, can move forward toward peace and happiness and well being,

BE IT RESOLVED that the American Ethical Union approve and applaud the President's proposals:

1. to explore "every new avenue of peace, no matter how dimly discernible,"

2. to begin with other Governments to the extent permitted by elementary prudence 'to make joint contributions from . . . stockpiles of normal uranium and fissionable materials to an International Atomic Energy Agency ... under the United Nations" so that "without irritations and mutual suspicions incident to any attempt to set up a completely acceptable system of world-wide inspection and control" this new International Atomic Energy Agency could "devise methods whereby this fissionable material would be allocated to serve the peaceful pursuits of mankind," and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the American Ethical Union institute programs of education and action through the Sunday platform, Sunday schools and Society Groups to support the President's statement that the " United States pledges its determination to help solve the fearful atomic dilemma - to devote its entire heart and mind to find the way by which the miraculous inventiveness of man shall not be dedicated to his death, but consecrated to his life."

Source: Whereas ... 1962

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