“J. Robert Oppenheimer and Nuclear Agony”

Today, over 16,300 nuclear weapons make Russian, North Korean and terrorist aggression all the more alarming. Despite the end of the cold war, nuclear weapons are still ready for launch around the world. Even a limited nuclear war would cause unimaginable suffering, something known only too well to the father of the atomic bomb, J. Robert Oppenheimer. Raised in Ethical Culture, taught by its founder Felix Adler, Oppenheimer felt impelled to serve his country and do good. His heroic efforts him landed on the covers of Time and Life magazines. Soon, tormented by the horror of his own creation and persecution by his own government, Oppenheimer’s life took a tragic turn. Hugh Taft-Morales explores this story in the context of current efforts to rid the world of nuclear weapons.

Hugh Taft-Morales joined the Baltimore Ethical Society as its professional leader in 2010, the same year he was certified by the American Ethical Union as an Ethical Culture Leader. He also serves as Leader of the Ethical Humanist Society of Philadelphia. His presence in Ethical Culture has been termed “invigorating.” Taft-Morales lives in Takoma Park, Maryland, with his wife Maureen, a Latin American Analyst with the Congressional Research Service, with whom he has three beloved children, Sean, Maya, and Justin.

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