Some spiritual interpretations of atomic warfare are perfectly valid – others are positively radioactive

In Japan, even the dead get a say in how the nation’s war-machine should be run by the living.

Toward the end of World War II, Americans contemplated the possibility of “world government” to prevent another catastrophe, especially after the United States dropped atomic bombs on Japan.

Pope Francis visited Hiroshima and Nagasaki this weekend. In both locations, he lamented the horrors and immorality of nuclear weapons. He got the horror right, not much else.

The U.S. Defense Department contains an inventory of roughly 7,100 nuclear warheads. About 4,760 are active, while approximately 2,340 warheads are retired, but still intact. The retired warheads are in storage and await dismantlement. Here is what you should know about nuclear weapons: