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SPRING lg95 7 -- -, 1 ,T -: . --tz . , --.. :- . * -: . :..- THE WILSON QUARTERLY y:::--.. m. - Subscribe to the 'leading intellectual journal in the US'* r * Esquire magazine LO& Since it began publishing in 1963, The New Krk Reuiew of Books H-~~~ehm~- has provided remarkable variety and intellectual excitement. Twenty times l%eN~~Rmi~a year, the world's best writers and scholars address themselves to 130,000 discerning readers worldwide ... people who know that the widest range of subjects-literature, art, politics, science, history, music, education-will be discussed with wit, clarity, and brilliance. In each issue subscribers of The New Krk Reuiew enjoy articles by such celebrated writers as John Updike, Elizabeth Hardwick, Gore Vidal, Nadine Gordimer, Oliver Sacks, and countless others, as well as the James Fenton: literary bare-knuckle boxing of the Letters to the Editors section. 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If aying by CDN$ return ro Mikc Johnson, ThNhErkRmiczu ofBook,, 250 War 57 Sr., Rm 1321, NCWYork, NY 10107. We cannor ampt inrernarionarnloney ordcrs. Rates outside rhc US: Canada $j2.jO/CDN $69, Resr of World Regular Pox $56.50, Rcsr of World Prinr Flow Air Post (r~commcndcdfor rhc Far Eax and Australia) $83.50. Crcdir card orders xvill he cha~eda[ rhe US Dollar rarcs shown. Please dlow 6 ro 8 wc&s for delivery of you firsr issue. SPRING 1995 THE WILSON QUARTERLY Published by the Wood~owWilson International Cente~for Scholars 8 RELIGIONAND THE WRITER A. G. Mojtabai Amitav Ghosk Faith and art once nurtured each other. Now the relationship is uneasy. Two writers ponder what has gone wrong. 46 THE FUTURETHAT NEVERCAME by Mitchell Reiss Contrary to most prophecies, nuclear weapons have not been used in anger in the 50 years since Nagasaki. What will it take to ensure another half century of peace? 32. America's Verdant Cross by Simon Schama The "discovery" of California's giant sequoias helped to reshape America's self-image at a time of national crisis. 68. All the Presidents' Words by Carol Gelderman 102. Music Against Gravity by Alan Neidle and Margaret Freeman 114. The Night of the Whales by William W. Warner DEPARTMENTS 2. Editor's Comment 127. Periodicals 4. At Issue 154. Research Reports 80. Current Books 156. Commentary 97. Poetry 160. From the Center Cover: A hydrogen bomb ("Event Hood) is exploded from a balloon over the Nevada Test Site, July 5,1957. Printed in the U.S.A. The views expressed herein are not necessarily those of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. USPS 346-670 ]I!\ VOL. XIX No. 2 The WilsonQuarterly (ISSN-0363-3276)isp1iblisl1edi11fa~~~iary~Wi~~ter~,April(Spri~~g~,fuly(Su~n?ner~~ondOctober~Autumn~ by tke Woodrow WilsonJnfernational Center for Scholars at 901 D Street S. W., Suite 704, Washington, D.C. 20024. Indexed biennially. Subscriptions: one yeor, $24; two years, 543. Air mail outside US.: one year, $39; two years, $73. Single copies mailed upon request: 57; outside US.and possessio~~s,$8; selected back issues: 57, including postnge and kandling; o~itside LlS., 58. Second-class postage paid at Wnshington, D.C., and additional mailing ofices. All unsolicited mnnuscripts should be accompanied by a self-addressed stamped envelope. Members: Send ckanges ofaddress and 1111 subscripti011correspo~~dence with Wilson Quarterly moiling label to Subscriber Service, The W'11son Quarterly, P.0. Box 420406, Palm Coast, FL 32142-0406. (Subscriber hot line: 1-800-829-5108.)Postmnster: Send all address chnnxes to The Wilson Quarterly, P.0. Box 420406, Palm Coast, FL 32142.0406, Microfilm copies are available fiom Universihj Microfilms International, 300 North Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Mickigon 48106. US.newsstand distriblition by Eastern News Distributors, Inc,, 2020 Sliperior Street, Sandus!q, Ohio 44870 (for information, cull 1-800-221-3148). Editor: Jay Tolson Deputy Editor: Steven Lagerfeld Managing Editor: James H. Carman Literary Editor: Jeffery Paine Associate Editor: Robert K. Landers Poetry Editor: Anthony Hecht Copy Editor: Vincent Ercolano ifty years ago this summer, a new age announced its Design Consultant: Tawney Harding arrival when the United States dropped atomic bombs on Contributing Editors: Linda Colley, Fthe Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, bring- Denis Donoghue, Max Holland, ing to a conclusion the Allies' long struggle with the last Walter Reich, Alan Ryan, Charles resisting Axis power. Scholars and others have debated the Townshend, Alan Wolfe, Bertram morality and necessity of these bombings ever since, most Wyatt-Brown recently in the controversy over the now largely scuttled Researchers: Natalie C. Gill, Enola Gay exhibit at one of our neighboring institutions, the Laura K. Smid Smithsonian's Air and Space Museum. Librarian: Zdenek V. David Editorial Advisers: K. Anthony While passionate disagreements characterize the at- Appiah, Mary B. Bullock, Robert tempts to explain those distant events, most people in the Darnton, Nathan Glazer, Harry Cold War years shared at least one conviction when it came Harding, Elizabeth Johns, Michael to the bomb: Nagasaki would not be the last time atomic Lacey, John R. Lampe, Jackson Lears, weapons would be used for military purposes. The existence Robert Litwak, Frank McConnell, of two hostile nations, armed to the teeth with nuclear James M. Morris, Richard Rorty, Blair weapons, would see to that. No one thought that the Soviet Ruble, Ann Sheffield, S. Frederick Union would quietly close up shop and call for a truce. Some Starr, Joseph Tulchin people still can't believe that it did. Founding Editor: Peter Braestrup Perhaps just as surprising is the fact that even before Publishing Director: Warren B. Syer the Cold War ended, nations were beginning to discover Publisher: Kathy Read Business Manager: Suzanne Napper that possession of what one historian dubbed "the win- Circulation Director: Rosalie Bruno ning weapon" might be more a liability than a source of Direct advertising inquiries to: strength. The story of the nuclear Armageddon that didn't Kathy Read come, and of the ongoing effort to encourage more coun- 901 D Street S. W., Suite 704 tries to abandon their atomic arsenals, is one of the stories Washington, D.C. 20024 we offer in this issue. (202) 287-3000 WOODROW WILSON INTERNATIONAL CENTER FOR SCHOLARS Smithsonian Institution Building, Washington, D.C. Charles Blitzer, Director Congress, The Eirector of the US. B. Clark, William T. Coleman, Jr., Michael Samuel F. Wells, Jr., Deputy Director Information Agency, The Archivist of the D. DiGiacomo, Donald G. Bapkin, Dean W. Anderson, Dept~tyDirector u~tedStates. Private Citizen Membem: Raymond A. Guenter, Robert R. Harlin, for Plannii~gand Management James A. Baker III, Joseph A. Cari, Jr., Jean James A. Harmon, William A. Hewitt, L. Hennessey, Gertrude Himmelfarb, James H. figgins, EcHokmg, Frances BOARD OF TRUSTEES Carol Iannone, Eli Jacobs, Paul Hae Park, Humphrey Howard, Donald M. Kendall, Joseph H. Flom, Chairman S. Gillon Ripley. Designated by the Christopher Kennan, Donald S. Lamm, Dwayne 0. Andreas, Vice Chairman President Anthony Lake. Harold Levy, Plato Malozemoff, Fdwin S. Ex Oficio Members: The Secretary of Marks, Deryck C. Maughan, C. Peter State, The Secretq of Health & Human THE WILSON COUNCIL McColough, James D. McDonald, Madha Services, The Secretary of Education, The Albert Abramson, J. Burchenal Adt, T. Muse, David Pahd,L. Richardson chairman of the ~ati&nalEndowment Charles F. Barber, William J. Baroody, Jr., Preyer, Robert L. Rach, Edward V. Regan, for the Humanities, The Secretq of the Thedore C. Barreaux, Conrad Cafritz, Raja W. Sidawi, Ron Sdver, William A. Smithsonian Institution, The Librarian of Edward W. Carter, Albert V. Casey, Peter Slaughter, Herbert S. Winoh, Jr. The Wilson Center has published theQuarterly since 1976.