We've all heard far more than we probably wanted on this subject. But with what's been going on recently, I just had to weigh in.
Torture is wrong.
Period.
There can be no justification, no excuse, no argument, that excuses such barbaric behavior. If it is wrong for others to torture, then it is wrong for us. If it is wrong for others to hold people incommnicado, to punish them without a fair trial, then it is wrong for us.
I am constantly amazed at the rationalizations that supposed people of spirituality offer up to justify torture. Can someone please show me a passage -- any passage in any holy book -- that tells us that debasing a human life is OK.
The Bible tells us to "do unto others as you would have done to you." Well, I don't want to be tortured, and therefore do not want my country to torture in my name.
For those who use the Old Testament to justify their actions -- didn't Jesus bring a new testament? Didn't he teach us to love one another? To dissent peacefully? To work for social justice?
Doesn't count, you say? Gotta live by those old rules? Then why are we so up in arms that certain segments of the Muslim population wish to live by their old rules, their fundamental beliefs? And why aren't you out there stoning WalMart employees for working on the Sabbath?
Torture not only debases the victim, it debases the society that approves it.
I will never condone the torture of another human being. And I will no longer be silent.
Torture is wrong.
Torture is wrong.
Period.
There can be no justification, no excuse, no argument, that excuses such barbaric behavior. If it is wrong for others to torture, then it is wrong for us. If it is wrong for others to hold people incommnicado, to punish them without a fair trial, then it is wrong for us.
I am constantly amazed at the rationalizations that supposed people of spirituality offer up to justify torture. Can someone please show me a passage -- any passage in any holy book -- that tells us that debasing a human life is OK.
The Bible tells us to "do unto others as you would have done to you." Well, I don't want to be tortured, and therefore do not want my country to torture in my name.
For those who use the Old Testament to justify their actions -- didn't Jesus bring a new testament? Didn't he teach us to love one another? To dissent peacefully? To work for social justice?
Doesn't count, you say? Gotta live by those old rules? Then why are we so up in arms that certain segments of the Muslim population wish to live by their old rules, their fundamental beliefs? And why aren't you out there stoning WalMart employees for working on the Sabbath?
Torture not only debases the victim, it debases the society that approves it.
I will never condone the torture of another human being. And I will no longer be silent.
Torture is wrong.
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