I'm against it! Torture is contrary to what I believe to be a major Christian ethic of love. Even the enemy is created in the image of God. Even the enemy is our brother or sister. Even the enemy is a human being. I remember a scene in "Platoon". Some American soldiers were trying to rape a young girl after torching her village. Charlie Sheen points his M-16 at them and tells them to stop, yelling "She's a human being". They stopped. It is heartening knowing President Obama has stopped torture as a national policy.
Persuasion, yes. We have heard many times from various sources that torture will give you what you want to hear, meaning anything to stop the pain. C.I.A., F.B.I., private operatives in abundance say the same thing. Oh yes, there is the other side; but the overwhelming evidence is torture doesn't work. Persuasion, building a relationship, trust building is effective.
OK, now how do we move beyond torture? The debate is vigorous. President Obama wants to move on and not prosecute anyone for offenses of the past, while many others want a "truth commission" or possible prosecutions in order to hold people accountable, to prove to nations that the United States is a "moral nation".
I believe the way beyond torture is many fold: 1) Reveal the truth through documents and pictures; 2) Establish a Truth Commission consisting of people of the highest integrity and fairness; 3) Make the sessions of the TC open to the public, put them on C-Span; 4) Expect that the outcome of the TC to include recommendations for moving forward. Recommendations could include impeachment of judges, prosecutions, and ....
Significant to our faith are confession, forgiveness, repentance, all leading to reconciliation. In Lutheran tradition, confession and forgiveness are part of our Sunday liturgy. Confession means to be honest about our part in doing injury, whether in "thought, word, or deed". Being open is key to forgiveness. A colleague once said to me, "Things left in the dark get worse". Healing happens through open confession, forgiveness, repentance, then reconciliation.
Dealing with our sordid torture practices, dealing with the truth is painful; but in the end, we will demonstrate moral courage, humility, regret, and a renewed commitment to affirm the humanity of all, even the enemy, and in the process, reconcile our souls with each other and God.
Peace,
Ron
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
I saw Obama's press conference today - celebration of his first 100 days. What he had to say in response to a question was torture was wonderful. I particularly found his statement about Churchill's refusal to torture when England had German prisoners and were being bombed very interesting. Basically, Obama said torture is not who we are as Americans. Also, his statement that our military's torture of people has been a huge recruiting tool for Muslim extremists is so true. It is as if we are emerging from the dark ages of the Bush presidency.
ReplyDelete