But I personally don't see this as a partisan issue at all. I see it as an issue of basic human rights, mixed with notions of "security," "justice," "punishment," and perhaps "war".
I'd like to begin by discussing an article from CNN called Torture prompts soul-searching among some Christians. The article states:
A survey conducted by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that white evangelical Christians are more likely to support torture than people who rarely or never attend religious services. The survey said that 62 percent of white evangelical Protestants say that the use of torture against suspected terrorists can be often or sometimes justified in order to gain important information. . . .
How can a Christian support torture? They can't -- except in extreme circumstances, some evangelicals say.
I encourage you to read the article. This survey's results totally baffled me as I wondered how any "good Christian" could justify the use of torture against anyone - suspected terrorist or otherwise - for any possible or even hypothetical reason? I must be missing something here because, apparently, I'm in the minority.
I have my own ideas and opinions as to why these views exist, and I'll be following up in the next days and weeks. But first I'd rather hear from you.
Do you believe there is justification for torture? Why/why not?
I think i have some good talks ahead with you. I don't believe in torture by any means but i maybe understand it just a little. swaying off the conversation a little, i don't see the need for guns either. I understand that people feel like they need one to protect themselves, is torture not part of the security issue. questions risen by torture is "what if they are innocent, does the person doing the torture become as bad as the crime investigated", i would say YES. Would i do it "NO". Should a executioner putting a Innocent man/woman to death then be put to death himself once they have been found to be innocent? Personally the only politics i have found to work is that of Gandhi, pure and simple. Knowingly inflicting pain on others and calling yourself a good christian is a contradiction in terms. Thanks for the thoughts. alan.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment Alan. I never noticed that before, but I think you're right about "security" -- it is supposedly why the government tortured prisoners, and also why Americans want to own guns. I don't really see the big need for guns either.. but I always thought that was just because I was Canadian :)
ReplyDeleteOf course, we all need a reasonable level of safety to help us achieve life, liberty, and the pursuit to happyness. But we cannot allow that to trample over basic, unalienable rights as human beings either.
It reminds me of a quote by Benjamin Franklin: "They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
dont get me wrong, i love this country otherwise i wouldnt be here. I guess i dont understand the security thing, what are we afraid of. It seems to me we should be more afraid of our own people than that of others. I would think twice about taking the dog for walk at night, amy wouldnt even entertain the thought. I wont honk my horn at a motorist if they risk my saftey on the road because i know they could be carrying a gun, that person takes away my security yet we are torturing people from parts of the world i have never heard of never mind pranounce. For the most part we have no security. Torture people and you bread contempt and hatred, we only have to look at our own feelings to know that this is true. we pulled away from afganistan leaving the people to deal with the problems themselves once we created them. As the documentary states, this is where bin laden came to hate us. We will do the same in iraq. I understand knowledge is power and the way we are getting our knowledge is through torture, breading contempt for later years. Its like bailing a sinking ship with a spoon. we need to understand where this hate come from and act acordingly to correct. sorry i am prattling on now. alan.
ReplyDelete