Jesus wept

How can evangelicals justify their support of torture?

Indeed, what are we to make of so-called Christians who defame the name
of Christ by advocating brutality? How can these reputed "evangelical
leaders" square such bloodthirstiness with the clear ethical demands of
the Gospel? And please, Reverend Sheldon, where does torture fit into
the whole "traditional and family values" schtick? Are we thinking
Torquemada and the Spanish Inquisition here? Shall thumbscrews and the
rack take the place of the communion table? Perhaps you should
carefully read the following statement from the NRCAT and consider it with an attitude of humility as Christ taught.

Torture Is A Moral Issue
A Statement of the
National Religious Campaign against Torture

Please join the over 6500 people who
have already endorsed this statement.

Torture
violates the basic dignity of the human person that all religions hold
dear. It degrades everyone involved –policy-makers, perpetrators and
victims. It contradicts our nation's most cherished ideals. Any
policies that permit torture and inhumane treatment are shocking and
morally intolerable.

Torture and
inhumane treatment have long been banned by U.S. treaty obligations,
and are punishable by criminal statute. Recent developments, however,
have created new uncertainties. By reaffirming the ban on cruel,
inhuman and degrading treatment as well as torture, the McCain
amendment, now signed into law, is a step in the right direction. Yet
its implementation remains unclear.

The
President's signing statement, which he issued when he signed the
McCain Amendment into law, implies that the President does not believe
he is bound by the amendment in his role as commander in chief. The
possibility remains open that inhumane methods of interrogation will
continue.

Furthermore, in a
troubling development, for the first time in our nation's history,
legislation has now been signed into law that effectively permits
evidence obtained by torture to be used in a court of law. The military
tribunals that are trying some terrorist suspects are now expressly
permitted to consider information obtained under coercive interrogation
techniques, including degrading and inhumane techniques and torture.

We urge Congress and the President to remove all ambiguities by prohibiting:

• Exemptions from the human rights standards of international law for any arm of our government.
• The
  practice of extraordinary rendition, whereby suspects are apprehended
  and flown to countries that use torture as a means of interrogation.
• Any
  disconnection of "cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment" from the ban
  against "torture" so as to permit inhumane interrogation.
• The existence of secret U.S. prisons around the world.
• Any denial of Red Cross access to detainees held by our government overseas.

We
also call for an independent investigation of the severe human rights
abuses at U.S. installations like Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib, and Bagram
Air Force Base in Afghanistan.

Nothing
less is at stake in the torture abuse crisis than the soul of our
nation. What does it signify if torture is condemned in word but
allowed in deed? Let America abolish torture now –without exceptions.

NYO – Joe Conason

The
Reverend Louis Sheldon, who heads an organization called the
Traditional Values Coalition, has indignantly warned Senator McCain
that opposing torture may mean forfeiting the support of evangelical leaders in 2008.

What
are we to make of the fact that men like the reverend, who refer to
themselves as “Christian” while obnoxiously suggesting that other
Christians are inferior in faith and character, now tell us that we
must support the horrific abuse of prisoners?

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