Breaking Free From Cultural Captivity: Christian Reflections in Light of Barmen and Abu Ghraib

Below is a summary of the session:

Breaking
Free From Cultural Captivity:  Christian
Reflections in Light of Barmen and Abu Ghraib

Speaker:           George
Hunsinger, Founder, National Religious
Campaign Against Torture

Respondents:  Elizabeth Bounds, Associate Professor of Christian Ethics, Candler School of Theology

                            Larry
McSwain, Professor of Ethics and
Leadership, McAfee School of Theology

Hunsinger:  Violence finds refuge in falsehood.  We may see this connection in Psalm 5.  This theme is also evident in the prophets.  When we turn to the New Testament, we find
this theme in Romans 3.  In the Gospel of
John, just before Peter was again to lie about knowing Jesus for the third time
we are unexpectedly reminded that Peter committed an act of violence cutting
off the ear of a soldier.  It may be that
we are supposed to understand that violence is a denial of Jesus. 

[. . . ] It
should not go unnoticed that torture can be rationalized by religious
fervor.  Take for instance the recent
assertion that one should always be proud of America.  Have we forgotten about Abu Ghraib and
Guantanamo?  Might not lack of shame be a
moral failing?  Shame is a deeply
religious and patriotic emotion.  It is
an agreement to carry out a lover's quarrel with America.  Indeed the claim that we must be proud of
America no matter what it does is a violation of the first commandment.

With the
release of the photos of Abu Ghraib, President Bush was quick to condemn the
actions that could no longer be ignored. 
Just as torture is not a new practice, so legislative attempts to limit
it are not new.  In claiming the power to
torture, the President not only displayed a disregard for human rights, but assigned
unprecedented power to his office.  What are
we to make about the exemption that has been given to the CIA for more than 30
years in attempts to legislate bans on torture? 
They have allowed the CIA to say it is acting with full authority when
it tortures.  Is there a truth commission
in our future?  The issue of war crimes is
moving to the front burner.  The rule of
law is central to our democracy.  We must
not allow principles to be set to allow for war crimes.  It is hard to see how we will ever get
torture out of our system unless we establish serious accountability.  Those of us who hope to abolish US sponsored
torture can ill afford to underestimate the power of the CIA.  Anti-torture activists must be aware of the
covert tactics available to the CIA and the full extent to which their
influence extends.  These secret agencies
have interests that inherently conflict with the open accountability of a
country.  No hopes for any truth commission,
which I share, should harbor any illusions about the obstacles we face.  Our efforts in the anti-torture movement must
be not towards getting a truth commission, but closing all the loop holes.  Despite the powers arrayed against us, that
hope is within reach.  People of faith
know that history is full of surprises. 

How can
Christians view the pictures of Abu Ghraib without thinking of the body of
Christ?  How can they look at a photo of
a prisoner chained with an unmuzzled dog being restrained only inches from his
face without hearing the words, "I was in prison and you visited me?"  Where is the outcry?  Where are the churches?  If torture is not evil, then nothing is not
evil.

Bounds and McSwain:  [Regrettably we were unable to cover these
remarks]