Des évangéliques contre la torture

[Taranne]

Our Tortured Silence:

The Shameful Response of Christians to Waterboarding

During the Senate Judiciary Committee's hearing on his nomination as attorney general, Michael Mukasey was asked "Is waterboarding constitutional? Mukasey answered: "I don't know what is involved in the technique. If waterboarding is torture, torture is not constitutional."

Since Michael Mukasey is unsure, let me clear it up for him: Yes, waterboarding is torture. And torture should never be legal.

Even more disturbing than the idea that a future attorney general doesn't know what's involved in waterboarding is that we live in an age when a familiarity with torture techniques is to be expected of our leaders. How did we get to the point where such a question needs to be asked of an attorney general? Who allowed our country to succumb to such fear and moral cowardice that we parse the the meaning and definition of "torture?"

I blame myself, and implicate my fellow Christians. We have remained silent and treated an issue once considered unthinkable--the acceptability of torture--like a concept worthy of honest debate. But there is no room for debate: torture is immoral and should be clearly and forcefully denounced. We continue to shame ourselves and our Creator by refusing to speak out against such outrages to human dignity.

For a prime example, consider the muted response to Deroy Murdock's recent column, "Three Cheers for Waterboarding." Murdock--a dispiriting example of what passes for a "conservative" in our culture--not only justifies the use of torture, but applauds it: "Waterboarding is something of which every American should be proud."

(How degraded has conservatism become? Consider: Historically, a utilitarianism-embracing Benthamite like Murdock used to be a prime target of conservative criticism. Today, he gets to be regular contributor to Human Events and National Review Online.)

Compare the opinion of this ignorant scribbler and armchair general to men who have served their country with honor and distinction: Sen. John McCain says waterboarding is torture and adds " People who have worn the uniform and had the experience know that this is a terrible and odious practice and should never be condoned in the U.S. We are a better nation than that. ”Charles Krulak, former commandant of the Marine Corps, and Joseph Hoar, former commander in chief of U.S. Central Command, say that waterboarding is torture and note that such methods "have nurtured the recuperative power of the enemy." John Hutson, former Judge Advocate General of the Navy, says "Waterboarding was devised in the Spanish Inquisition. Next to the rack and thumbscrews, it's the most iconic example of torture."

As Christians we must never condone the use of methods that threaten to undermine the inherent dignity of the person created in the image of God. Murdock may believe there is nothing “repugnant” about waterboarding. But there is something clearly repugnant about our unwillingness to distance ourselves from the fear-driven utilitarians willing to embrace the use of torture.

Related: In December 2005, Justin Taylor and I sponsored a Christian ethics symposium on torture. A number of Christian thinkers, including Albert Mohler, Richard John Neuhaus, Darrell Cole, and Robert Vischer contributed brief essays.

For those still unclear on the concept, the legal definition of torture to which the U.S. subscribes can be found in the UN Convention Against Torture:

For the purposes of this Convention,torture means any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person for such purposes as obtaining from him or a third person information or a confession, punishing him for an act he or a third person has committed or is suspected of having committed, or intimidating or coercing him or a third person, or for any reason based on discrimination of any kind, when such pain or suffering is inflicted by or at the instigation of or with the consent or acquiescence of a public official or other person acting in an official capacity. It does not include pain or suffering arising only from, inherent in or incidental to lawful sanctions.

http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/archives/004068.html

[Nick de Cusa]

Les églises évangéliques, comme la plupart des religions à une prestigieuse exception près, ne souffre pas de planification centralisée. Il est donc logique qu'on y trouve des gens qui soutiennent W sans trop de critiques et d'autres qui s'en écartent.