Blogotional

Some PR guy at Christianity Today wrote me and gave me links to two articles on the use of torture in the current war, soliciting comment -- well, links if we are completely honest.


This is a somewhat balanced look at the various arguments presented by Christians, almost all of them anonymous, in the intelligence services.


This is an opinion piece. Here are the five reasons in summary:

1. Torture violates the dignity of the human being.
2. Torture mistreats the vulnerable and violates the demands of justice.
3. Authorizing torture trusts government too much.
4. Torture dehumanizes the torturer.
5. Torture erodes the character of the nation that tortures.

My first comment is that there is not a whole lot of biblical support for the arguments offered here, in fact scripture is cited in discussing only the first two of the five reasons cited. While that fact may or may not say anything about the validity of the argument, it does say that the argument does nothing to advance the Christian view of torture.

I am going to limit myself wholly to discussing this from a Christian perspective. There are serious question about how efficacious torture is from a purely practical standpoint - I do not comment on that.

I will start by saying that under any circumstances, torture should be of last resort, as should any use of violence for any end.

Many of the arguments advanced here place the individual on a level superior to the group. They worry about the soul of the tortured and the torturer. The older I get the less convinced I am that this is God's absolute perspective. God has rather routinely sacrificed the individual for the sake of the greater whole - including most significantly His own Son. Scripture clearly supports the concept of a "greater good" even in the face of apparent injustice - whether it be admonitions for slaves to be content in their servitude or Paul's expressed sacrifice of his desire to go to heaven for the sake of the church. There are times when the concerns of the indivdual are secondary.

Certainly we must all admit there are times when violence is necessary. Self-defense for example. Most moral "absolutes" have exceptions. I think most would agree that self-defense is a sufficient justification to take a life. A more mundane example would be if a killer in pursuit of a victim asked you if you had seen the intended victom run by, would not a lie be justified? Did not God order King Saul to violate all common understanding of the rules of war and kill the women and children of a conquest? Did Saul not lose his blessing for failing to follow this command?

My point? I don't think one can make a decent Christian case against torture in all circumstances and in all settings. Certainly, if torture could produce information that would prevent the death of thousands, by say, a nuclear explosion in an American city I would find it justified. The devil is in the details. Can we be sure the person we intend to torture has the information we need? Can we be sure that the information will produce sufficient result to justify the acts?

These are questions that must be asked, and decision reached on a case by case basis. Guidelines should, and have been established. Are they the right guidleines? Perhaps only time can tell. We lack God's perspective, mistakes are inevitable, we can only do our best.

My bottom line thought is that I am glad there are Christians in the intelligence services and I am glad they are involved in making these decisions. If there is anything I take from all this CT reading it is that there may need to be a ministry developed to these poeple to support them in that decision making. But having the right people in those places is the best we can do.

Related Tags: Christians, torture, war, Christianity Today, morality, ethics