Rules for Torture

I have a column on torture appearing in the Lompoc Record Sunday. In it I'll share why I believe torture is wrong. It is morally wrong from a Christian perspective, but it has long been declared ethically wrong on humanitarian grounds.

Now the Bush Administration is drawing up secret guidelines to govern torture (I mean enhanced methods of interrogation). Why do we need secret guidelines?

The Christian Science Monitor has put together an article that helpfully lays out recent essays and articles dealing with the issue. What we learn from this article and especially from a recent blog posting by Andrew Sullivan is that many of the methods and the justifications for them are very similar to those used by the Gestapo. Yes, you heard me right, the Gestapo.

And apparently there is increased support for torture in America, a view that could be influenced by the popular Fox drama -- "24". For when at the recent GOP debate John McCain alone among the leading candidates strongly opposed torture he was received coolly and the others were cheered.

I think it was Lincoln who said something to the effect that America would not be brought down from the outside, but only from the inside. If we are veering in this direction, in the name of security we are treading toward the dark side!