Being a Christian I live in a world of moral absolutes, a world where Truth (with a capital T) exists, and shades of grey are merely distortions. Most people cannot fathom such a world, and would call me inflexible, elitist, or naive. If you are one of those people, please don’t read further – this will only confuse you.
So how dose one fit torture into a world of moral absolutes? If right is right and wrong is wrong – where dose torture stand? Is it right or wrong, for we just said shades of grey are distortions?
Well … yes. Taken that way it is not so easy.
War and torture come under, to me, a single category of violence. When is it right to do violence to another person? Is it always wrong and always right – or is it is situation dependent.
Wait, you may say, that is a shade of grey! No, I am sorry, it is not.
William Buckley said it best: If one man pushes an old lady in front of a buss, and another man pushes an old lady out of the way of a bus – we cannot condemn both for pushing around old ladies. Situations matter.
It is human nature to try and separate things down to the smallest whole part – a single concept which stands alone. We try this with torture and war, and we loose the circumstance which holds the entire moral element. While we would love to say that torture is always wrong, that is an over simplification.
Rick Moran, over at The Right Wing Nuthouse has a different and much better articulated view. Though I agree with Rick on most things, I can’t agree here. The following is an excerpt from his article from today:
Jack Bauer knows that a terrorist strike is imminent which justifies his brutal treatment of prisoners in most people’s minds. But in the real world, that kind of certainty is almost definitely lacking. And even though the capture of a “high value” terrorist operative would almost by definition be an intelligence bonanza regarding future attacks, the idea that any of them would be imminent and a direct threat to American citizens would almost certainly be unknown. Therefore, torture would be carried out in these cases not to necessarily uncover any plots but rather to see if there are any plots worth responding to in the first place.
The situation in this case is that person captured is indeed a high value terrorist operative. One who would be in “the know” for terrorist activities targeted at our country. In this case, boil him in oil – his activities and choice of careers have exempted him from moderation. To do less then our best to protect the lives of innocents from the terrorists is most certainly wrong.
This is not a case of taboo, nor a case of upholding the Geneva Convention – those are mortal constructs. This is a case of right and wrong on a grand scale. To not defend our faith, or families, and our country with every tool in our arsenal is wrong.
Yet I must interject a word of caution. We must not confuse torture, or War, with justice – as that is not its intent. It is not a tool of revenge, vindication, or reconciliation. It is a tool for rough men to use in defending our country. It is a distasteful necessity in today dark world.
“People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf.” – George Orwell.
Torture, like War, is unpleasant – we long for a world those things are put away forever, but we are not there yet. I think it is absolutely better that one terrorist suffer than the thousands who would be impacted by another 9/11.
[…] Organizations like the ACLU and CCR are boils on our society. It must be a comfortable world where you can throw stones at the men who hold up the banner of freedom you hide beneath. I have spoken before about the belief that torture has its place in the American arsenal, but despite that I do not believe that Rumsfeld has cross the line of American or International law. […]
[…] Organizations like the ACLU, CCR, and HRF are boils on our society. It must be a comfortable world where you can throw stones at the men who hold up the banner of freedom you hide beneath. I have spoken before about the belief that torture has its place in the American arsenal, but despite that I do not believe that Rumsfeld has cross the line of American or International law. […]
[…] I have no idea where the ACLU is coming from here. I am sure they are comfortable in their expensive suits ignoring the fact that we are at war. In modern war, information is king and you don’t get critical information by just asking nicely. I have written before on my views on torture, I will not reiterate it here. I would only challenge the ACLU to offer solutions rather than handcuffing the efforts of our government to protect us. The ACLU called on Secretary Gates to unequivocally condemn the use of torture and abuse, particularly the use of sensory deprivation techniques and extreme isolation. The ACLU further urged Secretary Gates to take the following actions to prevent future abuses and hold the responsible parties accountable: […]