Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Evangelicals Condemn Torture
RSR has been pretty hard on the born-again and we don't expect that will stop. Even so, we want to give credit to the National Association of Evangelicals for condemning the acts of torture carried out by the U.S. military.
In a country that keeps itself willfully ignorant of government sponsored torture, while obsessing over the death of Anna Nicole Smith, the NAE statement stands out as a signal act of courage.
"United States law and military doctrine has banned the resort to torture or cruel and degrading treatment. Tragically, documented cases of torture and inhumane and cruel behavior have occurred at various sites in the war on terror, and current law opens procedural loopholes for more to continue,"the NAE says in its statement.
"As American Christians, we are above all motivated by a desire that our nation's actions would be consistent with foundational Christian moral norms," the document says. "We believe that a scrupulous commitment to human rights, among which is the right not to be tortured, is one of these Christian moral convictions."
RSR can't agree with the NAE that America should be guided by "foundational Christian moral norms," (we believe it must be guided by human-made laws) but we are in strong agreement that it is far past time that all Americans step forward to say an emphatic "No!" to the torture carried out in our name.
In a country that keeps itself willfully ignorant of government sponsored torture, while obsessing over the death of Anna Nicole Smith, the NAE statement stands out as a signal act of courage.
"United States law and military doctrine has banned the resort to torture or cruel and degrading treatment. Tragically, documented cases of torture and inhumane and cruel behavior have occurred at various sites in the war on terror, and current law opens procedural loopholes for more to continue,"the NAE says in its statement.
"As American Christians, we are above all motivated by a desire that our nation's actions would be consistent with foundational Christian moral norms," the document says. "We believe that a scrupulous commitment to human rights, among which is the right not to be tortured, is one of these Christian moral convictions."
RSR can't agree with the NAE that America should be guided by "foundational Christian moral norms," (we believe it must be guided by human-made laws) but we are in strong agreement that it is far past time that all Americans step forward to say an emphatic "No!" to the torture carried out in our name.
