Torture and religious politics

Recently, the first of the memorandums on interrogation techniques were released. They make difficult reading. In fact, in language that is every bit the equal of the clinical language found in files from both the old Soviet Union and the WWII German archives, they describe in detail the painful techniques used to break a person down. No, not simply psychological techniques, but techniques that are known to cause pain and the feeling that one is dying. In fact, one article says:

One of the most striking things about the interrogation memos released last week is the way that the Justice Department purported to use academic science to excuse procedures that would clearly cause significant pain for detainees. . . . Even under the most controlled settings, without the obvious element of fear, it must be said, the CIA/Justice Department argument is difficult to handle on its face. I wonder if there was any person in the Bush Administration or at the CIA who would have entertained the possibility of voluntarily undergoing shackled sleep deprivation (via uncomfortable standing, sitting or reclining positions) for as long as 7.5 days on a liquid diet of about 1,000 calories per day. By their own sober reasoning, such a course of treatment is not expected to cause “physical pain” or “severe mental pain or suffering.” So no big deal, right? Is there a jury anywhere in the world who would buy this argument?

But, for us who call ourselves Christian, there is a reckoning in this. Many of us have for years supported the “pro-life” party. Many of us still give unswerving allegiance to that party. This is not necessarily a problem, since political decisions are complex. I am not one who believes that there is only one “party of God.” That viewpoint is held by Hezbollah, and, unfortunately, by some in this country, I am sad to say. In fact, I do not mind those who argue very strongly for a particular party, provided they do not use God’s name to justify their choice.

Nevertheless, whether you follow the Republicans or the Democrats, there is one thing for which we should be asking the Lord for mercy. During the years of the Republican party having control, many were not consistent in their pro-life stance. The memoranda reveal our shame. How many of us read about waterboarding or “stress positions” yet justified behavior that we find utterly offensive when we read of the lives of the saints who were so treated in the Gulag of Russia or in the jails of the Gestapo as Richard Wurmbrand found out? We justify it by saying that those who were tortured were truly guilty, and enemies of the USA. But, how many countries have used “enemies of the State” as an excuse to torture? Where were the Christian voices raised up saying that our pro-life stance must extend in every direction? Or, were we afraid that we would lose our political power if we spoke up against such practices?

The current Supreme Court is not a liberal one, not by any stretch of the imagination. They are four and four with one swing vote who is moderate. And yet that court has found almost unanimously against the previous administration as regards the rights of prisoners of war. I am aware that some of the decisions were quite nuanced and that the previous administration won one or two points, but, rather overwhelmingly, judges have ruled against the legal positions held by the former administration. But, where were the pro-life Christians in supporting the rights of living human beings? Most pro-life Christians were vehemently arguing the right to hold people, giving them no international human rights, and the right to use severe interrogation techniques against those who were classified as “enemy combatants.”

And so, now, the witness of Christians in regards to being pro-life is damaged. The country voted against those interrogation practices (as well as the conduct of the not-declared war, the economy, etc.). And, yes, I did vote against them as well. Yet, I am pro-life. A new administration is in place. Yet now, no one is listening to our pro-life arguments. We are seen, and quite justly, as being hypocrites who concentrate on the life of the unborn and stem cells while ignoring the life of those we classify as “enemies of the State.” We are seen as partisans who have baptized the views of one party at the expense of our theology and our ethics. We are supposed to stand for what is True, regardless of the circumstances. Now we are seen as those who stand for what is politically expedient. In fact, there is now little difference between Protestant America and Orthodox Byzantium and Catholic Europe. In every case, what was politically expedient won over what was True. And, as a result, the Church suffered greatly when the political winds changed.

And, so, history repeats itself, and the Church is bound to suffer as a result.