Monday, May 04, 2009

The Religous Favor Torture

I think there is an alarming number of people that would impress their will upon others, and go to any length to justify their actions. It’s the self-righteous that have no problem breaking their own god’s laws to force their agenda. They believe that in order to pursue the evil doers, you must step away from god. This alarming study would seem to validate my theory.

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The more often Americans go to church, the more likely they are to support the torture of suspected terrorists, according to a new survey.More than half of people who attend services at least once a week -- 54 percent -- said the use of torture against suspected terrorists is "often" or "sometimes" justified. Only 42 percent of people who "seldom or never" go to services agreed, according the analysis released Wednesday by the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life.White evangelical Protestants were the religious group most likely to say torture is often or sometimes justified -- more than six in 10 supported it. People unaffiliated with any religious organization were least likely to back it. Only four in 10 of them did.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/04/30/religion.torture/index.html

I had the opportunity to listen to some talk radio this week, and I heard a caller ranting about how other countries still torture their captives. He went on about how the North Vietnamese tortured our POWs back in the day, etc. As I listened to the caller’s thick country twang, I wondered if his mother ever told him, “Just because the other kids do it doesn’t make it ok for you to do it too.” Or, “If all the other kids jumped off a cliff would you do it too?” (This particular caller may have.)

I heard another caller say that the ‘water boarding’ that we did to the prisoners in Guantanamo was a ‘light’ form of torture, so it should be justified.

Also, evidence suggests that torture does not work. The intelligence gathered through torture is known to be faulty.

Some people just don’t get it. Torture is illegal, by the Geneva Convention. For our leaders to issue memoranda that essentially gave the green light to GITMO to engage in any kind of torture is reprehensible and the responsible parties should face war crime prosecution. It’s just another case that serves as an example of how the Bush administration approached matters in a totalitarian manner without regard to legality, human rights, or foreign relations. I’m so glad we got that party out of power.