A Call to Stop Torture

I'm in the midst of a crazy week, but wanted to share several great resources combatting the institutionalization of torture as a U.S. national security tactic. The first...

A Christian Call to Stop Torture Now, which is really geared toward Catholics. It features one hell of a quote from the late John Paul II that pretty much sums up the Catholic position on torture: "The thought of Jesus being stripped, beaten and derided until his final agony on the cross should always prompt a Christian to protest against similar treatment of their fellow beings. Of their own accord, disciples of Christ will reject torture, which nothing can justify, which causes humiliation and suffering to the victim and degrades the tormentor." You can read the rest of the statement by clicking here.

The second...is a nationwide effort of interfaith religious leaders called The National Religious Campaign Against Torture. According to this campaign: "Nothing less is at stake in the torture abuse crisis than the soul of our nation. What does it signify if torture is condemned in word but allowed in deed? Let America abolish torture now -- without exceptions." You can learn more about this campaign at www.nrcat.org.

The last is a letter being circulated by the The National Council of Churches, urging the U.S. to follow the recommendations from the United Nations, and close the Guantanamo Prison in Cuba. You can read the letter here.

The progressive religious movement was critical in supporting the labor movement, the civil rights movement, and the end the war in Vietnam movement. Now they are lending their united voices to stop torture, and cruel, degrading punishment. And together this is an issue that can be won.

Before I go, for a great commentary on the weaknesses of the recently passed McCain Amendment (which in theory reiterates a U.S. ban on promoting torture, but in practice creates loopholes for torture to exist - especially when, in signing the Amendment, the President boldly claimed that he didn't always have to follow it) go to www.tassc.org. This is the Web site for a torture survivors group, the Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition, and they are so deserving of all the support they can get. Many of us have the luxury of calling for an end to torture, without ever having experienced it. These individuals were tortured - and many were forced to torture others - under control of governments, dictators, and brutal thugs. They are the reason this work continues.