Torture and Hypocrisy

UPDATE BELOW
UPDATE II--July 26, 2009

The unlikely and incestuous relationship between the extreme right in American politics and fundamentalist/evangelical “Christianity” has been evident for several decades now. This alliance has led to full-throttled support by the “religious right” of political ideologies such as the favoring of CEOs and mega-corporations over the individual; plundering our air, water, and land for profit; cutting aid to the poor and the most vulnerable in our society; rampant colonialism, etc. This unholy marriage reached its peak during the Bush Jr. years. No matter how many times Dubya stood in front of the nation telling bald-faced lies; no matter how many times he negated legitimately drafted and ratified legislation with signing statements; no matter how egregiously he broke laws, violating the most basic civil rights; no matter how many soldiers died; no matter how many men, women, and children were killed by our bullets and bombs; no matter how often or how overtly he unilaterally set aside the Constitution; church-goers across the nation unblinkingly supported him—even going so far as to say he was doing “God’s work.”

A recent poll conducted by the Pew Research Center’s Forum on Religion and Family Life confirmed what most of us already suspected: the “religious right” is full of charlatans and hypocrites. A large percentage (62%) of those who identify as white, evangelical Protestants believe torture is either “sometimes” or “often” justifiable. How someone who purports to be “Christian” can espouse that belief is completely beyond my comprehension.

Luke 6:31
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

1 John 2:4
The man who says, "I know him," but does not do what he commands is a liar, and the truth is not in him.

Matthew 5:39b
If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.

Matthew 5
Now when he saw the crowds, he went up on a mountainside and sat down. His disciples came to him, and he began to teach them saying:

"Blessed are the poor in spirit,for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.
Blessed are those who mourn,for they will be comforted.
Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,for they will be filled.
Blessed are the merciful,for they will be shown mercy.
Blessed are the pure in heart,for they will see God.
Blessed are the peacemakers,for they will be called sons of God.
Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

I seem to miss the part where Jesus said, “Blessed are the torturers.”

Prisoners, many of whom the government knew to be innocent, have been punched, kicked, and pummeled; had their bodies and heads slammed repeatedly against walls; been kept awake for days, even weeks, at a time; had their genitals sliced; been hung by their arms for prolonged periods; been electrocuted; been sexually molested and sodomized; endured forced nudity, humiliation, and degradation; been kept in cramped boxes, been made to experience near-drowning—one detainee an astounding 183 times; etc.

Read some of these descriptions of the “enhanced interrogation techniques” employed by our government:

. . . One detainee . . . alleged that: “I was punched and slapped in the face and on the back to the extent that I was bleeding. While having a rope around my neck and being tied to a pillar my head was banged against the pillar repeatedly.”
International Committee of the Red Cross

Another,

“I would be placed against a wall and subjected to punches and slaps in the body, head and face.”
International Committee of the Red Cross

These torture methods are identical to—in fact, were patterned after—those which have been used by despotic regimes against American soldiers. Those regimes without exception have been roundly condemned, tried, and prosecuted for these war crimes.

Dozens (we may never know how many more) of those tortured in our name have died—that is, have been murdered.

The killings, at least some of them, have hardly been kept secret. As early as May-June 2003, The New York Times and Washington Post reported on deaths of detainees in Afghanistan. Two detainees at Bagram air base died after extensive beatings by U.S. troops in December 2002—a case reported by The New York Times and that was also the subject of the Oscar-winning documentary Taxi to the Dark Side. Another death involved a man beaten to death by a CIA contractor at a base in Asadabad, in eastern Afghanistan, in June 2003.

In September 2004, the Crimes of War Project, working with investigative journalist Craig Pyes, uncovered a torture murder in Gardez, Afghanistan, in March 2003. Jamal Naseer, a soldier in the Afghan Army, died after he and seven other soldiers were mistakenly arrested. Those arrested with Naseer later said that during interrogations U.S. personnel punched and kicked them, hung them upside down, and hit them with sticks or cables. Some said they were doused with cold water and forced to lie in the snow. Nasser collapsed about two weeks after the arrest, complaining of stomach pain, probably an internal hemorrhage.
John Sifton, The Daily Beast

Anyone who still thinks torture has a place in civilized society needs to look at these photos and imagine the subjects are your sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, or parents.

Show me a Christian who supports torture, and I’ll show you a liar, an imposter, and a hypocrite!

UPDATE
This disgusting account by Jeremy Scahill of ongoing (and allegedly escalating) abuses by U.S. personnel should be required reading for every U.S. citizen. Everyone who has done this in our names--from the IRF goons to the guards and "medical" personnel who watched to Bush, Cheney, Rumsfield, Rice, Yoo, Bybee, Addington, and Gonzales, to the members of the "news" media who have withheld information or openly cheered on these demented and depraved actions, and now to Holder and Obama and all their c0-conspirators in Congress--should be tried and locked away for life.