... BUT NOT ALL AMERICANS FEEL THAT WAY ABOUT IT
As we know all too well, prejudice, hatred and fear all too often define who we are and what becomes of us when we lose our God-given humanity. A recent Pew survey only affirms this: It shows that in the United States the more people go to church, the more likely they are to support torture.
As the recent presidential election showed all too clearly, after 9/11 many people in this country have a deep suspicion, fear and even hatred of Muslims and Islam.
When we hate, we turn those hated into "the other." The religious "other" even more so. This gives us permission -- we think -- to declare "war" on "them." Some of our political leaders have encouraged us to demonize "the other" and thus give us unholy permission -- we think --to act inhumanely, and even inhumanly.
More and more irrefutable evidence shows that we have tortured people. Torture is forbidden by both United States law and the Geneva Convention, of which the U.S. became a signatory in 1949:
Persons taking no active part in the hostilities ... shall in all circumstances be treated humanely ... To this end the following acts are and shall remain prohibited at any time and in any place whatsoever: ... (a) Violence to life and person, in particular murder of all kinds, mutilation, cruel treatment and torture ... (c) Outrages upon personal dignity, in particular, humiliating and degrading treatment.
There can be no doubt that we, to our shame, have committed (a) and (c).
And now our political leaders dither on the definition of torture and whether in fact we have tortured (we have), and they wring their hands over what to do about it.
To President Obama's immense credit, he has acknowledged that waterboarding is torture and has repeatedly reaffirmed that the United States will no longer torture people. As a priest and pastor, and as a person of faith, though, I was profoundly disappointed with the president at his recent press conference.
He, once again, missed the main moral point, as have most politicians, commentators and pundits. When the president said that there were better ways to get information, I cringed; my soul shrank back. No, Mr. President, that's not the point. Here is the moral point: Torture is wrong. Torture is immoral. Torture is a sin.
Why? Because the person tortured, like you and me, like Saddam Hussein, like Osama bin Laden, is made in the image and likeness of God (Genesis 1:26). We don't need vast theological tomes to understand that.
Please, Mr. President, don't talk about tactics, don't give us platitudes about "American values." Say it: Torture is wrong. Torture is immoral.
How can a Christian, any Christian, sanctify torture? Sadly, when fear or nationalism or vengeance, or all of them together, along with blind obedience to authority -- political or ecclesiastical -- overwrite, erase, obliterate, annihilate the gospel message of love.
I don't say this to condemn anyone -- those who authorized and those who performed torture need repentance, absolution and forgiveness. As a priest of the Church, as a human being, I call them to repent. I also ask those who support torture to repent.
How very thin and fragile the membrane, the protection, between who we think we are as Christians and what we actually do. Because of fear or vengeance, or in the name of nationalism, we throw away who we are as human beings made in the image and likeness of God.
Some will quote the Bible, "An eye for an eye" (Exodus 21:24). The historical and social context there, however, within a tribal society, was precisely to limit retaliation.
But an eye for an eye, even if a limitation, no longer works. Mahatma Gandhi said, "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."
This Easter season reminds us that we, with God's help, have the power to restore sight to the blind.
With God's help, we have the power even to restore our own blindness.
Let us start now.
Tim Vivian is vicar of Grace Episcopal Church and an assistant professor of religious studies at CSUB.
