Religious Leaders Condemn Torture as Pentagon Releases New Info on Abuses
Included was a previously unreleased, heavily edited 20-month-old report by Brigadier Army General Richard Formica detailing 2004 abuse by US Special Operations Forces in Iraq.
Per the New York Times, "One prisoner was fed only bread and water for 17 days. Other detainees were locked for as many as seven days in cells so small that they could neither stand nor lie down, while interrogators played loud music that disrupted their sleep. The inquiry also determined that some detainees were stripped naked, drenched with water and then interrogated in air-conditioned rooms or in cold weather." Read more of the Times article here.
In response to Bush Administration support of abusive techniques on prisoners and overt resistance to bans on torture, 27 respected US religious leaders of various faiths and denominations issued a statement last week stating that "Torture violates the basic dignity of the human person that all religions hold dear... It contradicts our nation's most cherished ideals. Any policies that permit torture and inhumane treatment are shocking and morally intolerable."
Signers of "Torture Is A Moral Issue" include megachurch pastor and best-selling author Rick Warren, Nobel laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, Catholic Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick, Ted Haggard, president of the National Association of Evangelicals and Archbishop Demetrios, primate of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America. The statement is also supported by the National Council of Churches which represents 45 million persons.
You can read the entire statement and related background at US Religious Leaders Condemn Torture by the Bush Administration.
I pray that the Bush Administration will listen to this hearfelt plea of morality from a bipartisan cross-section of the religious community.
Related ReadingPentagon Study Describes Abuse by Units in Iraq , New York Times, June 17, 2006
Religious Leaders Urge US to Ban Torture, Washington Post, June 13, 2006
Comments
I don’t see Jerry Falwell or Pat Robertson’s name on there. Where’s Joyce Meyer’s, getting a rhinoplasty somewhere?
It’s great to see Rick Warren side with humanitarians rather than militant Christian fundamentalists.
He was obviously influenced by the great originator of logotherapy and nazi concentration camp survivor, Victor Frankl. The main tenet of Frankl’s thought was finding meaning (purpose) in life. Unfortunately, he has a narrow application of Frankl’s thinking. Interesting how fundamentalist distort even the greatest of philosophies. Look what they’ve done to Christianity, Judaism and Islam.