Themes

• Amazing Grace Autumn Concept BlueBlack Falling Leaves Island After Sunset Platinum Vidiyal

Tags

barack_obama beauty climate_change death_penalty earth faith follow_jesus forgiveness god grace human_dignity human_rights humility interrogation iraq jesus justice love movie nuclear_weapons peace politics poverty revenge rule_of_law stoney terrorism torture united_church_of_christ war

• Recently Written

  • going to new orleans
  • nrdc update: 37 wolves killed
  • i applaud jimmy carter
  • here!
  • justice stevens disavows the death penalty
  • disconnected faith?
  • more on jeremiah wright
  • on earth as it is in heaven
  • ucc runs an ad
  • putting the wolf in danger

• Recent Comments

  • Tim: James Wall expresses similar sentiments in an editorial piece in The Christian Century: Carter’s Middle...
  • John Gibson: I find it very interesting while checking out this blog that the dealth of wolves be mentioned but...
  • San: It’s nice to see a strong poem featured here, one that is laden with meaning in an open-ended, mysterious...
  • Tim: David: I trust the Lord will treat you with considerably more charity and grace than you have treated his...
  • David F., Evanston IN: From http://www.ucctruths.com Jeremiah Wright for UCC President Wednesday, April 30, 2008...
  • Carol Graffius: The greatest warrior that ever lived in my eyes and in the eyes of the Lakotas was Crazy Horse....
  • Tim: They should have been mailed an invitation, Erika. We’d love to have them join us! So by all means,...
  • Erika Elizabeth: I was wondering if Jubilee Methodist on the Eastside was invited to partake in Cool Congregations? I...

• Admin

  • Register
  • Log in
  • Wordpress
  • XHTML

Subscribe

jimmy carter speaks out on torture

Posted on March 10, 2008 | Filed Under torture 

President Jimmy Carter urges an unambiguous prohibition against the practice of torture.

Until recent years the United States has been in the forefront of condemning torture and indefinite detention without trial as fundamental violations of human rights. The Geneva Conventions are held as the unquestioned standard for the treatment of prisoners of war. I would not have believed that in my lifetime I would feel the need to call for an unambiguous prohibition against the practice of torture by agents of the U.S. government.

A burgeoning global human rights movement was, slowly but surely, taking root by the end of the …

torture is not a partisan issue

Posted on November 6, 2007 | Filed Under politics, torture 

Torture is not a partisan issue. It is an issue of conscience. It’s not about citing extreme circumstances, but about applying a universal standard of human ethics. It’s not about finding ways to win the war on terrorism, but about not losing our souls in the process.

Torture is not a partisan issue. Consider the comments of Lindsey Graham, Republican senator from South Carolina, during the confirmation hearing for Michael Mukasey:

If we allow our executive in certain rare circumstances to use techniques like waterboarding, then what do we say when a downed airman is in the hands of another enemy in …

mary pipher takes a stand

Posted on August 29, 2007 | Filed Under torture 

Dr. Mary Pipher, a prominent psychologist and author, recently returned a Presidential Citation award she had received from the American Psychological Association, in protest over the Association’s endorsement of its members’ participation in CIA interrogations.

Her gesture makes a symbolic and largely personal statement against the increasing tolerance by this nation’s leaders of “enhanced interrogation techniques” — i.e. torture — but it is nevertheless a courageous and honorable act, an act which gains her nothing, but reflects a deep integrity and an unwillingness to look the other way or to wait for somebody else to speak up.

Here is the text of …

moral outrage

Posted on May 30, 2007 | Filed Under torture 

May 28 headline: ‘Tortured’ prisoners freed from Iraq hideout

US and Iraqi forces freed 42 Iraqis – some of whom had been held and tortured for months – in a raid on an al-Qaida prison in Iraq, the US military said … US officials said the hostages were kept in a small, concrete and mud compound and were forced to sleep on dirty linens in cramped rooms … Some of the men held hostage had been hung from the ceiling and tortured. Some suffered broken bones. Some had been captive for as long as four months.

Human beings mistreated, abused, tortured, …

general petraeus’ letter to the troops

Posted on May 12, 2007 | Filed Under terrorism, torture, war 

It is good, very good, to hear General Petraeus talk about dignity, respect, and integrity, values, law, and doing what is right. It is good to hear him take an unequivocal stand against torture, both because it is wrong and because it serves no useful purpose. It is good to hear him emphasize the first reason, stating clearly that war is not just about doing what works, not just about gaining the upper hand by whatever means necessary, but about doing the right thing the right way.

We need voices like his in leadership, in the military and in government. The …

disheartened, but not surprised

Posted on May 4, 2007 | Filed Under torture, war 

Many Troops Say Torture OK is the title of an article posted at Military.com. The article discusses a report released today by the Army Medical Department detailing the results of a study of American service personnel in Iraq.

Among the findings of the report:

More than a third of those surveyed believe torture should be permitted if it could save the life of a fellow soldier or Marine.
Ten percent of the soldiers and Marines in the survey admitted they had mistreated civilians or damaged property “when it was not necessary.”
Only a third of Marines and roughly half of soldiers …

sadly, this is who we have become

Posted on April 25, 2007 | Filed Under torture 

Watch the trailer for a new film documentary, Taxi to the Darkside, chronicling the fundamental shift in our government’s attitude toward and acceptance of what are euphemistically called “alternative interrogation techniques,” or more plainly called, torture.

And here is another trailer for an HBO documentary investigating the abuse of detainees at Abu Graib.

keep looking »

Comments