Today over 100 people have gathered in NE Portland to attend the Interfaith Forum on Ethics of Torture and Human Rights, an event sponsored in part of Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon.
As background, it should be noted that many Oregon religious leaders - myself included - went on record this year in a letter to U.S. Senator Gordon Smith opposing torture.
We are Oregon religious leaders representing many faiths, denominations, and regions here in the state of Oregon. We write to express our moral opposition to the use of torture as a method of interrogation by any agency of the U.S. Government, and to ask you to strongly support a provision of the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008 that applies the interrogation standards of the Army Field Manual to all agencies of the U.S. Government.
Torture is universally condemned by people of faith and conscience as contrary to our most deeply held values. For Christians, opposition is based, in the words of the National Council of Churches “on our fundamental belief in the dignity of the human person created in the image of God and in the rights accorded to all persons by virtue of their humanity.”
This view is also expressed by the National Association of Evangelicals, which has endorsed An Evangelical Declaration Against Torture. This Declaration is grounded in a Christian view of the sanctity of life, and in a commitment to human rights which finds expression in Christian sources dating to long before the Enlightenment. This statement reads in part:
Human rights, which function to protect human dignity and the sanctity of life, cannot be cancelled and should not be overridden. Recognition of human rights creates obligations to act on behalf of others whose rights are being violated. Human rights place a shield around people who otherwise would find themselves at the mercy of those who are angry, aggrieved, or frightened… Among the most significant human rights is the right to security of person, which includes the right not to be tortured.
The Jewish Tradition also strongly condemns torture, and this has been expressed recently when 600 North American Rabbis signed the Rabbinic Letter Against Torture. This letter states that:
We understand that the most fundamental ethical principle, which results from our belief in God as Creator of the world and Parent of all humanity, is that every human being is seen as reflecting the Image of God. Torture shatters and defiles God's Image. 1 The purpose of torture is to remove a person's pride, humiliate that person, or make his or her life so painful that the person does or says whatever the interrogator wants. Torture 'works' by attempting to deprive a human being of will, spirit, and personal dignity. The humanity of the perpetrators, as well as the victims, is inevitably compromised by the use of torture. Jewish tradition calls for humane treatment even of one's adversaries.
Strong statements opposing any use of torture by the US government have also been issued by The Rabbinical Assembly (of Conservative Rabbis), the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, the Union for Reform Judaism and the Jewish Council on Public Affairs.
The teachings of Islam are also quite powerful, “Oh you who believe! Stand forth for Allah witnessing with justice. And do not let hatred of a people sway you into injustice, but adhere always to justice. That is true piety.” (Qur’an, 5:8) The spirit of this Qur’anic decree calls for an end to torture and for the universal guarantee of humane treatment and due process for all prisoners. For Muslims the use of torture under any circumstances is abhorrent. Such means can never serve the ends of justice and peace.
There are of course other, more pragmatic arguments against the use of torture. The most important of these, is that the U.S. must set a standard of international behavior regarding the use of torture. How can we complain when other nations use torture against our soldiers if we continue to practice torture ourselves?
But ultimately, we believe that this is a moral issue that cannot be compromised regardless of the weight of the pragmatic arguments. We support the Statement of Conscience issued by the National Religious Campaign Against Torture:
Torture violates the basic dignity of the human person that all religions, in their highest ideals, hold dear. It degrades everyone involved -- policy-makers, perpetrators and victims. It contradicts our nation's most cherished ideals. Any policies that permit torture and inhumane treatment are shocking and morally intolerable. 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.
We ask you, Senator Smith, to act strongly in support of policies that clarify once and for all that no agency of the United States may ever use torture, by supporting the application of the US Army Field Manual interrogation standards to all agencies of the US government, including the CIA, and to all sub-contractors of US government agencies.
The first speaker this morning is Dr. Richard Amesbury, Associate Professor of Ethics; Associate Professor of Religion, Claremont Graduate University. He is the author of the new book Faith and Human Rights: Christianity and the Global Struggle for Human Dignity (Fortress, 2008).
