Friends, this is nothing more than my opinion. It is certainly not my intention to offend anyone. It is simply my opinion, based on what I have been taught, what I have observed and what I believe to be right and true. It might not be the most popular opinion, and I am accustomed to that, but it is what I believe. This may be hard to put into words, and it may be even harder to understand but, it is not and never can be OK, or even excusable for the US to have tortured anyone. And, it doesnt matter what pretty little euphemisms we use to hide it, i.e. “Enhanced interrogation”, it’s still a violation of the Geneva Convention, basic human rights, ethical treatment of real people, and what we have always stood for as a nation… Believe me, I understand the outrage, I understand the anger, and I understand the (all too human) need for revenge. Yes, innocent people died on 911. Yes it was an act of war; yes they have killed Americans, yes to everything you might say to justify it. But there is no justification, Simply because of who we are. If we claim to be world leaders, then are we not elevating ourselves to a position where we should do everything in our power to ensure adherence to ALL laws. Not just our own, but international and spiritual as well. Does it even matter what anyone else does? Not too long ago, we were outraged to learn of the mistreatment of American soldiers in Viet Nam… at one point we assisted with the arrest and prosecution of “war criminals” after WW2…How about our disgust at the treatment of innocent people in third world nations, who are being killed, tortured, persecuted etc.? We are (supposedly) a Christian nation. I think it’s amazing how this gets thrown around when we want to make moral choices for other people. But, when it comes to the most important aspect of Christ like living we are as barbaric as any nation in the world. Forgiveness is the main tenant of Christ. When he said “turn the other cheek” he meant in EVERY situation! He meant even when someone has caused you a deep, DEEP, seemingly unforgivable hurt. He meant even when your enemies are still at the gate. When he taught “do unto others, as you would have them do unto you”, he meant treat people with kindness and forgiveness because it’s the right thing to do. And these are not just “Christian” beliefs; Love, peace and forgiveness towards your enemies are part of every religion, every philosophy, and every conversation throughout history. If only it could be moved from conversation to practice. This is not who we are. This is not American, or Christian, or even basic human behavior. It is, precisely what we hate about our enemies. It really doesn’t matter what “they’ve done” to us, we should rise above this. Because if not…we are the same as them. As it were, we are (with our actions) telling the world that we are above the very laws that we claim to enforce. We are saying you can’t do this because we are bigger than you. We are being bullies. We are being, in my opinion, supremely hypocritical. peace, jim
Posted on: Wed, 17 Dec 2014 19:23:33 +0000
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