Action Alert: Torture is a Moral Issue Outreach
TORTURE IS A MORAL ISSUE
Dear Friends,
Because of your good work, our joint efforts to end U.S.-sponsored torture grew dramatically in 2007. Almost 20,000 people of faith have endorsed our "Torture is a Moral Issue" Statement of Conscience. Thousands of individuals have taken action -- voicing support for legislation in Congress to ban torture and raising awareness among communities of faith in all 50 states,
But U.S.-sponsored torture persists. We need to increase the number of people of faith working to end torture. We are asking for your help.
Can you ask your friends and members of your faith group to watch our "Torture Is a Moral Issue" video and to endorse the "Torture Is a Moral Issue" statement? We've drafted the email message below that you can send to the email lists to which you have access. Or you can write your own!
Everyone who endorses the statement will receive important email updates and alerts, giving them the tools to take action in our common efforts to end torture.
Our "Torture is a Moral Issue" video features Christian, Jewish and Muslim leaders challenging the reality of U.S.-sponsored torture. If you haven't had a chance to watch it yet, then click here.
Can you send the email below to your friends and members of your faith group?
We can end U.S.-sponsored torture. But we must increase our numbers. We must amplify our voice in faith communities across the country so that no member of Congress, the Administration or the media can ignore our message: Torture is a moral issue.
Thank you for all you do to end U.S.-sponsored torture. Please let us know if there is anything more we can do to support your work.
Linda Gustitus, President, National Religious Campaign Against Torture
Rich Killmer, Executive Director, NRCAT
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Dear Friends,
Click here to watch the NRCAT video and to sign "Torture is a Moral Issue"
It's an ongoing pattern that doesn't seem to end.
I was shocked when I saw the photos of the abuses at Abu Ghraib. I was disturbed when I learned that our government uses "enhanced interrogation techniques" and has a program to capture people and send them to countries known to practice torture. This past summer, President Bush issued an Executive Order allowing the CIA to continue to use undefined and undisclosed interrogation methods.
In the fall, Attorney General Michael Mukasey said he wasn't sure whether waterboarding is torture. Some Presidential candidates have said the same. Last month, I learned that the CIA defied a judge's order and destroyed hundreds of hours of interrogation videos, including some that involved waterboarding. And U.S.-sponsored torture persists.
You can help end U.S.-sponsored torture. Join the growing effort by people of faith in the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) who are sending the message loud and clear to Congress, the Administration, the media and the American people: Torture is a moral issue.
Can you sign the "Torture Is a Moral Issue" statement?
Watch the NRCAT video, then read and sign the statement against torture. The statement is also printed below.
Almost 20,000 people of faith have already signed NRCAT's "Torture is a Moral Issue" Statement of Conscience. After signing the statement, along with thousands of others, you will begin to receive important email updates and alerts, giving you the tools to take action in our movement to end torture.
NRCAT was formed to stop U.S.-sponsored torture. It's a coalition of over 140 religious organizations, representing Catholics, evangelical Christians, Orthodox Christians, Protestants, Jews, Quakers, Muslims, Unitarian-Universalists, and Sikhs.
I support NRCAT because, as a person of faith, I cannot remain silent while our government ignores our most fundamental values.
People of faith can end U.S.-sponsored torture. But we must amplify our voice so that no member of Congress, the Administration or the media can ignore our message: Torture is a moral issue.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
(Your name here)
TORTURE IS A MORAL ISSUE
The National Religious Campaign Against Torture Statement of Conscience
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 values. 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.
You have received this message because you endorsed the "Torture is a Moral Issue" statement of the National Religious Campaign Against Torture OR you signed up to receive more information from NRCAT.
If you no longer wish to receive emails from us, please click here to unsubscribe from this mailing list.
Questions? Please email campaign@nrcat.org
National Religious Campaign Against Torture: www.tortureisamoralissue.org - New Web Address
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blog + torture should find some discussion
Bill, you can poke through your Googled list and probably find several good conservative blogs with discussions. The real shame is that I go make comments all over the place and can't remember the names of the conservative blogs I've made comments at. I don't know how much the readership would have to be for there to be 15-30 commenters making a good discussion out of commenting.
I'm not sure I want to hear the justification for torture and how that works with our religious tradition, or even why making an exception to what Jesus taught us is A Good Thing.
That is a wonderful answer by MJ (Mike, right?), please stick around and continue to inspire and encourage me to keep my brain cells from getting so dusty. Welcome to here!
misplaced comment
oops, see "Compromised leadership", a reply to MJ Burr's "Torture"
couldn't have said it any better, MJ
MJ, Thanks for this contribution to the discussion MJ. You are right in saying we must lift our voices agains this great scourage and affirm the Geneva conventions. I hope you continue to comment, blog, etc.
Torture
Torture violates the basic dignity of every human being which all our faith traditions hold dear. Torture degrades everyone involved - policy-makers, perpetrators, victims, and those who stand silently by allowing it to happen. Torture contradicts our nation's most cherished ideals and undermines the quest for justice. Any policies that permit torture and inhumane treatment are shocking and morally intolerable. Nothing less than the soul of our nation is at stake in this issue.
It is imperative that our political leaders take an uncompromising stand against these abuses of the human spirit and body. It is imperative that we affirm the 1980 decision of the US Court of Appeals which declared, “The torturer has become like the pirate and slave trader before him hostis humani generis, an enemy of all mankind.”
This is not an issue of politics that we can talk our way around. We all know that any act by which severe pain or suffering, whether physical or mental, is intentionally inflicted on a person is torture. Water boarding has deservedly received much attention of late, but we also recognize that the modern technologies utilizing pharmaceuticals, sensory deprivation, and the like are capable of deconstructing the human psyche much more effectively than physical torture. When we say that we oppose torture, we mean any intentional abuse of human beings in our custody, we mean to oppose hiring others to do the torture for us, and we mean to make it a matter of public policy that utilization of torture is unalterably opposed anywhere and everywhere.
We must urge our parishioners to make their voices heard loudly as we also urge our political representatives to take strong and vocal stands in this regard. We must specifically urge our representatives to reaffirm their endorsement of the Geneva conventions against torture and to pass legislation that makes it a violation of US law to utilize torture, to employ
Compromised leadership
New laws will have to cover the CIA explicitly, as it is held to be exempt from international conventions and from current US laws on torture
Attorney General Mukasey is holding firm on refusing to see waterboarding as torture even though he's had plenty of time to examine the practice in detail since his confirmation. It seems that his comments about not wanting to cause CIA agents to be charged with crimes reflect his true goals: to protect torturers.
The senior senator from my state, Chuck Schumer, was played for a sucker by Mukasey. Schumer's main rationale for voting for Mukasey in the Judiciary Committee and on the Senate floor was that "only a strong and independent attorney general can return the Justice Department to what it once was and should always be." But now Mukasey says there have been no problems in the Department of Justice: "Asked if he had found signs of turmoil, Mr. Mukasey said, 'Based on what I’ve seen, no.' Asked if reports of turmoil were a fabrication by news organizations, he replied with a wry smile and a hint of sarcasm, 'I wouldn’t dream of suggesting that.'"
So much for Schumer.
The sad thing is that if all the Democrats who either voted for Mukasey (6) or were absent (4 presidential candidates) had voted against him, and the three absent Republicans had voted for him, it would have been a 50-50 tie which Cheney would have broken in Mukasey's favor. The key senator would have been Lieberman, the defecting "Independent", who voted, naturally, for confirmation.
So, a few Democrats were snookered but every Republican was on board for torture. Putting pressure on the compromised Democrats might be successful -- but what about the candidates? They don't show a lot of courage, although the arguments against torture should be easy to sustain, both morally and pragmatically. And where are the conservatives who will try to press their Republican legislators?
Jim was asking about conservative sites where he can address "Conservative Faith-based Voters" with his blog comments. What about the torture issue? Where would there be an equivalent CrossRight where we can engage our fellow Christians on torture?
Bill
Conservative Blog
Evangelical Outpost is one of the best conservative, politically aware, evangelical website you will find. It is widely read as I have seen it referenced on Foxnews. The author, Joe Carter, has been hired by the Huck campaign but he is still posting regularly on the site. A quick search of his archives turned up this post about the shameful silence of the Christian right on torture, specifically water boarding. As you will see from the comments, not everyone claiming to be a Christian agrees with him.
http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/archives/004068.html
At this moment, I am ashamed to be part of the Religious Right because most of them are most assuredly wrong on this issue. Water boarding should be classified as torture and should not be used by this country at all. Joe Carter has it right on this issue - and so does the Left.
Ben
thanks Ben
I think your open mindedness to working across political perspectives on issues of common interest is really noble. I think you are correct...torture is something that Christians should be able to get together on and make progress. Given the torture of Jesus and many folks in his name, this is something that we feel deeply about.