Against Torture

I think it’s as simple as that. I’m against it.

Energion author Bob Cornwall writes about it, and I agree.

I saw one question that disturbed me, not in that I don’t know how to respond, but in what else it may suggest. The question is whether I’d support torture if an individual knew where a kidnapped loved one was held and wouldn’t reveal that location.

Here’s my response. I’m a weak man who loves my family. It is quite likely that I would advocate all kinds of stupid and/or immoral things if a member of my family were kidnapped. That’s why we don’t have people under those circumstances making the rules. I might advocate this out of weakness, but in the end, I would not want to become the bad guy myself. As Christians, I would think we would understand this approach. I am happy that we have laws to direct how we behave in such situations so that the decision is not made in the emotion of the moment.

I can make many utilitarian arguments against torture, but I think the moral argument supersedes all. This is not the type of people we want to be. It is sad that we have compromised ourselves so much for so little gain, but that is not the reason it’s wrong. That just makes a moral wrong more tragic.