Linking torture with Jesus' message is a tragedy

Battle Creek Enquirer | January 26 2006
By Rev. Joy Rogers

"Who would Jesus torture?"

That's the provocative lead sentence in an essay by David Batstone in Jim Wallis' Sojourners magazine.

The question has haunted me throughout the Congressional debate on the matter. The question unsettles me when I hear that three out of four people who responded to a survey in this newspaper say that torture is an acceptable practice in certain situations.

And I realize that there is more at stake than my religious convictions in this controversy.

There is my understanding of myself as an American and a fervent belief that even in the ugliest of wars, and notwithstanding the bad behaviors of a few, we are a people who claim to be humane and ethical in our treatment of prisoners and civilians in a war zone.

My favorite uncle spent three years in a POW camp during the Korean conflict. He will, on the rare occasion, speak of how the American prisoners were treated.

I am sure he is not sharing the worst of the experience, but I always trusted the American ideal that calls us to something better in the treatment of enemy prisoners.

And there is a poignant truth in the observation of U.S. Sen. John McCain, who suffered imprisonment and torture by his captors in Vietnam. "But it's not about them; it's about us. This battle we're in is about the things we stand for and believe in and practice. And that is an observance of human rights, no matter how terrible our adversaries may be."

This issue also strikes me as illogical and irrational in its premises. McCain reminds colleagues and citizens that information gained by torture must never be trusted.

At last I come to convictions born of faith and grounded in the gospel. The words and actions, the life and death of Jesus Christ all proclaim an unequivocal allegiance to nonviolence in the resisting and overcoming of evil.

However anyone cares to justify or excuse torture as a viable practice in defense of the nation, it cannot be characterized as a Christian justification. The use of torture depends on dehumanizing the enemy and results in a diminished humanity on the part of those who do it and those who condone it.

We become what we profess to despise. St. Paul showed us how to make a Christ-like witness in a violent and non-Christian world.

"Do not repay anyone evil for evil, but take thought for what is noble in the sight of all ... Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:17, 21)

There is nothing in the teachings or witness of Jesus that tells us that violence is a saving act that might make right or that war brings peace. Jesus rebukes disciples who threaten vengeance on opponents; he forbids his followers to use their weapons to intervene in his arrest.

You have heard that it was said, "You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy. But I say to you, love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be children of your father in heaven."

Jesus refused to lead his people in a war against the Roman oppressor or to defend his cause by violent means.

He absorbed the violence of his world on a cross and showed us that the power of love and the power of God are far greater than any power of hate or death. That is the truth that is the heart of Christian faith.

The Christian does not need to be naïve about the power of evil. Only convicted of the message of Jesus. And always aware of how our own fears and confusions and pain and anger can provoke us to acts that deny the Lord of life, to actions that diminish our very humanity, and to hatreds that betray the meaning of the gospel.

The writer of the Sojourners essay states that "No just cause can be won if it relies on torture to succeed. Democracy and freedom cannot result from a war fueled by torture."

There are many who would claim that ours is a Christian nation, and much of the world might agree.

To link the practice of torture to the message and mission of Jesus is a tragic error.

Christians of good faith disagree about much. But there is no gospel warrant that justifies the abuse of anyone created in the image of God.

Last modified January 26, 2006