Re: [asa] Torture

Interestingly, the question of torture is rarely thought of from the
perspective of the terrorist.

Reframing Burgy's hypothetical from the perspective of one complicit in
the sort of bombing attempts in question (and, yes, the rhetoric IS
overblown!);

The American imperialists have you tied up in their jail cell. They may
use torture to get you to reveal the whereabouts of the bomb in only one
hour which will strike a glorious blow at the very heart of their
corrupt society and its oppressive colonialist tyranny.

Do you:

A) Spill the whereabouts of the bomb - thus negating your deepest
principles of liberty and freedom.

B) Endure a mere one hour of torture knowing that your pain will further
the cause to which you have dedicated your life, and to which you
already consider yourself a martyr.

C) Lie in order to both end the torture AND to stall for time in order
to ensure the success of the attack (you know, after all, that once the
bomb has exploded the weak Americans will abandon their tactic of
desperation).

The primary point being that our "subject" might be just as motivated in
the pursuit of his/her cause as the torturers are in the pursuit of theirs.

I think perhaps we fail to consider this because of the rather bilious
caricatures we have created in which terrorists are portrayed as weak
and cowardly, motivated purely by hatred rather than any positive
agenda. We expect that torture MUST work when used upon persons of such
low moral fiber - after all, Hollywood says that only the good guy can
endure pain, and only in pursuit of a noble cause.

Blessings,
Murray Hogg
Pastor, East Camberwell Baptist Church, Victoria, Australia
Post-Grad Student (MTh), Australian College of Theology

j burg wrote:
> I have you tied up in my jail cell. I am 99% sure you know where the
> bomb is that will blow up St. Louis in the next hour. I see no
> alternative but to get this information out of you by any means
> possible. Do I still rule out torture?
>
> What would Jesus do? Billy Graham? Your kindly grandmother? Your
> favored presidential candidate?
>
> What if the city were Mecca? Do the answers change?
>
> Burgy
>
>
>

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Received on Sat Aug 2 17:12:27 2008