The torture issue won’t go away. Not even the massive distraction of swine flu could keep the torture issue from staying out of focus for long. And that is a good thing. It shows the public is appalled at the actions taken in their name. Inevitably, politicians will use this issue for their own gain, but that will always be true of any situation or hot-button issue. But like I have said before, discussing torture/enhanced interrogation is moot. The damage has already been done.
Matthew Alexander, author of How to Break a Terrorist, and Thomas Hegghammer argue the same point.
Alexander’s post on Huffington Post can be read here. Here is a quote:
Anyone who served in Iraq, and veterans on both sides of the aisle have made this argument, knows that the foreign fighters did not come to Iraq en masse until after the revelations of torture and abuse at Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay.
Hegghammer’s post on Foreign Policy’s website can be read here. Here is a quote:
Pictures from Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib have been among al Qaeda’s most widely used and most potent recruitment tools in the post-9/11 era. Since early 2002, not a day has passed without Guantánamo being mentioned somewhere on the jihadi Internet. Outrage over Abu Ghraib was the single most important motivation for foreign jihadists going to Iraq in 2004 and 2005.
But America elected Obama, the champion against torture and wrongful detention at shadowy centers, and that should fix everything, right?
No. As much as people want to think we have fixed the problem with a simple vote, the shock-waves from the behavior by America’s military and intelligence services (both volunteer and contracted) will be felt for a long, long time. Turn the tables and ask yourself if you would forget knowing your countrymen/family members/ friends/etc. were waterboarded? This becomes a very serious issue when considering America’s propensity to invade Islamic nations. While we might have been able to counter the propaganda machine of the (insert-your-favorite-terrorist-group-here) by saying our new president has stopped such practices, that option is quickly fading thanks to the political blame game taking place in Washington.
The Republican Party says that by releasing the torture memos, Obama has put America in greater danger. But Cheney, who is trying to find a book deal, exposed the fact that Obama is still holding the torture card as an option, which puts American in even more danger.
What?!? I thought Obama was the champion of stopping torture and wrongful detention?!?
Yeah, like any president is going to willingly give up any power, legal or not. The Daily Kos has done an excellent job in tracking Obama’s deflection of whether or not he would use ‘enhanced interrogation in this post. Here is a clip (courtesy of Talking Points Memo) of David Axlerod not giving a straight answer:
So where does this leave the Church in America, the guardian of “love your neighbor as yourself?” Showing the fault lines of countless political divisions.
- Consider the staunch Evangelical support of the Republican Party and the belief of “Deus vult!”
- Or Emergent’s love affair with breaking from all things modern and supporting Obama, starting with Donald Miller’s prayer at the DNC.
Miller references John 17 and the idea of unity, but with a political air. And therein lies the problem. Christians are constantly duped into partisan political divides which is exactly what Jesus prayed against in John 17:20-22:
I am praying not only for these disciples but also for all who will ever believe in me through their message. I pray that they will all be one, just as you and I are one—as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me. I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. I am in them and you are in me. May they experience such perfect unity that the world will know that you sent me and that you love them as much as you love me.
Well, the main Christo-political factions can say they are unified about one thing; the abuses carried out under the Bush administration have the potential to be carried out under the Obama administration.
-mike
May 27, 2009 at 1:22 am
I absolutely love yall’s blog. Its refreshing to find other Christian Anarchists/Subversives out there. Keep up the good work in both your lives and writings. It is a pleasure and blessing to get to read the great thoughts posted here and weigh them against them the things I have been contemplating lately myself. Thanks!
May 27, 2009 at 12:15 pm
@ rogue,
I’m glad you like what you are reading. I’ve been of the mindset that there are many more subversives out there, they just haven’t realized it yet.
-mike
May 27, 2009 at 1:01 pm
I recently listened to a Greg Boyd (Myth of a Christian Nation) podcast where he talked along these lines. We need to let the government do what it will do, but Christ has called us to a new ethic, a different standard, whereby we will seek out and be the change that the world needs, not just vote for those we think can push the Christian agenda of the day.
May 27, 2009 at 3:05 pm
@ Dan,
Good point.
That is why I like Greg Boyd so much. The thing is, and this is one reason why I have such a problem with the institutional church, many, possibly most, Christians are conditioned to be passive and let someone else do the work:
The pastor does all of the reading and synthesizes the material.
The worship leader learns all of the chords and tells people what song to sing.
Then, with our form of representative government, people elect those who say they will forward a particular adgenda.
This type of passive behavior is in direct contradiction of Jesus’ commands.
-mike
May 28, 2009 at 1:33 pm
I agree. A simple step of having a forum whereby you can question and dialogue with the pastor publically would be a step in the right direction.
I gotta wonder though, does Boyd’s church actually operate drastically different?
May 28, 2009 at 5:30 pm
Eh, who knows. None of us are doing it right. But I think there is a fear, or maybe hesitancy is a better word, of not having a traditional church setting.
Even Emergent can’t break away from the sermon style.
By the looks of his church’s website, I’d say it is probably the same format you’d find at any other tech-savvy, non-denom, mega-church.
Which is too bad really.
But you have to remember he was pastor of a mega-church before he sided against Bush and lost about half of his members. That was a good thing, by the way. I have to respect Boyd for sticking by his beliefs, even when it cost him revenue…I mean tithes.
How many pastors or boards would have the balls to do allow that to happen?
HOWEVER, this is not to say Boyd should be discredited, even over the tithing issue. Far from it. We all break away from the things man has attached to God at different times. And we all hold on to certain things man has attached to God, even if we don’t want to admit it.
As a side note, I am excited to see he has a follow-up to Myth of a Christian Nation.
Myth of a Christian Religion.
-mike