Is It Right?
In the previous article, we examined pragmatic arguments for and against torture. Now, we’ll take a look at the moral side of the issue.
On April 29, 2009, the Pew Research Center published their analysis of a survey that aimed to explore the correlation between political partisanship, religion, and one’s opinion about torture. Surprisingly, 62% of white evangelical protestants and 48% of white mainline protestants agreed that torture is sometimes justified.
How can we explain these results? Does the Bible justify the use of torture?
The Bible states that God has given the nations of the world the sword (Romans 13:1-7). Traditionally, this has been understood to mean that God gives every nation the right to exercise capital punishment. Does this right translate into a right to torture a prisoner of war? To make that claim would be a stretch. The interrogation of a POW for information he may or may not have is not the same as dealing citizen who has tried and found guilty of a crime. The Bible does not address specific conventions of war or the responsibilities of government.
A pragmatic argument could also be made based on the Biblical command to love and care for others (Matthew 9:19). If forced to choose between torturing a detainee and risking the lives of people, we should choose the lesser of the two evils and protect the lives of the innocent.
At his 100th Day Press Conference, President Obama gave a counter argument to this position with an appeal to national integrity. The President cited Winston Churchill’s decision not to torture German POW’s during World War II, even as Britain was being bombed. He went on to say that torture, “corrodes the character of our country,” and “In some cases, it may be harder, but part of what makes us, I think, still a beacon to the world is that we are willing to hold true to our ideals even when it’s hard, not just when it’s easy.”
In an article entitled 5 Reasons Torture is Always Wrong, David P. Gushee, professor of moral philosophy at Union University wrote that humans were created in God’s image and therefore, “human dignity, value, and worth come as a permanent and eradicable endowments of the Creator to every person.” He went on to say that when it comes to justice, Scripture favors the vulnerable. In the case of an interrogation, the detainee is more vulnerable party and should be protected.
In the end, its difficult to reconcile any Biblical justification for torture with the majority of Scripture. Its hard to argue with the commands in the New Testament to love your enemies, turn the other cheek, and never repay evil with evil (Matthew 5:39, Romans 12:17-19, 1 Thessalonians 5:15).
So if the Bible doesn’t torture, why do so many Christians? In the article, The Torture Debate: A Closer Look, the Pew Research Center reported that one’s political party and ideology had was more closely correlated to one’s opinion of torture than any other demographic, including religion. It seems that for much of the evangelical Church, the Bible is not the sole moral authority. This shouldn’t be surprising given the ever-growing ties between the Church and the Republican party.