Torture in America

Last updated on: May 17, 2007 at 11:16 pm by voxnovablog

Torture in America 2007-05-17T23:16:00-05:00 voxnovablog

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Hi everybody, and a very big thanks to Michael and Katerina for getting this great new blog off the ground. I’m a boorish amateur in such company, but you are all very welcome to my own humble blog, Reasons and Opinions. Most of the arguments you will see there, or you find here too.

The first topic I would like to address is one dear to my heart, the issue of torture, and, specifically, how Catholics should deal with the issue now that it has become US policy (at least in Republican circles). Note that you will find no mention of it in the Catholic Answers voter guides, they of the five non-negotiable principles fame. There is, of course, no clear reason such an exclusion, based on their own criteria: issues that “involve principles that never admit of exceptions and…. are currently being debated in U.S. politics.” A cynic might say that the voter guides are a subtle (or not-so-subtle) exhortation to vote Republican. Make of that as you will!

But back to the Church. The teaching on torture is pretty unequivocal. The conciliar document Gaudium Et Spes condemns””physical and mental torture and attempts to coerce the spirit”. The encyclical Veritatis Splendour went even further and declared it to be intrinsically evil, meaning evil in its object, that can never be legitimated by appeal to intent or consequence. As servant of God John Paul said: “circumstances or intentions can never transform an act intrinsically evil by virtue of its object into an act “subjectively” good or defensible as a choice.” Torture is evil because it violates the God-given dignity and integrity (the intrinsic worth) of human beings. Human beings are being used as a means to some end, such as the extraction of information. No circumstance can make it right. The Church clearly condemns consequentialism, the notion that the end justifies the means. It is never licit to engage in an evil act, so that some good might come of it. Lest there is any remaining doubt, the Compendium of Social Doctrine declares that “international juridical instruments concerning human rights correctly indicate a prohibition against torture as a principle which cannot be contravened under any circumstances.” That would be the Geneva conventions, by the way…

Those who defend torture, at least how it is practiced by the US, make two standard arguments. First, they agree that torture is evil, but claim that what they propose is not really torture. Second, they appeal to the circumstances, notably the much-touted “ticking bomb scenario”. Both arguments are fundamentally flawed.

Attempts to define torture based on some measurable or quantitative dimension (such as the amount pain inflicted) are bound to fail, and, even worse, open the door to consequentialism. Catholic apologist Jimmy Akin falls squarely into this trap. He states the issue as follows: “torture is intrinsically evil because it is the infliction of disproportionate pain on a subject.” But what is “disproportionate”? This is not much different than Bush official John Yoo defining torture as “death, organ failure or the permanent impairment of a significant body function”. Coming up with a quantitative definition always means that something falling just below the standard does not constitute torture. And if not torture, then not (necessarily) evil. One clear implication is that psychological torture can be conveniently swept aside. But this is clearly fallacious. It for for good reason that the Church always refers to both physical and mental torments. For while many defend “torture light” under the euphemism of “coercive interrogation techniques”, experts believe that psychological torture is often harder for victims to overcome. It scars them for life. But it cannot be “measured” by this yardstick.

But once we set off down this road, sooner or later we always bump into consequentialism. For Akin, the action becomes disproportionate (and hence torture) if there is no other way to save lives. So, he argues that waterboarding is not torture “if it is being used in a ticking time bomb scenario and there is no other, less painful way to save lives.” Note that this logic is similar to that of those who defend the use of nuclear weapons during the second world war. By the standards of Catholic moral philosophy, Truman’s decision to drop atomic bombs on two Japanese cities was an evil one, no matter how many lives were saved through an early end to the war. And directly-procured abortion can also not be defended by appeals to “goods” such as the economic situation of the mother. If only those on the right and on the left would realize they are coming from the same (philosophical) position.

We live at a time when the Republican party is becoming defined as the party or torture. We can very easily trace the various policy decisions made by the Bush administration: the abrogation the Geneva Conventions for whole classes of suspects; the ludicrously restrictive definition of torture as death or serious organ failure; the approval of ever more aggressive interrogation techniques; and the transfer of Gen. Miller, the architect of prisoner abuse at Guantanamo, to Abu Ghraib, which the specific instruction to bring his techniques with him, and to elsewhere in Iraq and Afghanistan.

The slow sad transformation of the Republican party into the party of torture seemed complete during this week’s South Carolina debate. As Andrew Sullivan notes, “…increasingly, the explicitly pro-torture position of the GOP will define their party. And it should define their party.” Disappointingly, most of the candidates were only too willing to embrace torture, except for John McCain, who has actually been tortured, and the contrarian Ron Paul. Specifically, both Giuliani and Tancredo backed waterboarding, a technique perfected by the Khmer Rouge. Pumped-up Rudy wants them to use “every method they can think of”. Tancredo says he wants Jack Bauer. Romney just looked sinister when he all-too-enthusiastically invoked the Orwellian phrase “enhanced interrogation techniques” with a manic glint in his eye. He also wants to double the size of Guantanamo. Even Brownback, a Catholic, seemed unfazed.

It boggles the mind that the Republican party can be officially pro-life and against torture at the same time, when the underlying moral logic is basically the same. But then again, evil corrupts. If you use the One Ring, it will destroy you. Is it any surprise, in the current climate, that more than a third of soldiers in Iraq support torture for gathering information, and 40 percent support torture to save the life of a fellow soldier?

To see the bankruptcy of this mode of reasoning, look no further than Jose Padilla, locked up without charge or access to a lawyer for three and a half years, who is suffering from a severe post-traumatic stress disorder, and is by now a mental case. This is the result of so-called “torture light” as it did not involve “severe” or “disproportionate” pain. No, merely extreme sensory deprivation, extreme cold, stress positions. As one of his lawyers noted, he was treated like a piece of furniture. That’s another way of saying his God-given human dignity was degraded. This is what torture is all about.

Many argue against torture on the grounds that it does not work, that it backfires by fueling further hatred of the United States, or that it causes the surrender of the moral high ground. People like John McCain note that others could use the same techniques against Americans in the future. These arguments are all true, all valid. But we should not rely on them, because, even if they were not true, torture would still be wrong. That’s the rub.

I will leave the last word to servant of God Oscar Romero:

“There is no dichotomy between man and God’s image.Whoever tortures a human being,whoever abuses a human being,Whoever outrages a human being, abuses God’s image.”

Catholic Social Teaching

Consequentialism

Morning's Minion

Torture

Previous Post

May 17, 2007

Excommunications on the Fly

Next Post

May 18, 2007 Our Debt to Modernity

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category 2019 A Consistent Ethic of Life Aaron Weldon Abortion absurdity Abuse Scandal Academics Adoption Advent Africa agreement/disagreement with Church teaching Alexander Schmemann Alexham Alterity America Amnesty International Anarchism angels Anglicanism Animals Annual Statistics Anthony Anxietas Apocalyptic Apophatic Appalachia Aquinas Art Atheism Atonement Augustine Authority Baptism Beauty Bible biblical criticism biblical scholarship Bioethics Bishops Black Catholics Black Theology Blackadder Blogs Books Breastfeeding Brett Salkeld Buddhism Bush administration Byzantine Catholic Calvinism Canada Canon Law Capital Punishment Capitalism Caryll Houselander Catholic Blog Awards Catholic Blogging Catholic League Catholic Social Teaching Catholic Worker Movement Catholicity CFL Charity Children Chris West Christ and Culture Christian Democracy Christian Unity Christmas Christology Church Church Doctrine Church History Climate Change Cohabitation Colbert Collegiality Communion Communism Comparative Theology Competition Conferences conscience conscience rights Consequentialism Consistent Life Ethics Consumerism Contraception Contrition Conversion Converts Coptic COVID-19 Creation Critical Thinking Cross Cuba Culture Culture of Death Culture of Life Darfur David Cruz-Uribe David Wheeler-Reed Death Death Penalty Democracy Demons Desert Fathers Devil Dialogue dignity Disability Disarmament discernment Discipleship discrimination Dissent Distributism Division Doctrine Domestic Church Dorothy Day Double Effect Doubt Down syndrome Driving Early Church Easter Eastern Churches Ecclesiology Economics Economy Ecumenism Education El Salvador Election Election 2020 Ellul Embryonic Stem Cell Research Empire Energy Enlighenment Environmentalism Ephraim Radner Episcopal Church epistemology Equality Eschatology Ethics Eucharist Europe Euthanasia Evangelization Evil Evolution Excommunication F.X. Durrwell Facism Facts Fair Trade Faith Family Fashion Feddie Feminism Feminist theology Fertility Fetal Rights Fiction Film Finances First Things flags Folk Religion Food Foreign Affairs Forgiveness Frank Sheed Free Speech Freedom gay & lesbian persons Genocide George W. Bush George Weigel Gerald L. Campbell Girard/Mimetic Theory Global Warming Globalization Gnosticism Good Friday Grace Gratitude Greed Grey Cup 2009 Guadalupe Guest Post Guest Posts Gun Control Gustave Martelet Habitat for Humanity Hans Urs von Balthasar Harry Potter Hate Speech Health Health Care Healthcare Heather King Hebrew Bible Henri de Lubac Henry Karlson Herbert McCabe Heresy HHS Mandate Controversy History Holidays Holiness Holy Spirit Homiletics Homily Homosexuality Hope Hospitality How Far Can We Go? How Far Can We Go? Human Person Human Rights Humanae Vitae Humility Humor Hunger Hunting Identity Idolatry Ignacio Ellacuría Imagination Immigration In Memoriam Income Inequality Inculturation Indigenous People Individualism Inklings Intellect Interdependence Internet Interpretation Interviews Introduction Iraq War Islam Israel Jain James Alison James Martin Jazz Jesus Christ Jews Joe Biden Joe Hargrave Johann Baptist Metz John Allen John Henry Newman John Paul II John the Baptist John XXIII Jonathan Josef Pieper Joseph (the husband of Mary) Joseph Bernardin Joseph Ratzinger Josh Brumfield Journals Joy Judgment Just War Justice Kari Lundgren Karl Rahner Katerina Ivanovna Kenya Keynes Kingdom of God Kyle R. Cupp Labor Language Latin America Law Leanne Ogasawara Legion of Christ Leisure Lent Liberalism Liberation Theology Libertarianism Libya Lies Life life & dignity & responsibility of the human person Literature Little Way Liturgical music Liturgical Year Liturgy Living Simply Living Wage Local Church Lombard Lord of the Rings Louis Dupre Love M.Z. Magic Magisterium Mark DeFrancisis Mark Gordon Marriage Martin Luther Martin Luther King Jr. Martyrdom Marxism Mary Masculinity Matt Talbot Matthew Fish Matthew Levering McCain Media Memorial Day Mennonites Mental Illness mercy Michael Iafrate Middle East militarism Miroslav Volf Mitt Romney Modesty Moral Theology Morality Mormonism Morning's Minion Mother Teresa Music Muslims Natalie Nate Wildermuth Nationalism Native Americans Nature Nazis Neuhaus New Evangelization New York City News NFP nihilism Nonviolence Not Abortion Nova's Ordo Nuclear weapons Nuns Obama Occult Old Age Opus Dei Ordination ordination of women original sin Orthodoxy Oscar Romero Other Voices Pacifism Palestine Palin Papacy Papal Peace Messages Papal Social Encyclicals Particular Affections Partisanship Patriotism Paul Paul Ryan Paul VI Peace Pentimento persecution Personalism Phantastes Philosophy PKD Planned Parenthood Pluralism Poetry Policraticus Politcal Apathy Politics Poll Pope Benedict XVI Pope Francis Pope John Paul II Pope Leo XIV Population Postcolonialsim Poverty Power Prayer Preaching Predictions Predictions for 2012 President Barack Obama priestly formation & discernment Pro-Life Progress Prophetic Witness Proportionalism Public Diplomacy Public Policy Question Quotes Rachel Maddow Racism Radical Catholic Mom Radical Catholicism Raymund Schwager Real Catholic TV Real Presence Reconciliation Reginald Garrigou-Lagrange Religion religious freedom Responsibility Ressourcement Resurrection Rick Garnett Ridiculous Crap You Never Thought You'd See Robert Barron Roe v. Wade Roman Curia Rome Russia Sacraments Saints Salvation History Sam Harris Sam Rocha Same-sex Marriage Saskatchewan Roughriders Satire School of the Americas Science Scripture Seamless Garment Second Vatican Council Seeing Sex sexual violence Sexuality Sia Sin social justice Social Security Socialism Society of Jesus Sofia Loves Wisdom Solidarity Sophia soteriology Soutenus Spirituality Sports St. Dismas St. Joseph Stanley Hauerwas Statistics Stimulus Suffering Sunday Reflections Supernatural Supreme Court Symbolism Syria Taxing Technology Terrorism The State The Tea Party The Trump Administration Theological Anthropology Theology Theotokos Thomas Merton Throwaway Culture Tim Muldoon Tim Riley Tim Tebow Time Titian Tolkien Torture Toys Trade Traditionalism Transgender Transportation Transubstantiation Trinity Truth TV U.S. Affairs Uncategorized Unions unity among people who disagree US Catholicism USCCB Usury Utilitarianism Utopia Valentine's Day Vatican Vatican II Veterans Vicarious Suffering Video Violence Virgin Mary Vocations Voluntary Associations Voluntary Poverty Voting Vox Nova vox nova blog war War and Peace War Strategy Wealth Weirdness Welfare state Women Women Priests Work Woundedness Youth

Select a Month June 2026 May 2025 February 2025 January 2025 July 2024 May 2024 April 2024 March 2024 February 2024 January 2024 December 2023 July 2023 March 2023 January 2023 December 2022 November 2022 October 2022 September 2022 August 2022 July 2022 June 2022 November 2021 September 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 November 2020 October 2020 September 2020 August 2020 July 2020 June 2020 May 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 November 2019 September 2019 August 2019 July 2019 June 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What did Jesus feed the 5,000 with?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Figs and water Loaves and fish Manna and honey Bread and wine