|
Copyright 2005 Rev. Amy B. Freedman Torture: A Ticking Time Bomb I came of age during the Cold War. Images from the television drama “The Day After” depicting the possible horrific aftermath of a nuclear war are still emblazoned in my mind. I remember as a young teen the sight of an airplane streaking across the sky causing my heart to leap in my throat with the passing thought that perhaps a nuke was on its way. Since the end of the Cold War, my fears of nuclear warfare have abated. For a time, our country enjoyed a period of relative peace. The events of
Given the tragedy of 9/11 and the ongoing threat of terrorism,
the urgency of national security is undeniable. In the How do we balance the needs of national security and civil liberties? This is a question that Americans have been grappling with since 9/11 both in theory and practice. Some Americans have even claimed that they would be willing to give up some of their rights and liberties in order to secure a safer world. [i] In his book “Shouting Fire: Civil Liberties in a Turbulent Age”, Harvard Law Professor and civil libertarian, Alan Dershowitz, makes a case that FBI agents ought to be allowed to use torture to force prisoners to tell what they know about terrorism. [ii] To support his case, Dershowitz uses a classical argument from philosophy, the ticking time-bomb scenario. Suppose there were a time-bomb set to explode in a public place where hundreds of innocent people would be killed and officials held an accomplice who would not disclose the location of the bomb. He argues that the authorities would be justified in the use of force to obtain information that would save lives from the impending explosion. The argument is based on the premise that protection of the public is of greater importance than the protection of the individual.
This argument sets a dangerous precedent. As human rights advocate, William Schulz rightly points out, there are no documented cases of such a scenario when authorities actually knew that a bomb was about to explode while holding a known accomplice at the same time. The reality is that torture does not yield good information. People subjected to physical punishment tend to say anything in order to make the suffering stop.
Cruelty and mistreatment of people also is a sort of ticking time-bomb
itself unleashing resentment and outrage. Unfortunately, the story that
I read this morning [iii]
about a young Mauritanian man is not an isolated incident.
There have been countless arrests since 9/11 of innocent people. There
have been many Muslims of Middle Eastern decent who have been denied due
process in order for authorities to investigate their possible involvement
or knowledge of terrorist organizations. There is mounting evidence of
human rights violations by US officials in the treatment of detainees
in Why should we care? Why is treatment of detainees an appropriate subject for a sermon? As Unitarian Universalists, we covenant to affirm and promote seven principles. We have a diversity of religious beliefs and political perspectives among us, but we hold certain values in common. Our first principle is that we covenant “to affirm and promote the inherent worth and dignity of every person”. Our sixth principle speaks to “the goal of world community with peace, liberty, and justice for all”. Our seventh principle reminds us that we are all connected “through the interdependent web of life of which we are a part”. The idea that all people have inherent dignity and worth is a central tenet of our faith. The fact that “We are endowed by our Creator with certain unalienable rights” is a founding principle of our country. Similarly, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is based upon the premise that “rights derive from the inherent dignity of the human person.” The Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations in 1948 in the aftermath of the Holocaust. As a result of that horrific genocide, world leaders came to consensus about rights that apply to all people. The passage of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was a transformative event. Leaders from many parts of the globe put forth a common vision that every human being no matter what nationality, religion, class, or even how “good or bad” holds certain fundamental rights.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights includes a provision that “no one shall be subject to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” This includes specific guidelines prohibiting the use of physical or mental suffering to obtain information, forbidding the deportation to another country when there are grounds to believe someone would be in danger of being subjected to torture, and the convention is clear that there are no exceptional circumstances. The The worldwide web is increasing the speed of our global network. This
week there was a surge of Anti-American violence in It is not enough for our government to simply say in response that they
will “investigate and take appropriate actions”. The Newsweek report
may have been the catalyst for the protests but this is on top of other
reports of US sanctioned torture. Consider the gruesome and deeply humiliating
photographs from the Tier 1 cellblock of Abu Ghraib. In Jesus who preached a religion of equality and love taught in parables. He often used stories to make his point. The parable that was read this morning is found both in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke. As it is written, Jesus warns his disciples that one cannot learn from blind, hypocritical, and judgmental teachers because one learns by example. He also cautions against judgment, “how can you say to your neighbor, ‘Friend, let me take out the speck in your eye,’ when you yourself do not see the log in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your neighbor’s eye.” The same is true for the The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee has joined with other human
rights defenders in the STOP Campaign
[iv] . This effort to stop torture permanently began with
a statement in the New York Times on It is highly unlikely that the incidents that have been reported are
isolated or have been perpetrated by rogue soldiers. There has been enough
evidence uncovered already to suggest that the practices of punishment
and humiliation that were captured on film at Abu Ghraib
are part of If you would like to learn more about this timely issue or take action, information is available in the Parish Hall about the UUSC STOP Campaign and ways to get involved. It is important that we as American citizens unite against this injustice that is against our moral values and which does not make us safer but spreads a culture of fear and hatred. I end with a simple prayer written by Anwar
Fazal of We all drink from one water Remember Remember Remember we are one [i]
Christian Science Monitor, [ii]
“The Torturer’s Apprentice”, William Schulz, The Nation, [iii]
Schulz, William, Tainted Legacy: 9/11 and the Ruin of Human
Rights, [iv]
For more information about the UUSC STOP campaign: www.uusc.org/stoptorture or [v] Roberts, |