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Sunday, June 03, 2007

Torture by Any Other Name Is Still Torture

Listened to portions of the Republican debates last week. The only candidate who categorically rejected torture as incompatible with a civil society was McCain, who himself of course experienced torture first hand.

All the other candidates employed this horrendous Orwellian double-speak- enhanced interrogation techniques. Torture by any other name is still torture, and apparently our country is encouraging and defending it regularly. Why, Lord? How long?

2 comments:

  1. How exactly does opposition to enhanced interrogation precisely stem from "The Lutheran Confessions"?

    Mind you, I agree with you purely on both topics, and want to know how one stems from the other.

    Or is it "the law written on the heart"? If so, why can so many ignore it? What kind of theological status can that put one into?

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  2. Good question. I don't relate all my posts here directly to the Lutheran confessional documents. Lutheran confessions is also confessions, small "c"... but since you ask, how about Luther's explanation of the 5th commandment in the Small Catechism:

    The Fifth Commandment.

    Thou shalt not kill.

    What does this mean?--Answer.

    We should fear and love God that we may not hurt nor harm our neighbor in his body, but help and befriend him in every bodily need [in every need and danger of life and body].

    ReplyDelete