Power vs Sacrifice: Is Torture (or Anything Like It) Ever Justified?

There has been much to contemplate lately regarding the role of torture in our “war on terror.”

On the one hand there are those like Mark Danner, author of ‘Torture and Truth: America, Abu Ghraib and the War on Terror,’ who are troubled by the way our government is redefining the meaning of torture. In an Op-Ed piece We Are All Torturers Now in today’s NYT, he questions whether, by acquiescing to our government’s actions on the matter, “we Americans transform ourselves into the very caricature our enemies have sought to make of us,” and concludes “for America, torture is self-defeating; for a strong country it is in the end a strategy of weakness. After Mr. Gonzales is confirmed, the road back - to justice, order and propriety - will be very long. Torture will belong to us all.”

On the other, there are those, such as Mr. Gonzales, who I believe genuinely think they are doing the right thing, even in light of our Judeo-Christian ethic. According to this line of reasoning, we are being threatened by “an enemy that does not wear a uniform, owes no allegiance to any country, is not a party to any treaties and - most importantly - does not fight according to the laws of war,' (The New York Times > Washington > Bush Nominee Plans to Stand Firm on War-Captive Memo). Mr. Gonzales goes on “asserting that the president was committed to defending the country 'always in a manner consistent with our nation's values and applicable law, including our treaty obligations,' the statement continued, 'I pledge that if I am confirmed as attorney general, I will abide by those commitments.'"

As I’ve struggled to comprehend how my views on this should be informed by my commitment to ways of Jesus, I continually find myself trying to balance two seemingly incongruent positions. On the one hand, Paul seems to indicate in Romans 13 that government has a God given role to “an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrong doer.” Hence the fact that, to my knowledge, even the most ardent pacifist is not opposed to prison or the use of lethal force to protect innocent who are in imminent danger.

Juxtaposed against this, though, are many, many passages speaking of our response to evil. Just prior the passage cited above, in Romans 12, Paul reminds his readers “do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God’s wrath… ‘If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.’ [citing Proverbs 25: 21,22] ”Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.”

Indeed, throughout the New Testament, the message is clear… “For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.” (Eph 6:12). Again and again Christ warns the disciples against the path of military resistance to the pagan Roman occupiers of their land. Their, and ours, is to the way of the cross. The ultimate source authority in the universe is not raw power, but sacrificial love. This is the message we are to take to the world.

One easy solution would be to declare a separation between the “government” and we “people.” The “government uses force/power to restrain evil while we people proclaim the good news of God’s rule and reign over eternity. But here, in America, our government is “for the people and by the people.” We are the government!

I’m still working this out, but one passage did come to mind today as I contemplated the real battle we face. How did Jesus deal with the “enemy” when He confronted? In Mark 5 we read about Jesus encounter with the Gerasene demoniac, who was possessed by so many demons that he referred to himself as “Legion, for we are many.” When Jesus first commanded the evil spirits to free him, he shouted out “What do you want with me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? Swear to God that you won’t torture me!” and went on to beg Jesus to not to send out of the area, but rather into a herd of pigs. Jesus didn’t give the reply we might expect. He didn’t say “Die! You slimy bastards!” and zap them into oblivion. No, he gave them permission to do as they asked. In other words, he didn’t torture them.

If the Son of the Most High God, the only one with true authority over the entire universe did not resort to torturing the one true enemy He had, it seems to me that neither we, nor our government should either.

Whether or not the current policies of our government do amount to torture is another question. If they don’t, they’re awfully close and certainly heading in the wrong direction. Unfortunately, I suspect they do.

For those interested in doing more extensive research on what the US government’s view is on the matter of torture, the New York Times has what appears to be a fairly comprehensive list of sites and documents in The New York Times > International > Complete Coverage: A Guide to the Memos on Torture.