A Conservative Voice Against Torture

I'm often accused of approaching political issues with a left-leaning bias. I plead guilty! Despite this, I do not believe I hold most of my positions out of fealty to a particular political party, but out of core principals that I draw from studying politics and policy in light of my faith.

As such, I often think the positions I hold on moral issues are those that do not cut strictly down the liberal-conservative moral divide. While I may espouse liberalism in the laws passed by the government, this does not mean I believe in an anything-goes world.

I say this because I’m about to tread into an issue where I have been accused of being a softhearted liberal. I am continually amazed by the cavalier way in which many American Christians accept the use of torture in a variety of circumstances. I just don’t see how this squares with our desire to be re-formed (re-born) in the image of Christ. I was thus pleased to see that a Christian writer at the arch-conservative website National Review Online agrees:

I think torture is a great evil, and that the resort to it in the past decade is a black spot on America’s record.

It’s not just a black spot on America. It is a black spot on American Christianity. I encourage you to read this conservative’s wrestling on the issue. He is honest about its complexity- perhaps more honest then I could manage. I applaud him for exploring the issue, and hope many more Christians of all ideologies can follow his example.

If, like me, you think your church is crying out for a frank discussion on this issue, this article published in the United Methodist Faith in Action newsletter will give you a place to start.