Our Sins
Christ’s crucifixion was a sort of torture, and His death on the cross a symbol of the greater spiritual death and torment He suffered on our behalf…
In our attempt to be Christ-like, we should never forget that the two most vital commandments were to love God and to love our neighbors. Christ’s suffering on the cross is our own salvation. We are meant to imitate Him. We are not meant to take on the role of the torturer. That Christians can justify such brutality in any of its guises is simply baffling to me. It’s not a hard question. It’s not a moral conundrum. There’s no nuanced theological considerations to mull over.
Simply do unto others….
Oh, and read David’s take on this as well…
…and read Will and John also…and Larison…
…and read the comments too (please) where Michael has already made a more salient point than anything I’ve written here…
In fact, the crucifixion teaches us that every sin we commit increases the burden of Christ on the cross, that as sinners we are in essence his tormentors. Jesus’ willingness to accept this burden for our benefit, however, begs us to reduce the suffering not for His sake but for our own. It follows that to torture is to deny one’s own salvation as a Christ-like individual.Report
Excellent point, Michael. This is what I was trying to say. I’m still rather awful at expressing anything even remotely intelligent when it comes to theology…Report
I’ve come to the conclusion that torture must be banned forever — it’s the only moral solution, because otherwise we’ll rationalize its need. It would make a great statement to the world to say — in spite of the risk to our lives, even if torture could minimize those risks, we choose to ban torture forever, because it’s the right thing to do.
If we can’t get the information through questioning and psychological, non-violent trickery or negotiations, or good old spy work, then we don’t get it.Report
I concur, Mike. I thought it had been, though….Report
In reality we left the door open to interpretation. I don’t think there was the will to define it carefully and strictly. Rather than define torture, it may be wise to define, clearly, what we can do, then everything else is banned. There has to be a way to list procedures that are clear and measurable.Report