Torture is Not The Way

I am beginning to finally understand the significance of connections in the good news. Why God came to earth, why Jesus loved love and literally embraced and healed those suffering from physical pain, rejection and isolation. I know the story does not end on the cross or on glorious Easter Sunday. Yes, there was resurrection, Christ’s triumph over death to show humanity (Christians as members of humanity) how to fix their part of the world with God’s love as model and the church as symbol and actor playing the central role for Christianity to reclaim compassion, forgiveness and mercy in so many dark places in the world. This is the New Life, the New Humanity John deGruchy describes in Christian Humanism.

In order for this new humanity to be realized here and now, Christians as individuals, and specifically within the church family, are required to stand in opposition to systems and institutions that flourish unchallenged because of our inhumanity to one another. Torture immediately comes to mind as it is currently making headlines in the news. It is a fallacy to believe that torture is an isolated incident that does not amplify the crimes, or suspected, crimes formerly committed, scattering the iniquity like dandelion seeds in the wind. These seeds plant themselves deep in the soil, our souls, and we readily harvest them for future consumption. Shouldn't we, the United States, be on the side of good, of upholding human dignity, of simply stopping the chain of violence in the world? It must start somewhere for there to be peace.

The truth is, as Susan Thistlethwaite recently expressed in a Washington Post op-ed, “the community that offers a license to torture is fundamentally degraded in its claim to be a civilized nation.” We are certainly not the Christian nation some claim us to be once we lose sight of right and wrong, good and evil. One of my classmates wrote that many humans, and particularly Americans, “tend to think it irrational that all people, regardless of their socio-economic status, race, class, gender, sexual preference, etc. should be treated equally and with respect.” However, he continued, “it seems that if Jesus is an example of the way that God sees and wishes to interact in the world- then it is totally rational to believe in the dignity and worth of all people.” When we condone torture we no longer value life or the life of God in another human. We all suffer, whether today or tomorrow, once that seeds comes to plant itself in our front yards, by our children’s footsteps, touching our palms as we dig in our gardens trying to grow things. It grows and becomes a part of our landscape. It is shame and darkness. James Lawson reminds us in his essay, Higher Ground, that in our constant struggle to learn from and honor Jesus, we know there to be another way. We must "live out of love" by refusing to imitate evil and instead emulate Christ.

Amen.