Today the House of Representatives followed the Senate into grandstanding their way toward revoking the rights of most people charged under war crimes laws. What does this mean for thee and me? Well, it’s like this: if you get called a terrorist, they can torture you until you admit… well, pretty much whatever they want, then admit that to a court as evidence and have you killed.
Legally.
Please refer to this NYT article and this Common Dreams article. They pretty much summarize how I feel about this issue.
I’d love to carry on endlessly on how torture isn’t an effective means of interrogation. In the end, though, it really is a question of humanity: we, as a society, are best judged by the way we treat our worst enemy. We can best define our humanity by the way we treat a stranger, or an enemy; I have been looking for eloquent ways to put this idea across and then it hit me, there was this dude named Jesus a really long time ago who came up with some interesting ideas. And whether you think he was God or just a rather crazy dude with a lot of followers, the point is moot because his words speak for themselves:
Matthew 5:43-44 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shall love thy neighbor, and hate your enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.
It sickens me to think that I, a bitter, seasoned athiest, can read this and understand the message clearly, yet the Republican, Christian right can read this and so completely fail to miss the point.
This is truly a turning point. We have defined our prisoners as less-than-human, as animals. I am very sad for us.