Abstract
A national debate on torture has begun in the United States, initiated in the aftermath of the September 11 attacks, fueled by hypothetical “ticking bomb” scenarios, inspired by the attempts of administration lawyers to weaken legal prohibitions, heightened by the ethical dilemmas faced by soldiers, law enforcement officers, and intelligence operatives in the presence of abusive interrogation procedures, and galvanized by public images of the descent into depravity that torture always involves. Rather than remain silent, the churches should now join this national debate and bring to it Christian perspectives relating to moral absolutes, the sacredness of the human person, the sacredness of norms, the requirement of judging means in relation to their ends, the respect due even to those who are guilty of crimes, and the venue that torture always affords for depraved and demonic conduct.
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