No Acceptable Rationale for Torture
An op-ed from the Right Reverend Thomas C. Ely, Episcopal Bishop of Vermont
November 28, 2005

The Internet search company Google has elicited chuckles for its informal corporate motto, “Don't Be Evil.” As individuals, we struggle daily with moral choices, and it would be a great relief to have those dilemmas answered by such a simple reminder as “Don't be Evil.” As a nation, we also face difficult moral decisions where, at our best, our deliberations and arguments reflect the complexity of ethical choices. It is rare to debate publicly whether to choose deliberately a path that all acknowledge is evil. The recent controversy over U.S. treatment of detainees is such a debate.

Major religious traditions challenge believers to live by some version of the Golden Rule: do unto others as we would have them do to us. Because of this teaching, we are compelled to see in each man, woman and child held by U.S. forces another human being, made in the image of God, and to treat them as we would want to be treated ourselves. In the light of such beliefs there can be no acceptable rationale for torture. When we use torture we turn from the teachings of our faith and treat some children of God as mere objects to be degraded and abused.

While torture has a long and sordid history, in modern times the condemnation of torture as an unqualified evil has become the official position of nearly every nation on Earth. In 1948 this found expression in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which states, “No one shall be subjected to torture or to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.” In 1994 the United States ratified the Convention Against Torture, which states that “No exceptional circumstances whatsoever, whether a state of war or a threat of war, internal political instability or any other public emergency, may be invoked as a justification of torture.” By setting a global standard for the treatment of prisoners, these treaties were hailed as great victories for human rights. Sadly, numerous governments have ignored and violated these global imperatives, and since September 11, 2001 the United States is likewise abandoning this global consensus.

The notion that we can only defeat enemies by resorting to evil ourselves is an old and seductive one. Those who argue this side of the torture debate include some of the most powerful figures in our government. They would have us use “any means at our disposal” to “win the war on terror.” In recent weeks such officials have lobbied against a legislative ban on “cruel, inhuman and degrading” treatment of prisoners that was introduced by Senator John McCain, himself a victim of torture. Their reasoning does not persuade me. The end does not justify the means.

Some would have us view goodness as a weakness and the Golden Rule as a luxury that we cannot afford in difficult times. Evil feeds on our fear of being victims, of being powerless in the face of shadowy enemies. We are told to imagine scenarios where only torture can save the lives of innocent millions. We are urged to reject the fundamental beliefs of our faith in order to feel protected from the nightmares of our imagination.

Early in the Gospels of Matthew and Luke, Jesus is told to imagine himself as ruler of all the nations—to think of all the good he could do with that power—if only he would bow to Satan. Evil tempts us with the idea that we can escape our fear and powerlessness if only we will bow to its seductive power. But however seductive, evil is evil. Terrorists who bomb a wedding reception may know that they are performing an evil act but are also convinced that they are advancing some greater cause. There are many possible responses to such an atrocity, but surely the worst is to endorse its twisted moral logic.

We cannot control the acts of terrorists. We cannot guarantee ourselves perfect safety. But we can heed the appeal of the prophet Isaiah not to make a “covenant with death,” the exhortation of the apostle Paul not to “repay evil with evil...but overcome evil with good,” and Jesus' words of warning that “If the light in you is darkness, how great is that darkness!” And, although the motto “Don't Be Evil”may seem too simplistic for a complex world, surely there are evils we can choose to renounce, including that “cruel, inhuman or degrading” act called torture.

To date this letter has been endorsed by the following religious leaders:

The Rev. Ann K Larson, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, member of the Vermont Ecumenical Council and Bible Society Peace Justice & Integrity of Creation Committee

The Rev. Steven Jewett, Pastor Memorial Baptist Church, Middlebury (ABCUSA), member of the Vermont Ecumenical Council and Bible Society Faith and Order Committee

Al Maitner, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Vermont Ecumenical Council and Bible Society Trustee

The Rev. Dr. Michael Caldwell, Community Organizer, Vermont Interfaith Power and Light

Marie L. Bean, member of the Vermont Ecumenical Council and Bible Society Prayer and Worship Committee

The Rev. Robert Lowenthal, District Superintendent United Methodist Church, Vermont Ecumenical Council and Bible Society Trustee

The Rev. Frederick K. Neu, Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, Vermont Ecumenical Council and Bible Society Trustee and President

Barbara W. Emerson Northern New England Presbytery, Vermont Ecumenical Council and Bible Society Trustee

James MacKellar, retired Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Synod of the Northeast, Vermont Ecumenical Council and Bible Society Trustee

The Rev. Dr. M. B. Handspicker, Professor Emeritus, Andover Newton Theological School, Newton, Massachusetts, member of the Vermont Ecumenical Council and Bible Society
Faith and Order Committee

The Rev. Peter Plagge, Waterbury Congregational Church, United Church of Christ, member of the Vermont Ecumenical Council and Bible Society Prayer and Worship Committee.

The Rev. Catherine Cooke, Saint Paul’s Episcopal Church, Burlington, member of the Vermont Ecumenical Council and Bible Society Peace Justice & Integrity of Creation Committee

The Rev. Gregory Smith Essex United Methodist Church. Essex, Vermont 05451, member of the Vermont Ecumenical Council and Bible Society Faith and Order Committee

Cheryl Mitchell, Clerk, Northwest Quarterly Meeting of the Society of Friends (Quakers), Vermont Ecumenical Council and Bible Society Trustee

The Rev. David O'Brien, Pastor First Baptist Church, Vermont Ecumenical Council and Bible Society Trustee

The Rev. Richard O. Wyatt, Northern New England General Presbyter   

The Rev. Alexander (Sandy) Zabriskie, member of the Vermont Ecumenical Council and Bible Society Peace Justice & Integrity of Creation Committee

The Rev. Pamela Y. Lucas, Acting Conference Minister Vermont Conference, United Church of Christ

Bishop Susan M. Morrison, Bishop of the Albany Episcopal Area of the United Methodist Church, which includes the State of Vermont

Christopher McCandless, New England Clerk, Society of Friends (Quakers), Vermont Ecumenical Council and Bible Society Trustee