At a press conference today, the group also called on pastors to make the case to their congregations that torture is immoral. Details in the press release below:...
Religion scholar Martin Marty devotes his latest "Sightings" column to the controversy about using torture to combat terrorism. Keep reading below:...
It took a while, but Richard Land, who leads the Southern Baptist Convention ethics and public policy office, has come out with a strong statement against torture, including water-boarding. Keep reading:...
A sampling of comments from our readers: "The question should never be, 'Does it work?' Ever. The question should always be 'Is it right/moral?' The answer to that is no. ... So, to be honest, I don't really care if...
A sampling of comments from our readers: "It's a funny thing to me how Southern Christians can quickly recall the passages about homosexuality in the New Testament, but can't remember that Christ also said, 'Turn the other cheek.' Somehow torture...
A sampling of comments from our readers: "I love the fact that the Bible-waving Christian right previously in office are the ones who approved and encouraged torture. I'll stick with 'pagans,' thank you." -- "Disgusted" "Bono is certainly one of...
We noted yesterday the release of a memo from retired Adm. Dennis Blair, the director of national intelligence, that said torture of terrorists had produced "high-value information." Which raised the important moral question of when (not whether) evil done in...
On the one hand, it seems pretty clear that the US used torture on people who officials believed were connected with terrorism. Waterboarding has long been understood as torture. Several Japanese soldiers were convicted of using it on Americans during...
Religious leaders who have opposed torture as a counterterrorism measure continue to speak out favorably about executive orders signed by President Obama. Here's another press release:...
Here's the statement:...
I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I never thought we'd have to ask an American president to promise not to torture folks. But members of an interfaith coalition are asking Barack Obama to do exactly that. According to...
A sampling of comments from our readers: "As far as Maher goes, sure some people don't like him. That's ok. I'm not a huge fan myself. I give him this, though: No one knows. There is no 'right' answer. That's...
A sampling of comments from our readers: "Ms. Silverman should refrain from religious identification and affiliation. She is not the spokesperson for the Jewish population. The Jews I know in Florida, and I am one of them, will not...
That's the eye-catching headline for a column over on the Baptist Ethicsdaily website. Jim Evans starts it this way: Would Jesus condone torture if it yielded information that might prevent a terrorist attack? Anyone who has studied the life and...
That's one of the key findings of a study whose results were reported today. Click here for Associated Baptist Press coverage. And click here for video of the press conference about the survey....
Results of a survey on that very question will be released Thursday. The press release below summarizes some of the findings:...
West Plano Presbyterian is among the churches participating in a banner campaign against torture, according to this Presbyterian News Service story:...
The New Yorker has a lengthy profile of Sabrina Harman, the military police officer whose photos of abuse of prisoners at the Abu Ghraib prison camp in Iraq led to international denunciations of U.S. actions and policies. It's difficult to...
Martin Marty is one of the world's best known historians of religion and is a regular and valued commentator of the religious scene. He's got a regular e-column called "Sightings" that we frequently post here. Most of the time his...
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