I have been reluctant to comment on the torture debates, primarily because I do not want to be another Canadian voice tut-tutting the United States. However, the aspect of this that I find most disturbing is the defense of torturers, if not torture itself, by people of faith.
The latest example of this is Jon Meacham. Editor at Newsweek, Meacham is a Pulitzer Prize winner and best-selling author who comments regularly on matters of faith and holds himself out publicly to be a person of faith. We expect unrepentant thugs like Cheney or pitiful buffoons like Bush the younger to rationalize criminal behavior. But it is especially painful when Meacham uses his soapbox to do the same.
It would be difficult to imagine an interpretation of Christ's message that would rationalize torture. Twisted apologetics that attempt this always end up placing the Church at the service of the state. Gregory Boyd, for one, has sharply criticized this fusion of faith and politics. He reminds us that the Church is the presence of Christ in the world. And so it is to look and act like Jesus. Here is a sample of his argument:
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