Time to Use the E-word: Evil

This is from the site Street Prophets, another site that I subscribe (and occasionally contribute to under the name BohemianDiamond). Regardless of your faith, or lack thereof, evil exist. It exists because humans tend to be a cruel bunch. And now, here comes our duly "elected" government wanting to quantify what evil they may use upon another human being. Torture doesn't work. Period. There's plenty of scientific evidence and broken bodies and minds to prove that. Keeping that in mind please read this.

What is happening on Capitol Hill today is plainly evil. As defined by Walt Lowe in the Dictionary of Pastoral Care and Counseling, evil is

that which causes harm, depriving a being of some good which is proper to that being. Moral evil (in religious terms, sin) is the result of a deliberate choice.

Sen. McCain tells us "there are no losers in this deal," which is patently false. The losers are those who suffer from coercive techniques - whose definition is still left up to a cold and reckless White House - those who are charged with carrying out the policy, despite their objections, and anyone who gives a damn about life, liberty, and the rule of law. The administration has chosen its path, and the Republican Congress has wickedly chosen to follow its lead.

The new interrogation policy, if ratified, will cause harm. Obviously, it will harm prisoners lost in some black hole in the second or third world, subject to tactics that haven't quite been made public for what should again be obvious reasons. It will deprive them of goods which are proper to them, namely liberty, dignity, due process, and the fundamental right not to have to have the shit kicked out of them on the authority of an unaccountable regime.

Peace, love and torture? Sorry folks, let's get off our duffs and write to our elected officials. Torture is not an American value, man! It's not even a human one! It's time to tell the critters we elected that we want responsible behavior from them; we don't expect them to act like punks. Stand up and let your voice be heard!

Veterans Against Torture

Trib Talk Forum: Republican Veterans Agains Torture

Common Dreams article: GI's Agaist Torture

More on this later, along with some reviews of a couple new CDs of mine.