It's About Time!!!

The Associated Press today reports that the National Association of Evangelicals 'endorsed an anti-torture statement saying the United States has crossed "boundaries of what is legally and morally permissible" in its treatment of detainees and war prisoners in the fight against terror.' We are very nearly to the three year anniversary of the revelation of the atrocities committed at the Abu Ghraib prison. What took them so long?

If we are following Jesus Christ, who Himself was subject to extreme torture, how can we possibly condone torture as a reasonable or morally acceptable means of treating our fellow human beings? This is not the make-believe world of the TV show, "24". This is real life and the victims of torture don't just go off camera. They have to continue to live with the effects of what is done to them, physically, spiritually and psychically. By remaining silent on the subject of torture we endorse ever stripe of the cat, every blow of a rod, every insult, every glob of spit that our Lord endured at the hands of his captors.

The article today goes on to mention that, "Several of the drafters have been advocates for a broader policy focus for Christian conservatives beyond abortion and marriage." Again, I ask, what took them so long?

If we really take Scripture at all seriously, if we really take Jesus at all seriously, then we have to be about more than just a voice against abortion and homosexuality. We have to take the Gospel message and Gospel values and apply them to life, wholistically. We have to listen the voice of Christ and hear what He says about subjects like world hunger, pollution, global warming, human rights, workplace ethics, medical and cosmetic testing on animals, capital punishment. Perhaps we should even re-think if the concept of a" just war" has any meaning whatsoever in a world where weapons of mass destruction are everywhere, (a conventional 1000# bomb is a weapon of mass destruction) and we speak of collateral damage with no understanding that those are human lives we are talking about.

In his Easter message in 2003, the late John Paul II, said that Christians should 'pray and do penance and ask Christ for peace, a peace "founded on the solid pillars of love and justice, truth and freedom."' Perhaps I should be grateful the the NAE has finally come on board and is realizing that the Gospel has implications for our lives. but somehow, all I can honestly say right now is, "It's about time!!!"