Would Jesus torture?

Pat Buchanan's column today is titled "Is Torture Ever Moral?" AND I have purposefully not yet read it! Had I done so, this would be the third post in a row where I have cited something he wrote, and although I do read everything he writes, I don't want to be accused of being so tied to someone that their thoughts and mine are inseparable. Believe me, that would never be the actual truth when it comes to Buchanan...not that the facts ever got between some people and a good story.

I do not support torture. For any reason. The only serious argument that I ever hear anyone marshal for the efficacy of torture is "Well, what about if a dirty bomb is planted somewhere and the terrorist knows where it is and he'll tell us if we break enough of his toes or pull out a sufficient number of fingernails?" Sorry, I just don't buy it. If you are inflicting enough pain on someone, he will tell you what he thinks you want to hear.

But my reasons for opposing torture are actually deeper than whether or not it "works" (more on that in a minute). How could torturing someone do anything but dehumanize the torturer? I have never even understood people who subject animals to inhumane practices. I am the furthest thing from a vegetarian; I love my red meat and my white. Bring it all on: steak, hamburger, pork chops, grilled chicken, salmon, bratwurst...and we're only just getting started. But the slaughter should be quick, efficient and as painless as possible. Even when I think of animals that I find repulsive, such as rats and possums, which I try to eliminate whenever I see them, I don't want to see them tortured.

Most integrally, though, how can someone who claims to speak for Christ advocate such practices? In what scenario would Jesus have tortured someone? I do try, however ineffectively at times, to implement the WWJD question in my life on a regular basis. On this issue, it is an open-and-shut question. Let's all imagine together Jesus wiring up the jumper cables or the rack or the dunking bucket. See what I mean?

The bottom line is that I don't believe it does "work." I have my differences with John McCain, but this is one area where I have to cede the ground to him, as a former torture victim. McCain contends exactly what I have said, that it does not work and does not make us better people.

I will admit that if my little girl were missing, for instance, and the pertinent authorities believed they had located the kidnapper, in the wild heat and anger of the moment, I would support ANY technique that would extract the information. I do have blood flowing through my veins, not ice water. But this is precisely why we build layers into the justice system between the victim and the perpetrator, so that the perpetrator is treated humanely, and hopefully, as their deeds deserve in the end.

Taking the long view, how can a nation that practices insidious interrogation methods not be resented for decades to come, allowing the seeds for future wars to be planted? Even if torture did save a few lives in the short run, would it not condemn future innocents over the long haul? But even more importantly, is it ever right to "do evil that good may come?"

Now, having said all of that...humiliation should not be equated with torture. Forcing Islamic male prisoners to wear panties on their heads, a la the Abu Ghraib debacle, is not something I would advocate either, but it is not torture; it does not involve physical pain. I am also not opposed to aggressive interrogation techniques, such as calibrated sleep deprivation, loud music and similar measures.

I don't like waterboarding, though; if it isn't torture, it is the illusion of the same, although my wife disagrees (yes, she supports it). But those who practiced it on the very few occasions that it was done did so under the full consent of law that was unchallenged. And by all accounts, Nancy Pelosi and her fellow Democrats who are now burning with indignation over such "OUTRAGES" sat in the very committee hearings where it was approved, and raised no objections. Zip. Zero. Nada. What a bunch of plastic phonies.

So there is my position, nuanced as it is; I suppose some would characterize it as inconsistent.