By Mike Leno I could have written a nice warm fuzzy holiday article this month; the literary equivalent of a Thomas Kinkade painting. But besides the fact that I remain averse to greeting card religion—all pretty pictures and euphemistic content, I felt I had some unfinished business to attend to. But don’t despair. Maybe by Christmas I’ll get back to being nice. Maybe. The last edition of GraceNotes elicited some strong reactions, both positive and constructively critical. (See "Swords and Plowshares, Guns and Golf Clubs" at http://mikeleno.net) I had a premonition that some might take exception to a few things, especially the phrase, “government sponsored thugs.” But whatever your reaction, I sincerely thank you for your comments.
When I first started writing this month’s article I wanted to defend my politics, especially in view of one suggestion that I might be reflecting some kind of socialist propaganda. At the other extreme, one person admonished me not to apologize for criticizing the war. But the truth is my politics don’t matter. Although I intentionally used inflammatory language to call attention to our sinful condition, I consciously avoided giving an opinion about the recent U.S. elections or the war in Iraq. And even though it’s probably obvious that I have conservative leanings in many areas, I try very hard not to mingle politics and religion. As a private citizen, I have certain political views that I feel strongly about. But as a pastor and writer on religious topics, I do not seek to propagate those views, however right I might think they are. I remain convicted, however, that spiritual leaders must at times serve as a public conscience in regard to moral issues. And torture is a moral issue. It belongs in a category of evil, reprehensible and sinful behavior that is as opposite of grace as a human being can do. But whether I happen to be conservative, liberal, libertarian or socialist remains irrelevant. At the risk of sounding defensive, I will assure you that my comments last month were in no way meant as a lack of support for our military personnel. I have been proud to publicly support our troops, most notably at the funeral of Private First Class Diego Rincon, which I presided over in my church in Georgia. (See article at this link: http://mikeleno.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=42&Itemid=73.) Interestingly, a four star general, James T. Hill, attended that funeral and we were honored by his presence. At that time he was the commander of U.S. military operations in the area of the world called the “Southern Command,” based in Miami. One year later he was answering questions from the media regarding the treatment of detainees at Guantanamo Bay (see http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/library/news/2004/06/mil-040603-dod02.htm). If you really doubt that anyone in the employ of the United States has used torture recently, do your own Google search on U.S. torture, waterboarding or similar terms. The evidence remains nauseatingly clear. And the fact that there are nations and terrorist groups who do far worse remains irrelevant. My point last month was that we all suffer from the sinful inclination to want our enemies to suffer. Those who use torture and defend it are by definition thugs. Their actions fall into the category of intentional and premeditated cruelty. But there are different degrees of thuggery. My point was and remains that we all, in our heart of hearts, have some of that in us. It is our human condition and we should continually repent of it. The fact that some want to defend the use of torture in some circumstances or attempt to define the exact legal limit of physical and/or psychological stress only demonstrates my point. I will not extend this essay into the dark realm of what it means to use torture. I will simply say that one of the better parts of our human nature is our ability to feel what another human is feeling, at least to a degree. When we intentionally turn that off and go toward the opposite extreme, which is to find pleasure or utility in causing unbearable and persistent pain, we lose an important part of our humanity. We also become as bad as or worse than the evil we think we are fighting. If you want a military, ex-POW point of view on the use of torture read John McCain's Newsweek article of a year ago at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10019179/site/newsweek/from/ET/. Jesus said to love your enemies. We could split hairs over what exactly that means and how we should apply it in a war situation. I respect, for example, those who support the military without bearing arms. Desmond Doss will always remain one of my heroes. But I also sympathize with those who say that participating in the military and at the same time refusing to bear arms constitutes an inherently contradictory position. If defending our country remains a necessary and honorable occupation, how can a soldier require others to do the work that he or she approves of but won’t do? There are many legitimate areas of discussion including a lot of things that we can disagree about and still remain Christian friends. But I'm more concerned about the obvious. Is there really any doubt about the answer to the question, would Jesus torture his enemies? I guess there is, depending one’s view of God; and one’s view of hell. To demonstrate the obvious I will now turn the discussion on its head. I offer the following satire as an example of what I'm sure Jesus did not mean. I mean it as neither sarcastic nor sacrilegious. And I certainly do not find it funny. If it seems disrespectful of our Lord to put such horrible things in his mouth, I do it to protest our horrible tendency to use cruelty and claim some kind of moral high ground at the same time. I also protest the way our fallen nature perverts the truth about God. If given the chance, we would surely make God in our image. Thank God we don’t have that option. And Jesus taught them saying, “You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, that you may be sons of your Father in heaven. He causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matthew 5:43-45) And his disciples came to him privately saying, “This is a hard saying. How can it be applied to real life? Explain to us its meaning including the exceptions thereof.” And Jesus commanded them to bring a scroll and write the meaning and exceptions on it as he spoke. “For,” he said, “in as much as you have done in the least of these, you have done them in for me.” And he continued saying, Blessed are you when you love your enemies. But if they are really bad you must cause them to suffer as much as is legally allowed. For you will be justified. And your reputation will spread throughout the world. Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you for righteousness sake, for your revenge will be that much sweeter. And one day you will cause even greater pain and destruction than your enemies. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also. But if he is from the axis of evil or from the liberal media you must hit him first and hit him hard lest he take advantage of you. I tell you that anyone who is angry with his brother will be subject to judgment. But you may cause as much suffering as necessary to an enemy combatant or detainee, as long as you leave it up to military contractors and countries that do not have laws against torture. But do not put the pictures on the internet. Let the children suffer when they come unto me. For if they do not love me, I will torture them in hell. Of such is the kingdom of heaven. And seeing the palace of Herod, Jesus said, “Behold, the day is coming and has now come when the kingdom of heaven will use the sword and the rack rather than the Spirit and the word. And you will be blessed when you waterboard your enemies.” And his disciples questioned him saying, “What will be the sign of this and when will we be able to inflict suffering rather than be the victims?” And Jesus said, “When you see a beast with lamb-like horns speaking and acting like a dragon, you know that the time has come. Behold, as Rome is now, so you shall be. And when the kingdom has come, you shall reign with me and enjoy the screams of the damned forever. And the disciples went on their way saying to themselves, “We’re sorry we asked.” |
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