Tuesday, October 17, 2006

Christian Extremists on "Torture"

Rick Scarborough of Vision America and his evangelical nutbag preachers of the Gospel of Hate amaze me more and more every day.

You can bet your ass that Vision America, Rick Scarborough, AFA, Focus on the Family, CWA, Jerry Falwell, Pat Robertson, the Republican Party of Texas, cult leader Rev. Moon, and all the other clowns in the parade have a very strict game plan on most issues. They torture those of us who are Christian and homosexual every day. They spread messages of hate about gays and lesbian people which lead to acts of violence and murder every year. You might think that one thing these fanatics might be opposed to is TORTURE. Amazingly, they are not.

Rev. Scarborough - here is some History of the Christian Church in regards to torture:

"...But against all these powers were the words of Jesus, bidding men 'Love your enemies' 'Do good to them that despitefully use you!' and the like commands.working everywhere on individual souls, heard from pulpits and in monasteries, read over by humble believers, and slowly making their way against barbaric passion and hierarchic cruelty. Gradually, in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, the books containing the message of Jesus circulated among all classes, and produced that state of mind and heart in which torture could not be used on a fellow-being, and in which such an abuse and enormity as the Inquisition was hurled to the earth."


http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/editorial/15634263.htm

Rev. Rick Scarborough of Vision America in Lufkin, Texas
--where do you stand on torture?

Rick Scarborough If you think torture (and hate and lies)are good values for any Christian, then you have been hanging out with creeps and liars like Mr. and Mrs. Tom Delay.

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Editorial by Randall Balmer
Professor of American Religious History, Columbia University
September 29, 2006
Philadelphia Inquirer

Here is an excerpt from the full article in the Philadelphia Inquirer
Similarly, the religious right has been silent on the matter of torture, conducted either by American personnel in Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo Bay or by proxy in places like Egypt and Syria under a cynical policy known as "extraordinary rendition."

Several months ago, I canvassed eight prominent religious right organizations, including the Moral Majority Coalition, Falwell's group, for their views on torture. My query was straightforward: Please send me, I asked, a copy of your organization's position on the use of torture. These are groups that have detailed position papers on everything, including stem-cell research and same-sex unions, yet only two answered my query. Both of them defended the Bush administration's policies on torture. No organization associated with the religious right has yet, to my knowledge, summoned the will to issue a statement of unequivocal opposition to the use of torture.

These are people who claim to be "pro-life" and who profess to hear a "fetal scream." Yet they turn a deaf ear to the very real screams of fully formed human beings who are tortured in our name.

The religious right's indifference toward the ethical issues surrounding war and torture is hardly befitting those who designate themselves the moral arbiters of our society. If my fellow evangelicals aspire to be the conscience of America, they had better liberate themselves from their captivity to the Republican Party and to the morally bankrupt policies of the Bush administration.


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Similarly, the religious right has been silent on the matter of torture, conducted either by American personnel in Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo Bay or by proxy in places like Egypt and Syria under a cynical policy known as "extraordinary rendition."

Several months ago, I canvassed eight prominent religious right organizations, including the Moral Majority Coalition, Falwell's group, for their views on torture. My query was straightforward: Please send me, I asked, a copy of your organization's position on the use of torture. These are groups that have detailed position papers on everything, including stem-cell research and same-sex unions, yet only two answered my query. Both of them defended the Bush administration's policies on torture. No organization associated with the religious right has yet, to my knowledge, summoned the will to issue a statement of unequivocal opposition to the use of torture.

These are people who claim to be "pro-life" and who profess to hear a "fetal scream." Yet they turn a deaf ear to the very real screams of fully formed human beings who are tortured in our name.

The religious rights' indifference toward the ethical issues surrounding war and torture is hardly befitting those who designate themselves the moral arbiters of our society. If my fellow evangelicals aspire to be the conscience of America, they had better liberate themselves from their captivity to the Republican Party and to the morally bankrupt policies of the Bush administration.


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Does Republican leadership see the Christian leader wackos as a bunch of "wackos" --sounds like it. Link to the Tucker Carlson comment.

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