From TroyHamby.com
Christian Torture.
There are some things in life that seem to be no brainers. Things like: the Orioles will never, ever make the playoffs again…”Shawshank Redemption” is one of the best movies ever made…and Christian’s should never advocate torture of another human being. But, I’ve found out recently that it is absolutely acceptable for a follower of Jesus Christ to advocate going Jack Bauer on a terrorist as long it saves lives.
Let’s listen to the wisdom of Chuck Colson on this subject: Colson said that Christians are supposed to obey the law, but there may be times when there is a higher obligation, such as ignoring a “no trespassing” sign to rescue a drowning man.
“So it is with torture,” Colson wrote. “If a competent authority honestly believes that this was the only way to get information that might save the lives of thousands, I believe he would be justified.” All I have to say is WWWWHHHHAAAATTTT the heck is he talking about???
How in the world can Colson, or ANY other Christian, justify torturing another human being? Don’t give me that crap of “well, we need to be obedient to those governing over us…blah, blah, blah.” Our allegiance to Christ supercedes ANY governing body or worldly authority system and Christ is a man of PEACE and LOVE, not torture! How can Colson reconcile his position in the face of scriptures like:
*”A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another” (John 13:34). Now does Colson seriously think that Christ would torture a suspected terrorist to get info from him? Would Colson torture one of his church members if it would save the lives of thousands?
*”But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.” (Luke 6:27-28). Love, do good, bless and pray for your enemies UNLESS you can get some good intel from them. Give me a break!
*Anyone who claims to be in the light but hates his brother is still in the darkness. Whoever loves his brother lives in the light, and there is nothing in him to make him stumble (1 John 2:9-10). I don’t know about you but if someone waterboarded me or attached jumper cables to me, I would probably think that they hated me. So, how can any follower of Christ claim that he lives in the light of Christ while thinking that it’s okay if someone is tortured for information.
Now, I know some will ask “well Troy, what if your son was kidnapped and the only way to find out his location was to torture someone…would you do it then?” I would like to say that I wouldn’t but I probably would. The difference is that I wouldn’t use scripture to justify it and I definitely wouldn’t think Jesus would be cool with what I was doing. I understand the heart behind what Colson and others are saying here…terrorists are despicible people and we need to stop them by any means necessary. But, PLEASE stop saying that it would be justified by Biblical standards and that torture is morally acceptable under certain circumstances. IT’S NOT!
The Insurrectionist 
but don’t you love your country? jack bauer does, that’s obvious.
Excellent post Troy. It’s a shame how many people who claim allegiance to Jesus would immediately reply to you with nothing more than, “Yeah, but…” Greg Boyd said that the kingdom of God is easy to spot because it always looks like Jesus. What a sad thing to know that that’s simply not enough for many who call themselves His followers.
you would be shocked the crap that I put up with because of my stance on Christians not torturing people! I’ve had pastors say that there are justifiable circumstances and I’m basically a peace loving wuss who doesn’t love America. It’s just amazing to me how we’ve perverted the uncompromising love of Christ by combining it with politics and “what if” circumstances. I’m all for the CIA waterboarding terrorists if that saves lives but let’s not quote scripture to justify it.
What is your view of christians serving in the military?
Good question Dusty.
Personally, I believe in having a military. I also believe in the theory of a “just war”…but I don’t think we’ve seen many of those lately.
-ed.
The problem seems to lie in who gets to decide the war is “just?” Our nation only represents 5% of the world’s population, but we’re convinced that if it serves our interests, it serves the interests of the other 95%. Kind of like a particular denomination I know of whose total world-wide membership represents 0.1% of the world’s population, but acts like it’s the center-piece of the kingdom of God. But then, I’m getting off point, aren’t I?
I agree. That’s why I said “the theory of a just war”.
I remember taking a class with Jimmy Catlette on the idea of just war. It was fascinating. It also pretty much proved to me that they are mighty hard to come by.
it seems that many advocating torture and pre-emptive war do so out of a deep fear. it’s not encouraging that so many christians live in that kind of fear. it seems (at least to me) that many pastors and christian leaders do not help alleviate fear but promote it. they use fear as a tool for manipulation.
Agreed Mike. Since perfect love removes all fear, I wonder what type of “love” the people to whom you’re referring have tapped into?
I had to write a 15 page paper on just war for Dr. Powery at Lee…I can’t remember which side I came down on.