Fred Clark of Slacktivist points to the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, and specifically their Banners Across America project:
NRCAT is making June the month for Banners Across America! We are asking congregations of all sizes, from every state, and all faiths, to join in a public witness against torture by displaying a banner outside their place of worship during Torture Awareness Month (June 2008).
Our goal is to have banners displayed by NRCAT member congregations in all 50 states, DC, and Puerto Rico.
(Update: Note that the map is deceptive– they have a list of 200-ish participating congregations linked from that page).
It’s sad that anyone in this country, in this day and age, needs to launch this sort of project. But I applaud their efforts to remind people of basic human decency. As Fred says, though, why stop there?
“Torture is wrong” is a statement every religious congregation can agree to bear witness to, but it is not exclusively a religious testimony. Next to the banners on every church on Main Street I’d like to see other banners: “Little Anthony’s Pizza says ‘torture is wrong,'” “Prime Cuts Salon says ‘torture is wrong,'” “John’s Tavern says ‘torture is wrong.'”
Can I get a witness?
Amen, brother.
Torture is wrong. Pass it on.
Judging from their map of states with participating congregations, they’re not doing too well, so far only Mississippi is listed.
I’m not all that suprised, the Bush Administration has done a pretty good job of selling the idea that our enhanced interrogation techniques do not add up to torture. Besides, who wants to admit that we torture?
Today’s news contains a survey of FBI agents who say we are doing things that would be illegal in the United States. They refused to participate when officially approved illegal acts started, so they don’t always know how far it went.
Judging from their map of states with participating congregations, they’re not doing too well, so far only Mississippi is listed.
They just haven’t updated their map. Or, possibly, their color definitions are bad.
If you click on the link that says “Click here for a list of participating congregations by state,” you’ll find 200-ish churches that have signed on.
Christianity’s Inquisition is the explicit Official line on torture – that which does not draw blood is sanctioned. The contemporary pharmaceutical armamentarium is eschewed in favor of classic physical abuse. The object of torture is not obtention of information – nor was it ever. Mutilation is educative.