Newsletters

Date: November 27th 2007

Friends,

Torture is hard to talk about. It is hardest, of course, for those who have experienced torture, either as victims or as perpetrators. Years ago, as a young adult volunteer working on the U.S./Mexico border with Central American refugees, I had to learn the Spanish words for all kinds of horrible things that refugees had been subjected to by the death squads of El Salvador and Guatemala. I confess as the numbers of stories shared with me grew from dozens to hundreds, it was difficult to be fully present with the refugees as I helped them to write their stories for an asylum claim.

Years later, just after I was elected Moderator of the General Assembly, I was asked to speak out against torture, and I willingly accepted the task because I believe this is, fundamentally, a question of morality. There are many reasons to stand against torture. It is a totally ineffective way to attempt to get reliable information. It is a crime against humanity. It decreases security for all of us – especially our soldiers. It destroys the lives of both the torturer and the tortured.

Most important to me, however, is that it is just flat out wrong. It was wrong when they tortured Jesus. It was wrong when Jesus' earliest apostles were tortured. It was wrong when members of the early, pre-Constantinian church were tortured. It was dead wrong when Church members carried out torture against those of other religions during the Crusades. It was wrong when Christians tortured and beat their slaves in this country, or when good Christians participated in lynchings of African Americans. Perhaps most important for those of us trying to be faithful in the midst of this time of fear in the United States, it is flat-out wrong right now and we must stand against the temptations and seductions of those who tell us it will bring us security.

You know what the problem is? Good Christians don't seem to want to talk about such a difficult subject in church.

On February 3 to 5, 2008, the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship is teaming up with Columbia, Princeton and Fuller Seminaries and No2Torture to host a conversation for Presbyterian professors and students. The title of the conference is:

Torture, Terror and Security: Theological Considerations for Tomorrow's Leaders.

The goal of the conference will be to discuss how we can make difficult subjects like this one a topic for sermons and adult ed hours Christian Education with our kids. Though there will be some amazing speakers, we've intentionally left the agenda very open for the participants to work together on how to put these questions before the church.

If you are a student or professor at a college or seminary, please plan to be with us for this critically important conversation. Students, please go find your favorite professor and challenge her or him to participate. Get evangelical about this – we need your help.

With huge support from Columbia, we've kept this very cheap (thirty bucks a night if you share a room, plus cheapie meals in the campus dining hall). Travel in and out of Atlanta is reasonable, and you can get to the campus for a couple of bucks by metro.

If you're interested, go to:

http://www.peopleware.net/index.cfm?siteID=572&event=2008LL&subeventDisp=0203TORTUR

There's more info. and a link to register. Hope to see you there.

In search of bold believers,

Rick