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Thursday, August 16, 2007
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Religious Community Mobilizes Against Torture
August is often written off by political insiders as a "dead" month; Congress is out of town and the stifling heat and humidity seem to drain the energy out of even the most dedicated advocates.
For the ever-expanding coalition of people of faith opposing torture, August is anything but dull. Religious groups such as the National Religious Campaign Against Torture (NRCAT) are at the center of a growing movement dedicated to ending U.S. sponsored torture, and they are currently preparing for a key legislative test: the Department of Defense authorization bill, set to come up for debate when Congress returns in September.
Opposition to torture is quickly becoming a bridge issue for people of faith across ideological divides. William Fisher describes the coming together of "an increasingly robust and sophisticated lobbying and grassroots action campaign" led by NRCAT and composed of people of faith from diverse traditions.
Evangelical Christians are a new key crossover constituency. Although Fisher's article states that this community has been reluctant to oppose administration interrogation tactics in the past, Evangelicals are now some of the strongest voices against torture. Their numbers and influence continue to grow--the group Evangelicals for Human Rights was recently profiled in the New York Times (subscription required), and their landmark statement condemning torture on scriptural grounds, "An Evangelical Declaration Against Torture," even received accolades from Richard John Neuhaus, editor of the influential conservative journal First Things.
This increased momentum and attention comes at a crucial moment for torture policy. The Bush Administration recently reaffirmed its intent to use what it calls "robust interrogation tactics" in this executive order on interrogation policy. The new interpretation of the Geneva Conventions put forward in the order was condemned by both religious leaders and former military officials.
Although Congress has yet to take any meaningful steps to correct U.S. detainee policy--it failed to pass a bill sponsored by Sen. Chris Dodd that would restore habeas corpus and other human rights provisions for detainees, which were stripped away by the 2006 Military Commissions Act--anti-torture advocates will soon have another chance to achieve their goals.
In September, Congress is scheduled to consider the authorization bill for the Department of Defense, and NRCAT and others will be pushing for Congress to include portions of the Dodd bill as amendments. The advocates are optimistic, but only cautiously so. Most major religious and ethical systems reject torture, but political concerns heading into the 2008 elections may yet again trump moral convictions for lawmakers.
Regardless of the immediate political outcome, people of faith are seizing this unique moment of opportunity to take a strong stand for their values and for basic human dignity.
