225 Religious Groups Call on Gonzales to Oppose Torture
In an open letter to Attorney General nominee Alberto Gonzales, 225 religous leaders from a variety of faiths have joined together to demand that Gonzales denounce all torture. The signers represent Catholic, Protestant, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh leaders from across the United States. Also represented are Latino religious leaders, some of whom are evangelical Christians, like Gonzales. The letter will be released at a press conference today. Here's some of the letter:
As a self-professed evangelical Christian, you surely know that all people are created in the image of God. You see it as a moral imperative to treat each human being with reverence and dignity. We invite you to affirm with us that we are all are made in the image of God – every human being. We invite you to acknowledge that no legal category created by mere mortals can revoke that status. You understand that torture – the deliberate effort to undermine human dignity – is a grave sin and affront to God. You would not deny that the systemic use of torture on prisoners at Abu Ghraib was fundamentally immoral, as is the deliberate rendering of any detainee to authorities likely to commit torture.
We urge you to declare that any attempt to undermine international standards on torture, renditions, or habeas corpus is not only wrong but sinful. We are concerned that as White House counsel you have shown a troubling disregard for international laws against torture, for the legal rights of suspected "enemy combatants," and for the adverse consequences your decisions have had at home and abroad.
Here's what they want Gonzales to renounce:
• To denounce the use of torture under any circumstances;
• To affirm, with the Supreme Court, that it is unconstitutional to imprison anyone designated as an "enemy combatant" for months without access to lawyers or the right to challenge their detentions in court;
• To affirm the binding legality of the Geneva Conventions and the laws of war;
• And to reject the practice of "extraordinary rendition," at home and abroad, by which terrorist suspects are sent to countries that practice torture for interrogation.
The letter campaign was initiated by Church Folks for a Better America and its organizer, Dr. George Hunsinger, Professor of Systemic Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary, who happens to be a long-time reader and commenter at TalkLeft.
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