As South Africa pulled out from under apartheid after decades of what victims termed "state terrorism," President Nelson Mandela established a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to uncover government abuse - not with an eye to punishing miscreants but in order to bring the truth into the open.
One can see how such a process might be cathartic after a war, when the magnitude of diabolical behavior on the part of hundreds of people from all sides defies any mere penal system to set aright. "Guilt," in this instance, is determined by a victim and not a jury of one's peers, which, in politically charged situations, may not be obtainable. And "justice" isn't measured in terms of punishment or restitution but in forgiveness.
One can also see how such a process might be politicized. When critics of Bush administration policies call for a "Truth Commission" about torture, they are talking about something "more than" an investigation - which is valid where evidence of wrongdoing exists - or a public debate. An investigation and public debate about whether the American government uses torture as a matter of policy would be highly appropriate. However, what they really are seeking is a public humbling that requires nothing of the law's stringencies, accompanied by a one-sided monologue. That's a good deal less useful if the motive is to declaw the government rather than to elevate its moral framework.
David Gushee, a Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics at Mercer University, believes torture is always - without exception, including "torture lite" - morally wrong. To promote his position, Gushee is president of Evangelicals for Human Rights, an organization calling for "a zero-tolerance stance on torture by any government for any reason." He's also writing a book about the sanctity of human life and is one of those calling for a "Truth Commission" into instances of alleged US torture.
Gushee might have been a persuasive voice for the Culture of Life if his arguments against torture hadn't been drowned in progressive hypocrisy. For Dr. Gushee is also the coauthor of "Christians Find Common Ground on Abortion, Gay Rights" with Faith in Public Life's director of communications strategy, Katie Paris, and Third Way's culture programs director, Rachel Laser. Together, they write:
We're proud of the governing agenda we created: reducing abortions, protecting the rights of gays and lesbians in the workplace, reforming our broken immigration system, and abolishing torture.
OK, let's turn this around. Suppose the agenda called for reducing torture rather than abortion? Suppose it called for abolishing abortion? Suppose it advocated a Truth Commission for all those who have contributed to the social inculcation of abortion - not only those who tore to pieces or burned infants inside their mothers' wombs but those who legislated such brutality and propagandized for it. Reconciliation should include - as Gushee recommended for his Truth Commission about torture - the wrongdoer's acknowledgment of responsibility, confession of the act as sin, expression of grief for any harm done, serious commitment to a new course of action and request for forgiveness.
You do that and I'll take your position against torture - which isn't a bad position, mind you - seriously.
Stephanie Block is the editor of the New Mexico-basedLos Pequenos newspaper and a founder of the Catholic Media Coalition.
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