I hate Fox News....I really, really do....I usually question the sanity of those folks who gather all of their news from the 'fair and balanced' hystrionics from Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity and the like. But time and again, I find myself listening to Shep Smith and smile and nod my head - he makes sense!!!
Here's today's example:
Thursday, April 23, 2009
"We Don't Torture"...oh, maybe we do
This article from themoderatevoice.com pretty much summarizes my feelings about this ugly, ugly business on torture....
Losing Our Lives in the Process of Saving Them
April 22nd, 2009 By PETE ABEL, Managing Editor
Of the endless cascade of reports, posts, and conversations this week on recent-past U.S. torture practices, there are three that perhaps bother me more than all the rest.
The first can be found at the end of this CSM report:
Interrogators, who spoke to the [New York] Times on condition of anonymity, said they believed Zubaydah told them everything he knew before waterboarding began. They communicated this to agency higher-ups in Washington, who nonetheless insisted on the use of the practice, and asked to watch it take place.
The second is Andrew Sullivan’s spotlight on potential hypocrisy by at least one influential member of Congress, who is presumably among those “outraged” by the most recent revelations.
The third can’t be linked. It was a brief exchange I had with an old college friend Monday night — a fleeting segment from a much larger conversation about what the hell we had each been up to in the last umpteen years. A devout Catholic, this old college friend dismissed the entire torture issue as much ado about nothing.
No matter one’s religion or politics, I can’t understand how any of us can take a cavalier stance on this topic, not in the face of the flood of evidence we’ve now seen. No, I don’t want another terrorist attack. In fact, I think it’s entirely reasonable to assume no American does. But at what price are we willing to save ourselves? Where in the process of protecting America do we cross the line Jesus clearly demarcated in Luke 9:24-25?
… whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit will a person have if he gains the whole world, but destroys himself or is lost?
I think it’s pretty damn clear that line — between saving and losing our lives — was already crossed. Nor am I convinced we’ve yet done enough to “uncross” it.
Losing Our Lives in the Process of Saving Them
April 22nd, 2009 By PETE ABEL, Managing Editor
Of the endless cascade of reports, posts, and conversations this week on recent-past U.S. torture practices, there are three that perhaps bother me more than all the rest.
The first can be found at the end of this CSM report:
Interrogators, who spoke to the [New York] Times on condition of anonymity, said they believed Zubaydah told them everything he knew before waterboarding began. They communicated this to agency higher-ups in Washington, who nonetheless insisted on the use of the practice, and asked to watch it take place.
The second is Andrew Sullivan’s spotlight on potential hypocrisy by at least one influential member of Congress, who is presumably among those “outraged” by the most recent revelations.
The third can’t be linked. It was a brief exchange I had with an old college friend Monday night — a fleeting segment from a much larger conversation about what the hell we had each been up to in the last umpteen years. A devout Catholic, this old college friend dismissed the entire torture issue as much ado about nothing.
No matter one’s religion or politics, I can’t understand how any of us can take a cavalier stance on this topic, not in the face of the flood of evidence we’ve now seen. No, I don’t want another terrorist attack. In fact, I think it’s entirely reasonable to assume no American does. But at what price are we willing to save ourselves? Where in the process of protecting America do we cross the line Jesus clearly demarcated in Luke 9:24-25?
… whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it. What profit will a person have if he gains the whole world, but destroys himself or is lost?
I think it’s pretty damn clear that line — between saving and losing our lives — was already crossed. Nor am I convinced we’ve yet done enough to “uncross” it.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Christianity in America
There's a really good article in this week's Newsweek that covers the latest information on the growth (or no-growth) of Christianity in America.
It summarized pretty susinctly what I've been thinking about my Christian faith and how it really shouldn't be an overt force of being 'the government'. In fact the Bible specifically tells us not to rely on the government, but to really focus on our own relationship with Jesus and with one another. And that shouldn't be mandated through law.
Seriously, if this country were ever somehow to become a 'Beeda Beeda Country' where Beeda Beeda was some new faith that believed it illegal to own dogs and allow women to vote, I sure wouldn't want all of the Beeda Beeda politicians mandating that in the law.
Anyway, pretty insightful stuff....
It summarized pretty susinctly what I've been thinking about my Christian faith and how it really shouldn't be an overt force of being 'the government'. In fact the Bible specifically tells us not to rely on the government, but to really focus on our own relationship with Jesus and with one another. And that shouldn't be mandated through law.
Seriously, if this country were ever somehow to become a 'Beeda Beeda Country' where Beeda Beeda was some new faith that believed it illegal to own dogs and allow women to vote, I sure wouldn't want all of the Beeda Beeda politicians mandating that in the law.
Anyway, pretty insightful stuff....
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