Observations and inanities by a second-shift assistant supervisor in the Puppy-Grinding division of the Evil Atheist Conspiracy® (our motto: "Sure it's cruel, but think of the jobs!"), your host, Brent Rasmussen.
Oh, for cryin' out loud . . .
You've probably heard about the 'Mancow Torture Video' by now - in which the talk show host has himself subjected to a little waterboarding experiment. It was covered on most of the political blogs I check, and even NPR did a piece on it Saturday. It struck me as mostly a publicity stunt (but then, I'm a cynical bastard), but it was at least noteworthy for the fact that Mancow, who had previously supported the use of waterboarding and considered it little more than splashing water on someone's face, was forced to admit that he considered it "absolute torture".
Anyway, here's an excerpt from a message sent to Andrew Sullivan, which he posted on his blog yesterday:
3) Watch Mancow's reaction afterwards closely; look for the micro-emotions and body language: this guy has been deeply traumatized--I mean psychically, in the original Greek sense of the word: in the soul. Some of it may be attributable to the early experience he mentions of almost drowning as a child, but deeper even than that, Mancow has glimpsed the real evil of torture: every act of torture--even "play" torture like this--betrays the deepest core of human trust: the trust in God.
Why? Because every man, created in the image of God, the imago dei, must--whether he wishes to or not, whether he knows it or not--stand and act in the place of God, with every decision, with every action, in every human relationship. The torturer therefore does not simply betray the laws of war, he betrays the imago dei: he betrays God, he betrays the other, he betrays himself, he betrays Trust itself.
Oh, for cryin' out loud. Why bring God into it, except as some kind of rationalization and excuse for the fact that the more religious people are, the more they tend to support torture? I mean, seriously, what is that all about? Torture isn't an 'offense to God', and it doesn't need to be condemned for that. It is purely and simply an offense to human rights and dignity, the sort of thing that none of us would want to be subjected to - nothing more than the Golden Rule needs be applied or understood as being in operation here.
Sheesh. I really wonder about these people.
Jim Downey
Bookmark/Search this post with:
Two seconds
I read a report today that Mancow is having to defend himself from accusations that the demo was faked. Apparently people don't believe he really went through that - or that in two seconds (as one commentator scoffs) you can be traumatized. Or maybe he means that Mancow should have been waterboarded as long as one of the suspects was, and not allowed to stop it when he started to panic?
Yeah, well ...
I admit I wondered about the thing. I mean, he was a skeptic, and then suddenly he's singing the torture tune. It looked to me like he could have held his breath at least a FEW seconds longer than he took to tap out. I say that even as somebody who's almost drowned a couple of times.
I guess it's possible that this particular guy is just a wussie. Now if we could get somebody really tough, truly ultraconservative, to try it ...
I'm thinking Sheriff Joe Arpaio. Or maybe G. Gordon Liddy. Or, hell, Michelle Malkin.
I mean, seriously.
Yeah, I've seen that as well. And I agree with your second interpretation: the real test would be strapped down, hooded, with no control, and in the hands not of your publicist but rather your worst enemy. Do that, and then you're starting to get an honest re-creation.
Jim Downey
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Like Science Fiction? Read *or listen to* my novel, Communion of Dreams, for free.
Torture isn't an offense
Torture isn't an offense against God; it's an offense against the social compact--the most basic, gut-level idea that you can trust the other human beings around you not to go out of their way to hurt you.
No wonder the victim is shaken.