Rachel Held Evans

Torture and Lies

Last week, President Obama’s Justice Department published previously classified memos that outlined the Bush administration’s legal justification for torturing detainees. According to the memos, techniques included waterboarding, walling (hitting a detainee repeatedly against a wall), facial holds and slaps, stress positions, sleep deprivation, and releasing insects into a confinement box.

All of this was going on while President Bush defiantly declared in a press conference that “we do not torture,” which reminds me of Bill Clinton’s infamous words, “I did not have sex with that woman.” Both were lies...or at least stretches of the truth.  But which lie was worse? Which had more implications for our country?

What are your thoughts on torture? At what point does a person forfeit his or her right to be treated humanely?

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