PBS broadcast about the number one issue of our time in America
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
Please listen out there: for what it’s worth, though abortion is a sinful sign of the Fall from God’s once and future plan for us, that is not the issue that threatens to destroy the special destiny of America (and I do believe that we were called to such a destiny). Until April 2003 (the date of the Abu Ghraib revelations) I thought the defining issue was capital punishment, and in some ways it still is; but if we look unblinkingly upon the brutalizing effects of harsh treatment of prisoners, not only upon the captives themselves but also (and especially) upon its perpetrators (much data is available), then the number-one issue that transforms fresh-faced sons and daughters of Christian America into torturers is the Bush administration-sponsored short-cutting of the Geneva Conventions. Actually, never mind the Genevas–what about simple human decency? What about the fundamental Christian calling to be merciful to those who are entirely in our power?
Anyway, if you didn’t see the PBS program (and probably very few did) here is a link to the New York Times review of it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/10/18/arts/television/18stan.html?ex=1130299200&en=81308dcea4a886c0&ei=5070
Better still, go to the PBS site for direct contact with the documentary itself.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/torture/
