Interesting post covering the Catholic Church's stand on torture. Although I can't agree with all of the article's conclusions, its list of reasons used *justifying* torture is highly entertaining:
11. This amnesia also accounts for another favorite rhetorical trope: The "9/11 Changed Everything" cry of Generation Narcissus. Being a Generation that fancies itself the summit of all human history, it is a generation that tends to talk as Never Before Have We Faced Such Evil. Therefore, war crimes are okay because it not like we're fighting pantywaists like Nazis and Communists. We are the grand exception to the general rule against war crimes because our enemies are uniquely, extra-special super-duper evil. Ours is a high and lonely destiny, etc. blah blah...
...The basic guidelines the Church proposes are pretty simple
1. Don't do evil that good may come of it.
2. Some things are intrinsically evil, meaning you *can't* do them under any circumstance.
3. Torture is one of these things.
4. If you are confused about what "torture" is, then bear in mind the Church's *other* command, which is that we must treat prisoners humanely, not merely "not torture them". Aim for that, and you won't accidently torture them.
5. Seek the intelligence you need while bearing in mind the above.
Read more here.
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