Christianity and Torture

Christianity is incompatiable with the use of torture, and Christians that promote or rationalize its use are wrong. Period.

I have a somewhat lengthy post in my blog on the Jay Bybee memos, and I was one of the first to call for his impeachment. Bybee, sad to say, is a self-described Christian.

http://www.mymallandnews.com/2009/04/impeach-jay-bybee.html

I do want to address a proof text for subserviance to government from Romans 13. That chapter starts: "Let every soul be subject unto the higher power. But there is no power but of God; the powers that are ordained of God."

So the question is: who or what is that power? The interpretation used by most conservatives is that power is synonymous with the executive branch in the United States. But, for anyone who has taken fifth grade civics, this is not true. Authority is derived from the people as embodied in the constitution: "We the People of the United States... establish this Constitution for the United States of America." The books of the prophets are replete with examples of individuals standing in opposition to state-ordained injustice. The Bible doesn't support as I read it blind "my country right or wrong" conservatism.

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