Evangelicals Step In It Again

First it was global warming, and now a group of prominent evangelicals is blindly stepping into the political process once again - this time accusing the United States of torture (h/t Blogotional):

Twenty-seven religious leaders, including megachurch pastor Rick Warren, Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel and Cardinal Theodore E. McCarrick of Washington, have signed a statement urging the United States to "abolish torture now -- without exceptions."

The statement, being published in newspaper advertisements starting today, is the opening salvo of a new organization called the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, which has formed in response to allegations of human rights abuse at U.S. detention centers in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Titled "Torture is a Moral Issue," the statement says that torture "violates the basic dignity of the human person" and "contradicts our nation's most cherished values." "Nothing less is at stake in the torture abuse crisis than the soul of our nation. What does it signify if torture is condemned in word but allowed in deed?" it asks.

The only reason you call for a ban is if you think the United States currently has a policy condoning torture, which is pure nonsense. This leftward move by people who are supposed to know better gives all evangelicals a bad name, and frankly, I'm tired of having these people held up as the standard by which the rest of us are supposed to operate politically.

Consequently, I've removed the "religious" conservative description from my Blogger profile lest some mistakenly associate me with this group of probably well-meaning, but naive people. It almost makes you want to retire from the evangelical movement altogether.

So, here's a question for all these learned evangelicals: Let's say we've caught a member of a terrorist cell that we believe is planning to set off a dirty nuke bomb, say, on a Sunday morning at Saddleback Church. The perp won't spill his guts using conventional means, so the only way to head off this attack is torture. Which is the greater moral act:

1. Torturing the perp and getting the information that will allow you to prevent the attack and save thousands of lives?

2. Sitting on your moral high horse and risking the possibility that the attack might go forward killing thousands of your fellow evangelicals?

If you choose number 2, be sure you stick around after church to help count the bodies.

It's disappointing to see such smart people make such dumb decisions.