Editorial -- Torture
Dissolving terror at the root
Lay aside the idea that we are not responsible for the foreign policy of our nation. As citizens in a democracy, we are complicit in the policies made by our representatives. And as residents of a state where our representatives play a prominent national role, we Alaskans have a special responsibility, even if we don’t know what destructive acts are taking place in our name.
True, the problems raised by terrorism and the war on terrorism are difficult to solve. We have a right (and a need) to protect ourselves from our enemies. We cannot let terrorists attack innocent civilians, especially when the victims are our own citizens. In the nightmarish world of national security, brutality seems to be the only effective response to the viciousness of our foes.
This quandary is a revealing example of how political news (whether of the right, the left or the middle) frames questions that are not fit for our use. There is no resolution to these flawed presuppositions and the dilemmas they produce.
When you enter the political arena the ability to resolve human problems at their source is lost. Instead, compromises are heaped upon compromises, and the temptation to use inhumane means becomes overwhelming. If you stand too close to the abyss, you will fall in. If you fall into that void, there is no way out.
Cruelty, enmity, and brutality are deeply rooted in human nature, but not inevitable. There is a regime in which these qualities do not arise, and this is the culture we must give birth to. In that world we would not have to ask whether torture or murder were acceptable, because they would be simply unthinkable. The inclination would not enter one’s mind. In that regime humanity would be lifted at least to the level of animals (none of whom ever acted with malice), and the mystery, beauty, and love of life would reign.
Belief in the defectiveness of politics does not imply that we intend to avoid present reality. There is another form of active participation in society. That is why, in the pages of this newspaper, we are striving to seek out and publicize the crucial fields in which we are complicit in harmful acts.
It is the news of the small-minded and the misconceived which can lead us to a point where these perennial problems can be resolved. In this special place, terrorism and the fight against terrorism are dissolved at the root. In this clash of paradigms, the regime of the crude is at odds with a culture of care and understanding - a culture which has the power to reach twisted hearts and rescue lost souls.
The very nature of what it means to be an American is changing, but it is not our politicians who are guilty, of electric shocks, beatings, humiliation, and deprivation of sleep and food. In fact, this is the hidden nature of our peaceful life, a product of the culture we ourselves produce, by living into reality our identity.
There is a spectrum of torture, from direct physical torture, to psychological torture (both now active elements in our war against terrorism), to the tortuous struggle we all face in living in a political culture that suppresses what is important and leads to addiction, mediocrity, and isolation. America was founded on idealistic principles, and we can restore these and even improve them. But we must begin by recognizing the falsity of political choice, and the power of choice that originates in humility.
For more information about the culture of care we want to build, go to our website humanitynews.net and click on ‘Creating centers.’ Come to our meeting on ‘Elemental Society,’ Thursday, October 27 at 7pm (See page 12 for details).