10 April 2007
PUBLIC MORALITY - HAVE WE LOST OUR WAY?
In another recent example of the questioning of the morality of the actions of its government, the National Association of Evangelicals in the United States has endorsed an anti-torture statement saying their nation has crossed "boundaries of what is legally and morally permissible" in its treatment of detainees and war prisoners in the fight against terror.
Human rights violations committed in the name of preventing terrorist attacks have made the country look hypocritical to the Muslim world, the document states. Christians have an obligation rooted in Scripture to help Americans "regain our moral clarity."
"Our military and intelligence forces have worked diligently to prevent further attacks. But such efforts must not include measures that violate our own core values," the document says. "The United States historically has been a leader in supporting international human rights efforts, but our moral vision has blurred since 9-11."
Similar questions have been raised in Australia. The Law Council of Australia, the peak national body representing the legal profession in this country, has been scathing in its criticism of the Government’s handling of the Hicks case.
Prominent Australian legal figures have even stated that the Prime Minister and Attorney General have been guilty of serious crimes themselves in their deliberate breaking of Australian law in the case of David Hicks, and in their justification of the use of coercive interrogation techniques for such prisoners.
It is a disturbing situation reminiscent of Nazi Germany in the 1930’s if the national government can ignore the law and discriminate against its citizens while large sections of the Australian population apparently remain unconcerned.
Human rights violations committed in the name of preventing terrorist attacks have made the country look hypocritical to the Muslim world, the document states. Christians have an obligation rooted in Scripture to help Americans "regain our moral clarity."
"Our military and intelligence forces have worked diligently to prevent further attacks. But such efforts must not include measures that violate our own core values," the document says. "The United States historically has been a leader in supporting international human rights efforts, but our moral vision has blurred since 9-11."
Similar questions have been raised in Australia. The Law Council of Australia, the peak national body representing the legal profession in this country, has been scathing in its criticism of the Government’s handling of the Hicks case.
Prominent Australian legal figures have even stated that the Prime Minister and Attorney General have been guilty of serious crimes themselves in their deliberate breaking of Australian law in the case of David Hicks, and in their justification of the use of coercive interrogation techniques for such prisoners.
It is a disturbing situation reminiscent of Nazi Germany in the 1930’s if the national government can ignore the law and discriminate against its citizens while large sections of the Australian population apparently remain unconcerned.
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