Does Torture Save Lives?
Published in La Cronica de Hoy
(Mexico) on 11 November 2010
by Poncho Vera (link to original)
(Mexico) on 11 November 2010
by Poncho Vera (link to original)
Translated from
by Andrew Cuan.
Edited by Celeste Hansen.
No, the ends do not justify the means, especially when they threaten the rights of a human being. If you trample on the dignity of a person, there is no worthwhile reason.
No life is more valuable than another. Whatever is done against a human being cannot be anything good.
If we think that we can attain something positive as a result of torturing someone, we are done for. There is no first-class or second-class person; we are all worth the same.
One of the most controversial characters of recent years, George W. Bush, justifies torture, assuring us that it helps save lives. I do not agree, and repudiate his comments. It seems that the ex-president of the United States is in disagreement with the most basic principles of his country’s Constitution, not to mention the most elementary principles of the French Revolution, which after all was said and done, gave us the basic elements for the development of humanitarian thought in the Western world.
To torture is to humiliate and injure human dignity. Nobody has the right to hurt someone else, either physically or mentally, just to reach an intended end.
Only someone stupid attains what he wants by causing harm to the weak, the imprisoned and the kidnapped. Someone smart obtains things through reasoning.
An animal hits; a human being communicates, debates, and questions. The principal difference between men and animals is reasoning.
If we start justifying stupid practices such as torture, we will be going against the evolution of humanity — the constant search to better ourselves.
And, of course, George W. Bush is more intelligent than I am. After all, he did manage to become president of the United States, although he did it through cheating. He still reached the highest position of the most powerful country in the world… but that does not make him perfect.
Neither war, nor humiliation, nor torture can make someone with any sense of goodness feel proud. I hate the double standard that preaches the message of equality and respect, and on the other hand allows torture. In fact, these attacks on human rights are made in the name of God.
If God could agree with the dishonorable and cowardly way that another person is hurt, then God would no longer be the Creator. In fact, he’d be the opposite, right?
If George W. Bush published a book that justified the use of torture, I would have the right to criticize him, and be against his stance. When something is published, it is fair to criticize it. Just like you, my dear readers, can criticize these lines.
I fear that many share the same ideas as Bush, and that they might find valid points to justify torture. Is this the return of barbarism?
No. Torture, never. Intelligence and reasoning, always.
No life is more valuable than another. Whatever is done against a human being cannot be anything good.
If we think that we can attain something positive as a result of torturing someone, we are done for. There is no first-class or second-class person; we are all worth the same.
One of the most controversial characters of recent years, George W. Bush, justifies torture, assuring us that it helps save lives. I do not agree, and repudiate his comments. It seems that the ex-president of the United States is in disagreement with the most basic principles of his country’s Constitution, not to mention the most elementary principles of the French Revolution, which after all was said and done, gave us the basic elements for the development of humanitarian thought in the Western world.
To torture is to humiliate and injure human dignity. Nobody has the right to hurt someone else, either physically or mentally, just to reach an intended end.
Only someone stupid attains what he wants by causing harm to the weak, the imprisoned and the kidnapped. Someone smart obtains things through reasoning.
An animal hits; a human being communicates, debates, and questions. The principal difference between men and animals is reasoning.
If we start justifying stupid practices such as torture, we will be going against the evolution of humanity — the constant search to better ourselves.
And, of course, George W. Bush is more intelligent than I am. After all, he did manage to become president of the United States, although he did it through cheating. He still reached the highest position of the most powerful country in the world… but that does not make him perfect.
Neither war, nor humiliation, nor torture can make someone with any sense of goodness feel proud. I hate the double standard that preaches the message of equality and respect, and on the other hand allows torture. In fact, these attacks on human rights are made in the name of God.
If God could agree with the dishonorable and cowardly way that another person is hurt, then God would no longer be the Creator. In fact, he’d be the opposite, right?
If George W. Bush published a book that justified the use of torture, I would have the right to criticize him, and be against his stance. When something is published, it is fair to criticize it. Just like you, my dear readers, can criticize these lines.
I fear that many share the same ideas as Bush, and that they might find valid points to justify torture. Is this the return of barbarism?
No. Torture, never. Intelligence and reasoning, always.
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