Another (Actually, Two More) Best of Uncommon Commentary

I previously noted here on the Doman Domain that the “enhanced interrogation techniques” which are the subject of the infamous recent report by Senate Democrats cannot be considered torture; I ought to have added that one might oppose e.i.t.’s for the same reason why one might oppose actual torture, but this does not change my opinion that the employment of those techniques was ethically justifiable.  They were not used on domestic lawbreakers, and they were not practiced for the sake of sadism; they were administered to gain intelligence that would help to prevent additional terrorist attacks and to hunt down those responsible for what attacks had already taken place.  I certainly don’t want to be un-Christian, and I’m well aware that Christ told us “So whatever you wish would do to you, do also to them” [Mt. 7:12a], but I think that this Golden Rule applies to personal relationships rather than to matters of state security; after all, the New Testament also tells us that “… he [the temporal ruler] does not wield the sword in vain; he is the servant of God to execute his wrath on the wrongdoer.” [Rom. 13:4]  To see what else I’ve had to say on this subject, see UC’s #18 and 54.