Even though I was by no means a McCain supporter, I do believe he was right when he said that the "information" that you're likely to receive from a prisoner who's being tortured has to be considered mostly unreliable since he will likely say anything to stop it. On top of that, how can we expect our prisoners to be treated in any kind of humane manner if we torture others?

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"The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge."-- Einstein

Sure, but: (1) I cited a well publicized incident that saved lives but cost an officer's career and (2) arm chair moralists are cheap.

Do you seriously think terrorists, who think nothing of cutting off heads or throwing acid in the faces of women who dare to go to school, would respond in kind?

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"Esse est percipii."

Do you also consider yourself as one as well?



Two wrongs don't make a right. If we wish to have our captured soldiers treated in a humane way, then we simply must do the same. The awareness of our use of torture has hurt us badly in the eyes of many in the Middle East and elsewhere, and if we expect cooperation in our fight against terrorism, that's not how to go about doing it.

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"The further the spiritual evolution of mankind advances, the more certain it seems to me that the path to genuine religiosity does not lie through the fear of life, and the fear of death, and blind faith, but through striving after rational knowledge."-- Einstein

An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind.

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Advaita Vedanta information

Of course the question needing to be asked here is: "What if the person who you were about to torture was Baha'u'llah?, Abdu'l-Baha?, Shoghi Effendi?

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Instead of loving what you think is peace, love other men and women and love God above all else. Instead of hating all the people you think are warmongers, hate the appetites and disorders in your own soul which are the causes of war. - Thomas Merton

I consider myself an observer.


"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind." Perhaps, but putting those who enslave children through the same their captives through wouldn't be a deterrent?

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"Esse est percipii."

Perhaps it would, but that is a completely different question than what the OP asked. I do not believe the question is whether it is a deterrent or not. It obviously is. The question is whether it can be justified. I think it is an excellent deterrent, but not one that can be justified under any circumstances.

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Advaita Vedanta information