The Black Legend

as it is called by some, is beginning to disintegrate, at least among the educated and disinterested. The popularity of Monty Python's send-up of it might be a marker of the ebbing of that tide. Check out the video that is in the link below from (of all sources) the BBC. It's interesting and educational:

Cosmos in the Lost offers Praise…:

…for the Inquisition.  I always enjoy it when pseudoknowledge gets spanked.

(Via Catholic and Enjoying It!.)

Is Waterboarding Torture?

The first question we should be asking is "Should we allow torture at all?" And the answer, I insist, is no.

The follow-on question "Is torture effective?", given the answer to the first question, is irrelevant. Effective or not torture is immoral and dehumanizing both for the victim and the torturer. You shall not do evil that good may come of it. Without this fundamental truth moral reasoning loses it's coherency. So I disagree with the author of the article cited below to that degree.

A legitimate question might be "Is waterboarding torture?" Prior to 2001 (and the torture-works-ticking-clock rationale) the answer was clearly yes:

Is Waterboarding Torture?:

I agree with you, Matt, that there are several questions surrounding this issue that, while disturbing, are disputable. “Should we allow torture?” and “Is torture effective?” are two examples. But the question of whether waterboarding is torture is not one of them.

Read the whole thing.

(Via First Thoughts.)

An Exercise in Moral Reasoning

especially in light of Catholic Moral Teaching:

More on Thiessen’s Moral Muddles:

For those interested in a detailed discussion of the flaws in Marc Thiessen’s use of double effect to justify “enhanced interrogation techniques,” as well as a sober overall judgment about the moral status of our interrogation policies after 9/11, see Christopher Tollefsen’s analysis on The Public Discourse.

Read the whole thing.

(Via First Thoughts.)

Torture and Definitions

John DaFiesole asks some pertinent questions for those who are still on the sidelines about torture:

:

Some questions for those whose need for a definition of torture has not yet been met

1. What are you going to do with your definition once you get it?
   
   I ask this because lexicographers, moral theologians, legislatures, courts, governments, and international bodies all have definitions that meet their needs.
   
   Read the whole thing.
   

(Via Disputations.)

Mark Shea

saves me the trouble of writing and thinking (hopefully not in that order) about the Christmas bomber and reactions to him:

A rather sensible and sober take:

on the security issues raised by the Christmas bombing attempt.

Me: I don't think we are serious--and I say that about both a) the fools who think we should subject blue-haired old Lutheran ladies to the exact same scrutinies as single male Nigerian Muslims with a documented history of crazy Islamic opinions and b) the idiots who think that Dick Cheney's policies of torture and terror are Manly Realism.

Read the whole thing.

(Via Catholic and Enjoying It!.)

Of Course, It's Only Anecdotal

but it sure seems to confirm my intuition:

'Mancow' Waterboarded - Lasts 5 Seconds Before Deciding 'It's Torture':

Ranting “conservative” talk show host Erich “Mancow” Muller decided he would prove that waterboarding isn’t torture by undergoing the interrogation method himself.

Read the whole thing.

(Via Little Green Footballs.)