Is torture ever morally acceptable?

[Frank_Drebin]

Yes, but then hence my point that you then have to question whether that statement can be applied to all forms of torture. For instance I find it hard to imagine that any violent torture could be morally justifiable.

I don’t think it is, and oppose it. I just question using mental anguish as a barometer, because it varies from person to person. For those who are claustrophobic, anything smaller than a 25x25 room is mental anguish. Missing Mass, confession, and even adoration is mental anguish for many Catholics. Missing a child’s birthday would be.

I’d rather be deprived of sleep than miss seeing my children. Again, simply being a prisoner and not knowing when or if you will ever be released is enough to make some people lose thir minds. All would then be considered torture, by this definition.

It gets very difficult to parse out what qualifies and what doesn’t with such vague terms.

 

[Rayvin]

I don’t think it is, and oppose it. I just question using mental anguish as a barometer, because it varies from person to person. For those who are claustrophobic, anything smaller than a 25x25 room is mental anguish. Missing Mass, confession, and even adoration is mental anguish for many Catholics. Missing a child’s birthday would be.

I’d rather be deprived of sleep than miss seeing my children. Again, simply being a prisoner and not knowing when or if you will ever be released is enough to make some people lose thir minds. All would then be considered torture, by this definition.

It gets very difficult to parse out what qualifies and what doesn’t with such vague terms.

Ok how about this - it’s a bit of a lame answer, but perhaps the definition lies more with yourself. The moral judgement you’re making is judged entirely based on your own perception of the action, rather than anyone else’s. The challenge for Christians would be to ensure that we always act in the way God would want us to - as we have broadly similar beliefs on that front, we should act in broadly similar ways; but if you can imprison someone believing that it is for their own good and that you are doing it out of love, then you have not actively tortured them, even if they feel tortured as a result.

That may sound kind of crazy, it’s late here… I’m basically saying that the measure for the morality behind your deed comes from your own perceptions as an informed Christian, and not those of the person who is being ‘tortured’.

 

[Tomdstone]

I don’t think it is, and oppose it. I just question using mental anguish as a barometer, because it varies from person to person. For those who are claustrophobic, anything smaller than a 25x25 room is mental anguish. Missing Mass, confession, and even adoration is mental anguish for many Catholics. Missing a child’s birthday would be.

I’d rather be deprived of sleep than miss seeing my children. Again, simply being a prisoner and not knowing when or if you will ever be released is enough to make some people lose thir minds. All would then be considered torture, by this definition.

It gets very difficult to parse out what qualifies and what doesn’t with such vague terms.

It is true that some things are going to vary from person to person. For example, loud music may not bother some people at all, as I know from my neighbors. Similarly sleep deprivation for a shorter period of time, may not be anything to worry about. It may not be torture for a while. However, after a certain period of time, which can vary from person to person, loud music and sleep deprivation may become torture over long periods of time. Say for example, night and day nonstop, you played this loud and obnoxious music continuously for a couple of weeks, it could be psychologically disturbing and cause serious mental anguish. And if you kept the person awake, without sleep for weeks on end, this could also be traumatic. However, it would not compare with the harsher types of torture, such as stretching a person on a rack.
In any case, I am not sure what can be done about these killer teenage punks with guns. There was one guy who cursed and swore at the families of his murder victims in court, and smirked all the while through the sentencing. And this was all allowed by the judge. I wonder if life imprisonment is a bit too lenient for such a punk, and whether a much more severe punishment is in order.

 

[Monte_RCMS]

Is opposition to torture an exercise in political correctness?

Is political correctness ever morally acceptable?

View the program and the thread on “The Bible” … the television series …

… then come back and let’s talk about political correctness and etc.

[can also read the book]

 

[starshiptrooper]

I guess you can’t get beyond the reverse golden rule: Do not impose on others what you do not want done to you (or your citizens).

Of course, our current public enemies use torture as a matter of course, so that doesn’t really work…

ICXC NIKA

No, my rule for dealing with enemies is much simpler. Let them hate, as long as they fear.

 

[starshiptrooper]

It worked pretty well with Germany and Japan during the year 1945.

 

[Rozellelily]

I know killing is acceptable sometimes (Just War, Principle of Double Effect, etc.). According to Catholic morality, is torture ever justified (i.e. to save 1000 people)?

No never.Using reasonable force to hold someone down who was trying to kil1000 people could be acceptable if the circumstance permitted nothing else but torture is never justifiable.

 

[Joy2day]

Of course it is torture to forcefully subject someone to continuous loud unwanted music and to force them to stay awake and not sleep. That sleep deprivation is mentioned as a form of torture by the American Catholic bishops as we see here:
usccb.org/issues-and-action/human-life-and-dignity/torture/the-problem-with-torture.cfm

Any act by which severe mental or physical suffering is intentionally inflicted on a person is by definition torture. Playing continuous loud unwanted music is mental suffering. Continuous and forceful sleep deprivation - preventing the person from sleeping - is physical suffering. It is torture and of course, it is gravely wrong to torture anyone.

I understand torture as enacted to obtain some sort of information
or confession & is only engaged in extremely rare circumstances. It is different from punishment where the crime is known publicly. Torture is about the unknown and always involves the possibility of torturing the innocent in vain. Of course if torture continues death will result = murder. Torture is like ongoing punishment without a known /proven crime. Often the victim will not know what it is they are suposed to.confess. Not something i would like to have on my conscience.

 

[Robert_Sock]

Does God ever torment the souls in Hell or Purgatory?

 

[seeker5133]

In an ethical context i would say torture is problematic. In a practical context it isn’t that effective there comes a point where a person will say anything true or not just to make it stop. Plus the soviets proved that torture injures the torturer as much as the one being torture and they ended up shotting several of their most skill when they became too dangerous to handle.