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Torture acceptance sad

I stand corrected. I had believed that I lived in a nation founded on principles of equality, justice and due process, where innocence is assumed and guilt must be proved, and where cruel punishment is specifically forbidden by our Constitution.

I believed this until the Pew poll showed that a majority of Americans condone torture. And pussyfoot around it if you like; it was torture. Anything which you would consider torture if done to you, is still torture when done to the other guy.

Every nation has a few bad actors and we shrug those off, but a majority of the populace? I guess I thought I lived somewhere else, somewhere that does not just browbeat other nations about human rights, but actually practices them for all humans.

Does nobody remember the two hard principles learned after World War II? 1. The ends do not justify the means. 2. Following orders is no excuse (even if your attorney general says it is “legal”).

Many people claim our nation was founded on and is only sustained by Christian principles, which, if I understand correctly, can be distilled to the concept of universal love. Where did my country go?

Daniel Peterson

Coeur d’Alene



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