The National Association of Evangelicals has released an important declaration against torture. I have to confess that I have a minor jurisprudential quibble with the Declaration’s heavy reliance on “human rights” concepts. I certainly believe in the sanctity of life and therefore in basic and inalienable human rights, but I might want to be a little more careful about grounding those notions explicity in the imago Dei. Nevertheless, this is a Declaration to be warmly embraced by all evangelicals concerned about social justice.
Here is a key section:
The abominable acts of 9/11, along with the continuing threat of terrorist attacks, create profound security challenges. However, these challenges must be met within a moral and legal framework consistent with our values and laws, among which is a commitment to human rights that we as evangelicals share with many others. In this light, we renounce the resort to torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment of detainees, call for the extension of procedural protections and human rights to all detainees, seek clear government-wide embrace of the Geneva Conventions, including those articles banning torture and cruel treatment of prisoners, and urge the reversal of any U.S. government law, policy, or practice that violates the moral standards outlined in this declaration.