We are Christ-centered Friends who equip and encourage all people
to respond to God's love and transforming Spirit.

U.S. should reject use of inhumane treatment
This letter appeared in the Herald and News (Klamath Falls, Oregon daily newspaper)
February 9, 2008

On the 49th International Human Rights Day, Dec. 10, 2007, the National Campaign Against Torture called upon all Americans of good conscience and humanitarian conviction to declare torture to be a moral issue and call again for America to abolish torture now, without exception.

In May of 2006, the Klamath Falls Friends Church (Quaker) adopted a "Minute on Torture" or statement of our deeply held beliefs, documenting our opposition to torture and maltreatment of fellow human beings. We remain in complete agreement with this "Minute" and welcome you to read the entire text at www.kffriends.org.

Our Quaker spiritual forefathers and mothers taught us to recognize "that of God" within every person. We believe that torture is never justified as a means of control or for extracting information from those deemed enemies. In the words of William Penn (1683) "A good end cannot justify evil means, nor may we ever do evil that good may come of it..."

Torture dehumanizes its victims, denying the image of God within them. Additionally, torture blinds the perpetrator to the humanity of those they inflict with unbearable humiliation and pain, thus minimizing the humanity of the torturer as well.

Our government's policies and actions, which have allowed torture, violate globally recognized standards of conduct. (See Geneva Convention Guidelines adopted August 12, 1949.) Such policies undermine our credibility as a nation that respects human life.

We continue to call upon our government leaders to renounce the wrong and inhumane treatment of prisoners and adhere both in word and deed to the McCain Amendment.

Peace and Social Concerns Committee
Ken Magee, Bill and Shari Burke, Tony Swan and Kate Murphey
Klamath Falls Friends Church