Torture...Part 1

“A Tortured Stance on Torture” by H.D.S. Greenway is an expository, formal essay written to inform the American citizen of the human rights abuses carried out by the Bush administration. The third person composition provides a negative, but realistic exposition of the “moral rot” that has been concealed underneath the United States’ war on terror.

“Washington shuddered last week…” is an example of metonymy as well as personification because Washington is merely the location of the American government, and governments don’t shudder. Personification is also used in the statement “President Bush…has allowed his subordinates to gnaw away at the Constitution.” Alliteration as well as metaphor are found in the line “The Bush administration has…drained away much of that reservoir of respect.”

“The trouble with torture is that a prisoner will say anything he thinks you may want to hear.” This undermines justice because false testimony can only lead to false conclusions. “The long-range problem with the Bush administration’s efforts to subvert national and international bans on torture is that it hurts us deeply in the struggle against Islamic extremism.” When George W. Bush sold the war on terror to the American population he argued that the war would decrease terror attacks, paradoxically the use of torture has only decreased America’s internationally reliability and diminished their reputation in the eyes of Islamic extremists. “Even the interrogation methods of the Soviet Union, which surely should have been discredited now, were brought into play.” This is ironic as the United States of America is now acting in the same manner as their cold war adversary.

Is torture wrong? Atheistic belief simply concludes that since we are mere products of evolutionary mutation, derived from nothingness, torture is not wrong because right and wrong are non-existent. Atheism subverts justice and fairness to sheer chemical reactions taking place in the cerebrum. It is only theism that states that torture is wrong because our actions have a direct influence on our afterlife. Therefore, only in theism does accountability exist.

Greenway’s essay assumes a moral law that exists outside of our cerebrum. By affirming morality, Greenway is affirming absolute truth, specifically that there is a God who will hold us accountable for our actions. Without a morality external to personal ideology, Greenway’s argument not only has no weight; it has no significance. Morality and the existence of an omnipotent judge are inseparable ideas.

H.D.S. Greenway’s message is that the Bush administration has poor moral character because of their use of torture. This moral shortfall will continue to exacerbate American relations with Islam as well as curtail their political credibility.