UCC “Pastor”: Torture bad, abortion good

Update: Chuck won’t let me comment at his place, but at least he’ll point people here.  He seems wounded that I don’t consider him a Christian.  When people teach the opposite of the essentials of Christianity yet parade around as pastors and label their opponents with demonizing and baseless accusations then what other conclusion can I draw?  Words mean things, and to call him a Christian mocks the cross and the blood of the martyrs.   (Clarification: Someone misunderstood the “blood of the martyrs” comment.  I am in no way implying that it has any properties to save or redeem us.  Only Jesus’ blood does that.  I simply mean that the martyrs of the faith – throughout history and today – sacrifice their freedom, well-being and sometimes their lives rather than deny the truths that Chuck so flippantly rejects.)

I’m always a little amused when people are so offended at having their faith questioned after they deny so many core beliefs.  I explored that in Who is a Christian?  Who is a Muslim?, where I showed how someone who denied the essentials of Islam would rightly be called a non-Muslim.

Chuck’s non-beliefs are more fully exposed here where his sermon contained the follow key points: Jesus is not the only way to the Father, that other religions such as Islam should inform our view of the Gospel, and that the Bible is not accurate or reliable but the “gospel” of Thomas supposedly is.

He says “people sometimes say the most hateful things on blogs.”  He is right in a way. 

He accuses the McCain campaign of being racist when it is clear that the Obama campaign is the most racist campaign in memory. 

He says this about Al Mohler and James Dobson on an official UCC web site where he posted about the recent shooting at a Unitarian church:

There are others who bear some responsibility for this crime. People like Albert Mohler, the president of Southern Babtist Theological Seminary, who has compared gays and lesbians to the 9/11 terrorists. Or groups like Focus on the Family (and their founder James Dobson) who preach a theology of hate towards those who do not share their political / social views.

That’s an odd conclusion to make, because even the Washington Post reported that, “It appears that what brought him to this horrible event was his lack of being able to obtain a job, his frustration over that, and his stated hatred for the liberal movement,” Police Chief Sterling Owen said.” 

Yeah, but I’m sure that Chuck can judge the man’s heart the best and knows the real catalysts, which were that the culprit never missed an episode of Focus on the Family, that he attended the Love Won Out conference and always read Mohler’s blog. 

Chuck wrote this gem to one commenter:

If you are, as you say, a fan of James Dobson, I think you really are on the very extreme and Iroubled edges of society.

Can’t you feel the love?

Original post

This United Church of Christ ”pastor” (preachers who don’t believe the Bible is accurate or that Jesus is the only way get scare quotes from me) spends lots of energy protesting waterboarding but is proudly pro-abortion.  You don’t need Syrup of Ipecac when you have quotes like, “Being pro-choice is a position fully consistent with Christian ethics.”

I have no problem with people being against improper interrogation methods, but which would he prefer: Water boarding or having his limbs ripped off and his skull crushed without anesthetic?  Oddly, their multi-faith statement sorta reads like a pro-life viewpoint.  Just replace “torture” with “abortion” and see what I mean. 

Torture is universally condemned by people of faith and conscience as contrary to our most deeply held values. For Christians, opposition is based, in the words of the National Council of Churches “on our fundamental belief in the dignity of the human person created in the image of God and in the rights accorded to all persons by virtue of their humanity.”

This view is also expressed by the National Association of Evangelicals, which has endorsed An Evangelical Declaration Against Torture. This Declaration is grounded in a Christian view of the sanctity of life, and in a commitment to human rights which finds expression in Christian sources dating to long before the Enlightenment. This statement reads in part:

Human rights, which function to protect human dignity and the sanctity of life, cannot be cancelled and should not be overridden. Recognition of human rights creates obligations to act on behalf of others whose rights are being violated. Human rights place a shield around people who otherwise would find themselves at the mercy of those who are angry, aggrieved, or frightened… Among the most significant human rights is the right to security of person, which includes the right not to be tortured.

The Jewish Tradition also strongly condemns torture, and this has been expressed recently when 600 North American Rabbis signed the Rabbinic Letter Against Torture. This letter states that:

We understand that the most fundamental ethical principle, which results from our belief in God as Creator of the world and Parent of all humanity, is that every human being is seen as reflecting the Image of God. Torture shatters and defiles God’s Image. 1 The purpose of torture is to remove a person’s pride, humiliate that person, or make his or her life so painful that the person does or says whatever the interrogator wants. Torture ‘works’ by attempting to deprive a human being of will, spirit, and personal dignity. The humanity of the perpetrators, as well as the victims, is inevitably compromised by the use of torture. Jewish tradition calls for humane treatment even of one’s adversaries.

Strong statements opposing any use of torture by the US government have also been issued by The Rabbinical Assembly (of Conservative Rabbis), the Reconstructionist Rabbinical Association, the Union for Reform Judaism and the Jewish Council on Public Affairs.

The teachings of Islam are also quite powerful, “Oh you who believe! Stand forth for Allah witnessing with justice. And do not let hatred of a people sway you into injustice, but adhere always to justice. That is true piety.” (Qur’an, 5:8 ) The spirit of this Qur’anic decree calls for an end to torture and for the universal guarantee of humane treatment and due process for all prisoners. For Muslims the use of torture under any circumstances is abhorrent. Such means can never serve the ends of justice and peace.

There are of course other, more pragmatic arguments against the use of torture. The most important of these, is that the U.S. must set a standard of international behavior regarding the use of torture. How can we complain when other nations use torture against our soldiers if we continue to practice torture ourselves?

But ultimately, we believe that this is a moral issue that cannot be compromised regardless of the weight of the pragmatic arguments. We support the Statement of Conscience issued by the National Religious Campaign Against Torture:

Torture violates the basic dignity of the human person that all religions, in their highest ideals, hold dear. It degrades everyone involved — policy-makers, perpetrators and victims. It contradicts our nation’s most cherished ideals. Any policies that permit torture and inhumane treatment are shocking and morally intolerable. Nothing less is at stake in the torture abuse crisis than the soul of our nation. What does it signify if torture is condemned in word but allowed in deed? Let America abolish torture now — without exceptions.