[Note from Kathie Malley-Morrison: Today we are pleased to feature a book review by Carly Warren, who completed my course in Psychology of War and Peace this summer.]
Review of George Hunsinger’s Torture Is a Moral Issue: Christians, Jews, Muslims, and People of Conscience Speak Out
by C.J. Warren
In the aftermath of World War II, an international decree was established in an attempt to protect human rights. Following the events of September 11, 2001, the very same agencies that helped create and establish the international system for the protection of human rights began to reconsider it.
George Hunsinger’s edited collection, Torture Is a Moral Issue, sidesteps the question of whether torture is legally acceptable and instead asks if it is morally acceptable. This compilation of work, from almost two dozen active combatants and survivors of torture, turns to the basics of religion and morals to argue for an immediate end to the practice.
Hunsinger and contributors shift the focus of the torture debate from legalities and loopholes to moral values, thus taking it out of the shadows where governments have justified its practice.
The book begins with background information that establishes the incidence and severity of torture, and importance of the debate. The dramatic firsthand accounts from a former U.S. military interrogator and torture survivor bring hard realism to the topic.
Muslim, Christian and Jewish arguments against torture form the bulk of the book. However, the religious theme is not overpowering, enabling both secular and religious individuals to understand and identify with its arguments.
This book has been described as hard-hitting because it refuses to let any justification for torture stand unchallenged. Its special value lies in the ethical and realistic advice on how to make changes and find solutions. Without knowledge and the will to understand, we cannot evolve or make strides towards eliminating this inhumane practice.