dagblog - Comments for "TORTURED LOGIC"

Oh Flower, I have to agree

Richard Day — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 04:03:29 +0000

In reply to The history of torture goes

Oh Flower, I have to agree with you for heavens sake. But it is almost unAmerican to do so.

We are a torturing and tortured people.

The history of torture goes

wabby — Sat, 12 Feb 2011 03:50:31 +0000

The history of torture goes back as far as the history of man (I read that somewhere) and is threaded through every culture in some form or another. This makes me ask: if torture is not effective, then why does its' use continue? I mean, is it effective? It's not 100% accurate, is it? I mean, it is not unknown that being tortured will cause a person to lie just to make the torture stop. And just exactly how does the torturer know the victim is lying or telling the truth? It's all just a crapshoot, really....leading me to conclude ( and to agree with Emma and Mr. h2o) there there are some mean, rotten s.o.b.'s that simply love to cause pain to others of their species. Cold blooded torturers.

Human decency has no room for torture.

I know one thing, there has

Richard Day — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 19:22:11 +0000

In reply to I should have added for those

I know one thing, there has got to be a problem with policy if in fact we have tortured tens of thousands of people in the name of democracy!!

You got that right Miguel.But

Richard Day — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 19:19:00 +0000

In reply to I recently visited a museum

You got that right Miguel.

But there have been many who have 'risen above' it all, overcoming their genetic predisposition!

I should have added for those

EmmaZahn — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:46:09 +0000

In reply to There have been endless

I should have added for those who fancy themselves Jack Bauers that any honor or nobility that might in the wildness of their imaginations come from torturing on behalf of their country results from the self-sacrifice of the act, the willingness to accept even the harshest consequences for their actions.

There have been endless

EmmaZahn — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:38:20 +0000

In reply to TORTURED LOGIC

There have been endless discussions online about torture for years now. Occasionally, I try to read them. I always end up at the same place.

Torture is something never to be sanctioned but which may be forgiven.

As with homicide, there can be different circumstances or motivations for torture that are understandable human reactions to imminent threat e.g. Jack Bauer's ticking bomb scenarios. Hot- versus cold-blooded.

The thought of a cold-blooded torturer is as repellant to me as a cold-blooded killer. But torture committed while under duress, not so easy. Mostly I think, 'there but for the grace of God....' I like to think that is how most people feel. I am no longer sure ....

Movies like Unthinkable frighten and depress me. It is not that I feel personally threatened. I just wonder who and how big the target audience is for what is basically human depravity.

I recently visited a museum

miguelitoh2o — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 18:34:47 +0000

In reply to TORTURED LOGIC

I recently visited a museum of torture paraphenalia in Tasco, MX. One of the things that struck me was the museum's various signs that indicated that many of the devices on display had been used a recently as 70 years ago, and that variations on the theme were often uised even to this day. All of which reinforced a feeling I have that we're not a very nice species, and torture is not a very useful tool for information gathering.