The Case Against Tortuous Reasoning

Well, some promising stuff so far on the Sun TV website - their not ignoring the March for Life, for example. It's nice to encounter opinions there with which one can agree. This is not one of them.

The idea that using torture degrades us all and reduces individuals to something less than human, is one of those fallacies that pleases the vanity of those who cannot contemplate or justify its use.

I don't see how it is false to say that torture is degrading and dehumanizing. Isn't that why it is used - to break the person down to the point where he will reveal information? I also don't see where vanity enters into the assertion that we are sinful creatures, prone to seek revenge rather than justice, and that we cannot practice evil in pursuit of good.

Yet the British and others have maintained civilized and humane behaviour, without being morally corrupted by having used [torture].

The use of torture is the "moral corruption". Yet it is continually defended  within "the thing that used to be conservatism", in the words of Mr. Shea.

It gets better:

Suppose torturing his child is the only way to get him to reveal information that would save countless lives.
Is it acceptable to torture an innocent child?
That's something most people cannot contemplate, much less answer.

Hey, I can answer! NO. And I'm pretty sure most other civilized non-psychopaths can give that answer, too. Terrorists count human life as nothing - why would you want to be more like them? What are we defending from their barbarous attacks if we abandon truth?

Mrs. P chimes in: There is only one case for torture: the "basket" variety. In that you have to be one in order to justify or defend the practice.