The Real Torture in Our Nation

July 14, 2005
by Bob Landgraf, Hazelwood, MO

Last month, a U.S. Senator gave the world his viewpoint on conditions at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility.  He thought the situation was deplorable, referring to "abusive interrogation tactics against prisoners" and "outrageous conduct when it comes to these prisoners".

He cited incidents to bolster his position, such as: "detainee chained hand and foot in a fetal position to the floor", "the air conditioning had been turned down so far and the temperature was so cold in the room, that the barefooted detainee was shaking with cold. ..... On another occasion, the [air conditioner] had been turned off, making the temperature in the unventilated room well over 100 degrees", and "extremely loud rap music was being played in the room".

He continued by characterizing this treatment as comparable to "Nazis, Soviets in their gulags, or some mad regime --Pol Pot or others--that had no concern for human beings".  Some may disagree with this characterization, but the point is that this Senator unequivocally sees these as "cruel and inhuman interrogation techniques".

Since he feels so strongly about those techniques, what do you think he would say about these:
1. Cutting someone into pieces with a steel knife.
2. Tearing someone's limbs from his/her body with a pliers-like instrument.
3. Snapping someone's spine.
4. Crushing someone's skull.
5. Sucking someone's brains out after cutting a hole cut into the base of his/her skull.

These techniques definitely qualify as gruesome.  Compared with being chained in a fetal position or being made to shiver in the cold, these techniques are immeasurably worse.  Certainly someone who vehemently opposed the former would also oppose the latter.  It would only be logical.

But when it comes to abortion, logic is replaced with rationalization.  The latter techniques are some of those used to kill unborn babies in this country.  If one believes that listening to rap music constitutes torture, what does crushing someone's skull constitute?  In this country it constitutes CHOICE.  And the logic   behind it constitutes hypocrisy.

For example, the Senator who spoke out against what he considered unjust treatment of prisoners, also voted against banning partial birth abortion.  Evidently, sticking a scissor into the base of a 4-9 month-old unborn baby's skull , followed by sucking his/her brains out is less offensive to this Senator and the 33 others who voted against the ban.

Let it be known that the real torture our nation is responsible for does not occur in far off lands, but in the very place God created to nurture us when we come into this world.   Let it be known that the victims are not limited to those who physically perish in this torture, the unborn.  The torture victims also include mothers who are physically harmed during an abortion and those who need help afterwards dealing with the reality of their choice. 

A choice that is protected, defended, saluted, and worshipped by the purveyors of this torture.  A choice that blinds, seduces, and harms countless numbers of our mothers, wives, sisters, and daughters.  A choice that is legal because enough people in power are hypocrites, because hundreds of millions of dollars are made in the abortion industry by those who promote and perform the torture, and because some of us still cannot see the empty promises abortion offers after thirty years and 45 million deaths.

The Senator concluded by saying "It is not too late. I hope we will learn from history. I hope we will change course."   If each of us recognizes the real torture taking place around us, it will not be too late.  It is up to us.  Will we help change our course?  As we are so often reminded, it is our choice.

 

Viewpoint from the Baby in the Womb

July 12, 2005
by Bob Landgraf, Hazelwood, MO

I was tortured - not by being chained in a fetal position, but by being taken from my fetal position.

I was tortured - not by having the temperature of my cell varied but by being taken from my cell - mom's warm, comfortable womb.

I was tortured - not by having pages ripped from the Koran, but by having my limbs ripped from their sockets.

I was tortured - not by the loud playing of rock music, but by the loud sound of a suction machine slicing me up one piece at a time.

I was tortured - not by being denied sleep, but by being put to sleep for all eternity.

Those who complain about 'torture' in US prison camps should first stop supporting the most horrific torture any nation has ever condoned - that which is perpetrated on one fourth of our unborn children.


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