Torture, Religious Ethics & National Security

Whether it is the holding of prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, the abuse of prisoners at Abu Ghraib or the circumstance of a Canadian citizen under “extraordinary rendition” of terror suspects being sent into the hands of foreign interrogators for the sake of national security - suddenly the practice of torture has become a matter of urgent public debate in the US, Canada, and all the Western world. John Perry traces the ways in which torture has been condoned and even practiced within the history of Catholicism. He explores the ways in which contemporary social justice and moral/ethical teaching can help eradicate torture from the world. At the core, Perry emphasizes the importance of torture victims speaking for themselves.