I was stunned to discover this morning that according to this Pew Forum On Religion & Public Life study – barely a quarter of Christians in the US believe that the torture of terrorist suspects is never justified.

Have I missed a basic tenet of Christian belief and praxis that says it is acceptable to cause suffering to this group, but not that group? Have I overlooked a teaching, either of Christ himself, or the Patristic writers that suggests toture is a viable Christian practice?

I have always understood that it is an essential element of our faith to see in another human being an icon of the Incarnate Logos – there are no exceptions, there are no “but”s or “however”s – it simply “is”. So to torture another human being – is to torture Christ himself. Hmmm . . . changes the playing field a little bit no? Just because an individual may have forgotten, or chosen to ignore the fact that he/she was created in the divine image – does not give us permission to also ignore this fact with reference to him or her. Indeed I would argue that we have a religious duty to ensure that that individual is reminded of this central tenet of our faith – through the witness of our actions, the way we treat that person.

This survey should have shown a unanimous Christian opposition to all forms of torture. The fact that it did not do so, means that regardless of your tradition or denomination, we all need to work together to remind one another, and to bear witness to our religious duty to break the cycle of suffering – just as Christ, through his teaching, and victory over Death, broke the cycle for us.