The short answer to the question of torture is simply "NO." Torture is never justified. Never.

But, of course, no self-respecting blogger is going to be pleased with an answer so brief. And then there is that adverb "never," conjuring up extreme situations. What if intelligence has determined that terrorists plan to blow up a major but undisclosed population center, perhaps Grand Central, Saint Peter's in Rome or the U.S. Capitol, with countless innocent victims? A suspect who has knowledge of the plot is in our custody. Are we saying that we cannot use any means to get this information and save those lives?

Some people, notably Senator John McCain, have offered a pragmatic argument against torture, saying that the information obtained through torture is unreliable. That may well be, but I prefer simply to stand on principle.

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Of course we should forgive others, even if they have committed atrocities. To say so is not simply to repeat a religious platitude. Health professionals will be the first to stress the connection between forgiveness and sanity (cfr. Helping Clients Forgive, by Richard Fitzgibbons M.D. and Robert Enright, Ph.D., APA Press).

The perplexing question is how can you do this? You realize how difficult it is when you come up against the anger of the families of victims crying out for vengeance.

The Sermon on the Mount that culminates with the command to love our enemies is full of the new and seemingly impossible logic of Jesus: turn the other cheek, if he asks for your coat, give him your shirt as well, etc. Only God's grace enables us to love those who persecute us, following the example of Jesus, "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do." The saints also show us the way.

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