The Christian Century

Human beings give way too easily to the temptation to make our arguments on each other's bodies. The apostles' lives were saved because one learned man was willing the make his argument another way.

President Obama took a crucial step toward reestablishing the nation’s moral bearings with his executive order outlawing torture (see news story in this issue).

A broad range of religious leaders and human rights advocates have applauded President Obama’s executive order that essentially ends torture of detainees held by the U.S. government.

The National Council of Churches said the Supreme Court ruling last month barring the use of military commissions to try detainees held at Guantánamo Bay is “a reasoned affirmation of what people of faith have been trying to communicate to the White House for years.

The National Council of Churches and its online site FaithfulAmerica.org have reiterated a demand for the closure of the U.S. detention center at Guantánamo Bay, following the suicides of three prisoners there.

On the night of June 10, two men from Saudi Arabia and one from Yemen fashioned makeshift ropes from knotted bed sheets, then hanged themselves in their Guantánamo Bay prison cells. Rear Admiral Harry Harris, commander of the prison, reported the deaths and commented: “They are smart, they are creative, they are committed. They have no regard for life, neither ours nor their own.

Former president Jimmy Carter has called on the U.S. to shut down its prison at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, and two dozen other secret detention centers to demonstrate the nation’s commitment to human rights. Carter made his comments to reporters June 7 in Atlanta—about a week after the Pentagon reported five confirmed incidents of intentional mishandling of the Qur’an at the Guantánamo prison.

To a résumé already gilded with honors and accomplishments, including the Nobel Peace Prize, Archbishop Desmond Tutu can now add the job title of actor. Off-Broadway actor, to be exact.

The National Council of Churches has joined a “friend of the court” brief at the U.S. Supreme Court supporting the legal rights of suspected terrorist detainees in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba.