Group of Evangelicals condemn torture

Like many other atheists, I often criticize moderate Christians for not speaking out against the far-right Christians, who seem bent upon turning the US into a theocracy. We feel that by not speaking out against them, moderate Christians are part of the problem, as they allow the far-right crowd to define Christianity. The far-right crowd then includes the silent moderate Christians in the numbers they use to give their ideology more weight. This can be even be seen in names such as "Moral Majority".

Given this, I feel it's important to speak out in those rare occations where some of those same far-right Christians do something right. This is one of those occations.

Via Readerville, I saw this article.

Evangelicals Condemn Torture

The National Association of Evangelicals has endorsed an anti-torture statement saying the United States has crossed "boundaries of what is legally and morally permissible" in its treatment of detainees and war prisoners in the fight against terror.

Human rights violations committed in the name of preventing terrorist attacks have made the country look hypocritical to the Muslim world, the document states. Christians have an obligation rooted in Scripture to help Americans "regain our moral clarity."

I certainly don't agree with the premises, but I agree with the conclusion, and I applaud that the statement was made, while hating the fact that such a statement should be necessary in the first place. Any normal person, and especially any person who claims some kind of moral clarity, should condemn torture no matter the circumstance.

Of course the National Association of Evangelicals is just one group of Evangelicals.

The NAE says it represents 45,000 evangelical churches. However, it does not include some of the best-known conservative Christian bodies, including the Southern Baptist Convention and Focus on the Family.

Until those organizations speak out and clearly condemn torture, like the NAE has done, I cannot but consider them lacking of any moral compass, which makes it even more fundamental that we oppose them at any given chance.
The NAE has shown them the way, now let them follow, or be rejected by all decent people, no matter their religion (or lack of same).