Torture and the Image of God

Date Published: 08/28/2009

As I have listened to and read both news and commentary on torture and harsh interrogation techniques I have had two thoughts that probably don’t say much of anything about the politics and legalities of what is back in the public view. But my thoughts have to do with facing humanity, my own and of people in extreme situations.

A number of years ago I had a large boil on a very sensitive part of my body. I’ll leave it at that. It didn’t drain but just got worse and worse. I made an appointment with a doctor to have it lanced. My regular doctor wasn’t available, but I was uncomfortable enough to take any doctor I could get. After numbing the area, the doctor went to work. Even with Novocain, the pain was excruciating. I screamed and made the doctor stop periodically so I could re-gather myself for another go at it. After that experience I prayed I would never have to face torture. I knew that if I was subjected to that kind of pain in a hostile environment, I would say anything to make it stop. Never again would I question those who recanted their faith under torture.

When I have been faced with my human frailty, I have taken considerable comfort from Psalm 103:14. God “knows how we were made; he remembers that we are dust.” But I also marvel that intermingled with this frailty is the glory of being made in the image of God. As Psalm 8:5 says, God made humans just "a little lower than God, and crowned them with glory and honor.”

This leads me to an even more troubling contemplation. If I still claim the image of God in the midst of my brokenness and sinfulness, what about those whose sin and evil seems monstrous: terrorists, serial murders, sociopaths? My theology says that somewhere, underneath the horror some vestige of the image of God persists and should be respected. It is this along with a confidence in the redemptive power of Christ’s grace that gives hope that even the most contemptuous sinners can be forgiven and transformed.

So whether it is an interrogator who tortured way beyond both law and morality or it is a terrorist bent to the destruction not only of western democracy but of Christian faith, my response must somehow be informed by the image of God in them and the redemptive love and grace of Christ for them, and not just my revulsion at their actions or intentions.