in the wind | tweets from the space ending 12.13.14

over it? Bloomberg survey finds ½ of American don't want their sons to play football http://bloom.bg/1vQsPjA

...and the truth will make you flinch before it sets you free | thoughts on torture as American policy jimhancock.blogspot.com

God help us | Letter to Mr. Lord re: 10-year Priorities, 2005-2014 http://jimhancock.blogspot.com 

@commonsense picks for best 2014 movies to watch with your children, tweens + teens http://bit.ly/1DpaeQB

@commonsense picks best holiday books for children, three - nine years http://bit.ly/1DpbNOB

This is not the conversation parents are supposed to dread http://jimhancock.blogspot.com 

God help us | Letter to Mr. Lord re: 10-year Priorities, 2005-2014

December 15, 2004

To: Mr. Lord

From: USLT

Re: 10-year Priorities, 2005-2014

Dear Mr. Lord, 

As the year draws to a close, no one knows better than you that our branch is working with limited resources. With competing interests in the Morals & Ethics department and insufficient bandwidth to tackle everything, the team could use a quick reality check.

If, for the foreseeable future, we have to choose between A and B, do you want us to prioritize:

A. Speaking against the torture of suspected terrorists by employees and agents of the government in the US jurisdiction

B. Speaking against equal protection under the law for LBGT citizens in the US jurisdiction 

[Or perhaps there's a "C" that we missed? (wouldn't be the first time, lol)]

Sorry to put you in this position so late in the year. Hopefully, we’ll have greater resources as our real estate and other investments begin paying out, but until then...

Awaiting your reply, 

The US Leadership Team

p.s. Candidly, some in the branch feel like we’re getting mixed messages from you and your son. It would nice to clear that up at some point.

p.p.s If we don’t see you, Merry Christmas!

[h/t @JanaRiess <http://janariess.religionnews.com/2014/12/10/mormonism-responsible-torture/>]

You will know the truth and the truth will make you flinch before it sets you free | thoughts on torture as an American policy

"You will know the truth and the truth will make you flinch before it sets you free." 

It's a saying passed down by friends of the Baptist preacher Carlyle Marney, He doesn't seem to have included the line in any of his writings or published sermons, but he appears to be stuck with until somebody steps forward to claim it for someone else.

We are in the grip of one of those massive flinches right now as we digest the summary of the Senate Intelligence Committee report on torture as a tool of US policy.

Some of us feel blindsided by the release of hundreds of pages detailing horrendous acts committed in our name. But not everyone. The conversation has been going on for more than a decade. In 2006, I decided to stop just talking about torture and start recording what I knew, what I suspected and what I feared about my country's decent into officially sanctioned torture.

I'm indebted to those who held the light so others could read the handwriting on the wall.

Here, for what it's worth, is one person's progression of posts — some original, much borrowed —tracking how the wind's been blowing on torture as an American pursuit. 

March 06 2006 | Mr. Conyers Steps Up 

October 17 2006 | Military Commissions Act of 2006 | Two Centuries of American 

Democracy Undone with the Stroke of a Pen

March 09 2007 | Iraq Four Years On | In Search of Moral Footing

February 15 2008 | Senator McCain Said What?

March 10 2008 | Hey; this is America, we don't torture

July 24 2008 | A World That Stands as One | Barack Obama's speech in Berlin

November 03 2008 | a last word on November 3, 2008

August 31 2009 | Torture Debate Lost in Maze

January 21 2010 | A letter to Senator-elect Scott Brown of Massachusetts

June 11 2010 | Torture: Are You Convinced?

November 09 2010 | The Tortured Logic of Our Times | Expecting More from Our Leaders

June 10 2011 | Martin Marty on Torture, Then + Now

November 05 2012 | Too Far to Turn Back Now | The Election of 2012

May 23 2013 | Barack Obama on the components of a comprehensive counterterrorism strategy 

October 27, 2014 | If... National Security + Moral Law 01

in the wind | tweets from the space ending 11.01.14

If... Where the Economy Meets Health Care 01
jimhancock.blogspot.com 

If... National Security + Moral Law 01 
jimhancock.blogspot.com

If... Poverty in the US 
jimhancock.blogspot.com

why your uncle's opinion on ebola is essentially worthless jimhancock.blogspot.com

Congressional Private Sector Relocation Program jimhancock.blogspot.com

plasticity | Seth Godin http://bit.ly/1ucQ0p6

Find Your Polling Place | h/t Voting Information Project 
jimhancock.blogspot.com

If... National Security + Moral Law 01

If, following a brief excursion into madness, I'm grateful that torture is once again off the table as sanctioned U.S. policy and practice, then why in the world would I give my vote to a candidate for the U.S. Senate or House of Representatives who condones or advocates torture as a tool of national security under some vague "whatever it takes" doctrine?

And why would I not get out on November 4th to vote for a candidate whose core understanding of the American way rejects torture—period?