Charis Ovwigho
Ms. Snyder
English 2
12 October 2018
Moral Degradation in Society
Morality in society today is seen in the debate of controversial topics. One of those topics is torture. There are people who view torture as immoral, as it is harming another human being. Some see it as justifiable in certain circumstances. The accepted use of torture is an example of moral degradation in society today, as it has harmful after effects that include mental disorders and disregards the victim’s human rights that have been written in the law as well as the Declaration of Independence.
Torture is known as imposing mental or physical pain upon someone in order to gain information or build fear. After World War 2, the United Nations created an agreement banning torture and inhumane treatment and making any act of torture illegal. Research shows that survivors of torture suffer long-lasting psychological damage: “an increasing number of refugees and survivors of torture resettled in the United States are presenting to clinics for treatment related to trauma and postmigration difficulties” (Mazzula). Some of the effects include post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depression, and anxiety. It will most likely take a long time to heal from something like this, and some of these side effects won’t ever go away.
There are multiple reasons why torture is illegal and immoral. One of the main reasons is the Declaration of Independence. It states that “all men are created equal” and have “certain unalienable rights” (The Declaration of Independence). Unalienable rights are rights that humans have that cannot have taken away from them. These include the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The use of torture violates this part of the Declaration because it overlooks the rights of the victim being tortured. Even if the person is a terrorist or could hold wanted information, they are still human and still have unalienable rights.
Some hold different opinions on the morality of torture, arguing that there can be certain circumstances where torture seems justifiable. A lot of times these situations are known as “ticking bomb” cases (Jacobs). It starts out with the capture of a terrorist who has planted a type of bomb. They show no remorse for the lives that may be lost and gloat about the work they’ve done. The bomb hasn’t gone off yet, and there’s still time to stop it. Torture is a way to get information out of the person before many lives are lost. The hard question is: what would you do?
It’s a hard decision considering the options are to either disregard the unalienable rights the terrorist has or to possibly harm those near the bomb. This is one of the reasons people are debating torture and whether or not it should be legal to an extent. Some argue: “some clear guidelines to the proper handling of prisoners of war are essential to ensure fair treatment of prisoners and to prevent excessive or unwarranted uses of force” (Jacobs). This protects some of the prisoner’s rights, but also violates some of them.
There is also the argument that the United States shouldn’t protect the human rights of terrorists, as they continuously breach the human rights of other people. Some may look to the Bible and see torture justified because it says that “…the wrongdoer will be paid back for the wrong he has done, and there is no partiality” (Colossians 3:25 English Standard Version). Those who use this verse to justify torture are grossly incorrect. The truth is that people are unfit to decide whether or not someone should be tortured. It is God’s place to judge.
People believe that security is the number one goal for the United States: “When faced with the choice of avoiding torture or using it to glean information that could save the lives of others, a government’s policy should be to use non-aggressive means to extract the pertinent information but, if necessary, do what is necessary to save the greatest number of lives” (Jacobs). If a terrorist holds valuable information about an attack or future bombing, then torture would be justified in order to obtain that information.
On the other hand, “the information provided under torture is, too often, simply a means to make the torture stop”, making torture often ineffective as a way to gain information (Evinger). The victim may also feed the authorities false information which could end up derailing the investigation. Those torturing the victim will likely have to undergo therapy because of the mental effects of what they’ve done. They will have to deal with it for the rest of their lives which in turn could be torture for them.
There is hope for our society on the topic of torture since legalizing it is not a popular opinion. Morality relating to torture could be restored if people were informed about the facts. If humans could see torture for what it really is, it wouldn’t be something debated.
Harm to human life and the unalienable human rights that all people have are reasons why torture shows moral degradation in society today. Torture is immoral and shouldn’t not be legalized in the United States. Harming other humans, even if they are terrorists, is not justified. People are people; all humans have rights that shouldn’t be overlooked: “Whoever sheds the blood of man, by man shall his blood be shed, for God made man in his own image” (Genesis 9:6 English Standard Version).
Works Cited:
Aliprandini, Michael, and Alexander Stingl. “Torture: An Overview.” Points of View Reference Center, 1 Mar. 2016, web.b.ebscohost.com/pov/detail/detail?vid=0&sid=67446881-5864-4fc7-ab2f-408dcb6d6f75@sessionmgr102&bdata=JnNpdGU9cG92LWxpdmU=#AN=23625784&db=pwh.
Evinger, B, and Cheryl Bourassa. “Counterpoint: Using Torture Is Illegal and Never Justified.” Points of View Reference Center, 1 Mar. 2016, web.a.ebscohost.com/pov/detail/detail?vid=3&sid=e5f32890-b2b9-4222-853a-b290f4e1dd24@sdc-v-sessmgr03&bdata=JnNpdGU9cG92LWxpdmU=#AN=23239203&db=pwh
Jacobs, W E, and Heather Newton. “Point: Using Torture May Be Justified In Extreme Cases.” Points of View Reference Center, 1 Mar. 2016, web.a.ebscohost.com/pov/detail/detail?vid=2&sid=e5f32890-b2b9-4222-853a-b290f4e1dd24@sdc-v-sessmgr03&bdata=JnNpdGU9cG92LWxpdmU=#AN=23238464&db=pwh.
Mazzulla. “University of Vermont, New England Survivors of Torture and Trauma.” Addiction & Health, StatPearls Publishing, 1 Jan. 1970, europepmc.org/abstract/med/30047491.
Song, Suzan J., et al. “Psychological Distress in Torture Survivors: Pre- and Post-Migration Risk Factors in a US Sample.” SpringerLink, Springer Berlin Heidelberg, 18 Nov. 2014, link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00127-014-0982-1.
Sussman, David. “What’s Wrong with Torture?” The Mutual Dependency of Force and Law in American Foreign Policy on JSTOR, 1 Jan. 2005, www.jstor.org/stable/2264988?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents.
“The Declaration of Independence: Full Text.” Ushistory.org, Independence Hall Association, www.ushistory.org/declaration/document/.
“Torture.”HeinOnline, heinonline.org/HOL/LandingPage?handle=hein.journals/cwrint37&div=18&id=&page=.