Would you torture?

[joe hx]

One of the questions the so-called "right-wing nut jobs" ask when trying to justify "advanced interrogation techniques" and/or torture is this:

If your daughter/mother/wife were kidnapped somewhere and were in mortal danger, would you torture someone you had in custody whom you know without a shadow of a doubt knew where said family member was, would you torture them to get the truth out?

What really made me want to post it is the recent guy-hitting-toddler-at-wal-mart thread were everyone said they would do bad things to the poor old grumpy man.*

So... would you torture based on the situation the "right-wingers" gave, or would you let you family member die?

Personally, I couldn't. I try to be nonviolent. I might feel guilty later about not taking action, but I think "an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind."

*poor-old-grumpy man = idiot old guy who deserves jail time

[BroomJockey]

If I knew 100% for a fact that this person knew, I'd present them a very simple situation. Tell me where my loved one is, and if I get to them before anything happens, fine, I'd let them go. If they didn't, then I'd spend as much time as I could making the last of their time as pain-filled as possible.

However, knowing 100% is pretty damned near impossible. So if I didn't have that 100% insurance, I wouldn't trust a damned thing they said. People being tortured have this silly tendency to just say things to make the pain stop, ya know, which makes any information suspect at best.

So, basically, no, I wouldn't torture to gain information, even to save a loved one.

[Fashion Lad!]

I couldn't torture someone. I will not and do not fucking torture. Hell, I had to text my girlfriend when I swatted at a bug that was just hovering in front of my face. I felt bad. I'm absolutely against torture in anyway.

[SorryIsGoodEnough]

It makes my skin itch to think about it, much less admit to it...

But yes, I could and would torture somebody if I was more than a little sure they had the answers I needed. Even though I maybe hurting a relatively innocent person, I would feel more guilty if I didn't do everything I could to try to save my child or other loved one.

I am a very selfish person in that way.

[Mr Slugger]

Same here. I'd do it if there was a chance of saving them. Wouldn't like it, but I'd do it.

[gremcint]

I would never torture human being. However a person who would put innocent people in harms way for personal gain (money, sadism, religion, the hell of it, etc.) has forfeited their membership to the human race and are no longer a human being.


Also there are plenty of ways to torture someone that aren't physical.
If you are not on a deadline then how many times could this person listen to the same spice girls song at blaring volume until he goes crazy? actually forget that, open up www.badgerbadgerbadger.com

[BlaqueKatt]

I wouldn't-and the other side of the question:

If your loved one found out you had saved them by torturing someone else-would they be able to live with it?


I'd rather die than know my rescue came at the cost of another's torture. I'd have to live with that every day, and knowing my loved one committed the act-I don't think they would remain my loved one-not with knowing they were capable of torturing another human for any reason. If they truly loved me they'd know how I'd feel about that.

[Talon]

In a dire situation, I would hope that my intellect would triumph over my emotions, and remind me that torture is not only immoral, it is ineffective.

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Well, it would depend on the person being tortured.

I'm assuming we are talking about a kidnapping scumbag.

I'm pretty squeamish, and I don't like to hurt things. But if someone, say, kidnapped my kid or a family member, and I thought it would bring them back to me unharmed, yeah. I could probably work up the guts to flay them alive.

If the shoe were on the other foot, and I found out, say, my husband had worked over a guy who had kidnapped me, I would have no problem with that. I mean, if it's me or the kidnapping scumbag, I'd rather not die to save someone like that. Why should I die to save that guy harm? He brought it on himself.

I certainly would not enjoy the thought, but I would do whatever I had to do to save a loved one, especially if we are talking about my child or husband.

[Gravekeeper]

Nope, couldn't do it. Regardless of the reason. Not only immoral, but ineffective. But I mean I feel bad if I step on a beetle.

Buddha don't waterboard. >.>

[Slytovhand]

I'd probably have to go with what a couple of others have said (and, I've indicated throughout many other threads)... once you've done something which completely walks over the basic human rights of others, you lose your own. As Gremcint said, at that stage, you're not longer 'human'.

Besides, I also believe in the spirit, soul and reincarnation.. this is just another meat-sack.

But as BJ threw in .. who's to say 100%???

Let's twist it just a tad... we have had a few threads regarding child molesters, and what people would do to them... is this much different??


Back to the other line that came out of this - if somone tortured someone else to save me... again, if the 'victim' falls into the above categories, what's really the issue? (for me - of course...)

[Nyoibo]

Also there are plenty of ways to torture someone that aren't physical.
If you are not on a deadline then how many times could this person listen to the same spice girls song at blaring volume until he goes crazy? actually forget that, open up www.badgerbadgerbadger.com

Those sorts of things have been used as psychological tourture techniques.

Used to get information torture is unreliable, but depending on what someone has done, yes I could torture someone, it might give me the jeebies a bit, but I could do it no problem.

[AdminAssistant]

I couldn't. I wouldn't. It's not an effective means of gathering information.

Besides, I have a problem with the way the rhetorical question is being posed. Because basically, it gives those who support 'advanced interrogation techniques' the right to say, "Well, if you'd torture someone to save your loved ones, then you have to agree with us, because that's what we're doing! Saving Americans!" Bull.

I remember a while back former pro-wrestler and Governor Jesse Ventura was on The View. As an ex-SEAL, he was waterboarded - part of their training. Hasselback was saying, "Oh, that's not torture, we're just trying to get information, blah blah blah". He glared at her and said, "Oh, you've been waterboarded? Because I have. It's torture". And, IMO, Americans are supposed to be better than that kind of shit.

[BlaqueKatt]

But I mean I feel bad if I step on a beetle.

totally off topic but do you rescue bugs from dangerous location(sidewalk, doors) like I do?

I've been known to get drenched taking worms off the sidewalk in the rain-dammit it's a living thing, it has a right to live!

[RecoveringKinkoid]

Yeah I do.

Uh...my hand is in a partial splint...just realized i cant type.

I'll pull over to recue snakes and turtles and frogds. in thr rain.