Cultivating a culture of justice

Submitted on May 20, 2004

Send to friendThe news of American soldiers abusing Iraqi prisoners has stirred feelings of shame and anger. Unfortunately, some of that outrage has been misdirected. As the head of the U.S. Military Archdiocese rightly said last week, these atrocities are not in keeping with the inherent sense of justice that America is supposed to espouse. More importantly for Catholics, they violate what we believe is the proper treatment of others. There’s no justification for such conduct and the hope is that those responsible will be swiftly brought to justice. The hope also is that such conduct by a few doesn’t cause guilt by association for other members of America’s military who would never think of acting in such a way. But, sadly, not everyone believes that the abuse of detainees is wrong. A twisted logic holds that since some of the people of Iraq — the suicide bombers — have no respect for life, all Iraqi prisoners can be mistreated. The "well, they abused our people, so we can abuse theirs" doesn’t fly. We are still called to a higher standard. Revenge attacks against Americans in Iraq are just as wrong. Those responsible for the abuse of others will someday face a Judge with whom there can be no bargaining, whether or not they are brought to justice in this life. We Catholics are deeply divided over this war. Whether we agree with the decision to enter it, we must admit that the practicality is that we are there and will remain there for some time. The members of our military should conduct themselves according to the highest standards. So should those who follow the war from the home front.