BY ELAINE KLAASSEN
Those of us who live in privileged milieus tend to think that evil doesn’t exist. I personally don’t like to think there is such a thing as evil. Yet, it is hard to think the demolition of the trade towers was not an evil act. And it is also hard to think that the atrocities carried on at Guantanamo prison are not evil. I have to acknowledge that there are deliberate evil acts in the world. Like goodness, they have a ripple effect. The particular evil at Guantanamo has been going on since 9/11. Our government believes it has been necessary to capture both innocent and guilty people and submit them to unspeakable torture. Many people within all religious persuasions as well as secular humanists have worked to close the prison, but it has been impossible. Now there is hope of stopping the suffering and dehumanization that has been unleashed. There is new momentum in the national consciousness.
Tackling Torture at the Top, a committee of Women Against Military Madness, which has spent years trying to hold U.S. architects of torture accountable, is holding two events on Thursday, Nov. 12. Featured speakers are CIA whistleblower John Kiriakou and psychology professor and human rights advocate Bradley Olson, who will present two talks together. From 11:30 to 12:30 at Hamline University’s lunchtime forum, the topic is, “U.S. Torture: Insider Perspectives on the Pursuit of Ethics and Justice.” From 3 to 5 p.m. in Willey Hall at the U of M, the topic is, “Torture: Back in the Spotlight and How to Keep It There.”
Contact Thomas Dickinson, [email protected], 612-822-9520, or Scott Moen, [email protected], 651-428-1547, for details.
