George Hunsinger

More religious people support torture under Obama than they did under Bush. In this context, Rebecca Gordon's book is required reading.

We posed this question to eight theologians: Suppose someone told you they haven’t been keeping up with theology for the past 25 years. Now they want to read the most important books in theology that were written during that time. What five titles would you suggest?

In May 2007 I was at a conference with Darius Rejali, the distinguished torture researcher and analyst. During a break, he turned to me and said, in reference to our own country, “You know, of course, that there are five steps which would bring torture to an end.” First, he said, the rules of interrogation must be clear. Where conflicting directives exist, as at Abu Ghraib, the situation is rife for abuse. Double standards cannot be tolerated. It is imperative that intelligence operatives of the CIA, for example, or the Navy SEALs be held to the high standards—without loopholes—that are required by the Army Field Manual.

Contrary to what most Americans believe, the United States is in deep trouble in Iraq, and its policies are adrift. Especially ominous are problems surrounding the plan for June 30 elections....