September 11-12, 2008 Conference in Atlanta, GA*

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Mercer University, Evangelicals for Human Rights, and the National Religious Campaign Against Torture, in cooperation with the Center for Victims of Torture, Cooperative Baptist Fellowship, Faith and the City, Faith in Public Life, Evangelicals for Social Action, the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, No 2 Torture, and Sojourners, hosted a national conference on torture on September 11-12, 2008. A National Summit on Torture: Religious Faith, Torture, and our National Soul was organized by David P. Gushee, President of Evangelicals for Human Rights and Distinguished University Professor of Christian Ethics at Mercer University.   

This two day conference looked at how we have gotten where we are since September 11, 2001, and how we return to a rejection of torture without exceptions. This event was infused with moral conviction drawn from religious faith, and conference speakers reflected a variety of faith perspectives.  Religious Faith, Torture, and our National Soul sought to model a kind of discourse, Christian, interfaith, and otherwise, that opens doors for dialogue rather than closes them.   

Questions that were considered:

• What policy decisions led to torture?
• How did the US military respond?
• What does torture do to human beings?
• What has the torture debate revealed about American Christianity?
• What is really going on at Guantanamo Bay?
• How do we heal the (American) Christian relationship with the Muslim world?
• What legislative efforts are being made to address torture?
• How do Christians break free from cultural captivity?
• What are younger thinkers noticing about this cultural moment that others are missing?
• How do we restore America's leadership in protecting human rights?

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