laneys.info Beware of Yankees, drunks, and loose women.

The AP is reporting that another as-yet unnamed Guantanamo Bay detainee has killed himself.  From the article: "Defense attorneys said the death was likely an act of desperation at a prison camp where detainees are denied access to U.S. civilian courts and isolated in their cells for up to 22 hours a day.  'You have five and a half years of desperation there with no legal way out,' said Michael Ratner, president of the New York-based Center for Constitutional Rights. 'Sadly, it leads to people being so desperate they take their own lives.' … The former commander of the detention facilities, Navy Rear Adm. Harry Harris, described those suicides as acts of 'asymmetric warfare' - an effort to increase condemnation of the prison."

From a Christian perspective, there's a lot to condemn.

I got an email forwarded to me today, asking me to take action and contact my representatives in Congress in opposition to House of Representatives bill HR 254.  The alert warned of dire consequences if this bill should become law, not because of the contents of the bill itself, but because of the slippery slope the bill would create.

Unfortunately, the alert originally came from the American Family Association, a group that I long ago added to my email filter because of their propensity for reactionary, alarmist hyperbole.  This alert was no different.  The problem I have is with the message that the AFA sends with such opposition.

Many of the people I talk to, especially among my Christian friends, have the opinion that NPR is the mouthpiece of the godless liberals that wish to purge our country of its last vestiges of Christianity.  I will readily admit that listening to NPR's news is more challenging to me than, say, Fox news or Glenn Beck.  I find myself shaking either my head or my fist at the radio on a fairly regular basis.  But just when I'm ready to give up on it and slide back into the easy comfort of a more conservative news source and the approval of the crowd, they do something like this.

It is amazing to me how many Christians who think abortion is wrong and a form of murder, also think that it's okay for the United States to use torture as an interrogation technique.  Am I missing something here?  For all of my Christian readers (yeah, both of you) I encourage you to read this and then comment.

"He gives power to those who are tired and worn out; He offers strength to the weak.  Isaiah 40:29

Things are getting better, one step at a time.