To Torture or Not to Torture

This past weekend I posted a situational ethics question to my friends and family here on FB. The question had been assigned by my Philosophy professor (see my wall for the details- it involved torturing a seven year old girl to save millions.) I want to thank all of you who responded on FB, those that called me (lol) as well as those that I called or hunted down for additional insight. I just submitted my short response paper and felt since you so graciously gave- so should I. Here is my paper:

I believe the appropriate moral response to this situation would not include torturing the seven year old girl. I do not believe the shedding of innocent blood serves any greater good; not by God's standard anyway. Moses, in Deuteronomy 27:25, charged the people saying that the shedding of innocent blood (of people) was a curse.

I actually read this discussion board requirement last week and this situational ethics question really got me thinking. I asked my self one question, “What is the greater good- not by man’s understanding or reasoning, but by God’s?”

I posed this scenario to many of my friends, both Christian and non-Christian. I was truly surprised at the number of people, including some of my Christian friends, who said they could torture the child. The sentiment seemed to be the sacrifice of one life for the lives of many would be similar to what Jesus had done.  However, that did not set well with me because it seemed they had their thinking backwards. Jesus died for the sins of the entire world not for one man’s sin. To me, this seemed to be a human nature idea of justification. Should this one innocent child be a sacrificial lamb? Was she not as innocent as those in the city?

Then, compelled to find deeper spiritual insight, I spoke with several ministerial friends. The consensus here was a bit mixed and each side presented scripture that supported their opinion. This caused me to languish as I wrestled with what my moral response would be.  I kept wondering what would Jesus do?

I tried to think about all the people living in the major metropolitan city who would never realize the danger they were in; people, family members, and/or friends I might know myself in potential danger of being disintegrated. Next, I put myself in the interrogator’s position. I couldn’t help it; I was continually reminded that this is a seven year old girl, not an adult, not a convicted criminal, and not her father. From all understood regards, she is innocent- as innocent as the millions who will perish if she is not tortured. If the father was willing to be tortured and see millions of innocent people die, would he really be moved that his daughter might suffer? I reasoned he probably would not. Should she pay for her father's sin? Should I, a student of the Word of God and partaker of its truths, become like the terrorist and willfully engage in shedding innocent blood?  I thought of every Bible story and parable and looked up scripture after scripture to find a moral compass to direct my heart toward the best moral answer. At last, I have humbly prayed and asked God; I found my answer.

You see, I could never do it. I could never torture the child even if it meant the deaths of millions of people because her innocent blood would be required on my hands on that final Day of Judgment and the innocent blood of the millions in the city would be required on the hands of the terrorist. I was reminded by a wonderful youth pastor that God is the defender of the defenseless. In this case, not only are the millions of people in the city defenseless, but also the little girl. Would I be willing to work against God? My final answer was “No I would not.”