Where is the love?

Reading Steve Chapman's Op-Ed article in the Chicago Tribune this morning, I am struck by the moral inconsistency of the current administration. For a President that often wraps himself in the flag and the cross (which is paradoxical in and of itself), his policy on the treatment of detainees seems not only unamerican, but antithetical to Christianity. Such inconsistencies lead my to one of two conclusions; either the current administration is so wrapped up in its own righteous indignation that it is willing to sacrifice moral character in order to establish its power and authority, or they are simply using religious rhetoric to persuade the American public into believing that their agenda has any measure of a moral foundation. Either conclusion is downright frightening. At the intersection of the cross and the flag is almost always bloodshed. We are horrified when Islamic fundamentalists blow themselves up in a crowded public square, should we not also be horrified at the fact that over 100 detainees have died in US custody in Guantanamo, Abu Ghraib and the likes?

The Bush administration has yet to learn from a rich tradition of Christians who have thoughtfully and faithfully engaged political and international crises while maintaining a moral high ground that would not compromise the most basic Christian teachings. Listen to the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., "Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for mankind to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Mankind must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love" (December 11, 1964). The policies set forth by the Bush administration leave me with the words of a U2 song, "I wonder where is the love, where is the love?"