LJ-SEC: (ORIGINALLY POSTED BY jalendavi_lady)

I was doing a last circle of the Internet tonight when I ran across this gem on dailykos: Evangelical Group Issues Anti Torture Statement.

Basically, a group called Evangelicals for Human Rights has created a Biblically-based (by which I mean, includes scripture references) anti-torture declaration. It is 18 pdf pages long, and I haven't had the chance to read all of it, but a fair-sized part of the beginning does call on "sanctity of life". The executive summary is available here, with pdf links to the signatories and the complete document.

At first I thought this might be of interest to us here because sooner or later there will likely be some sort of reaction to this one way or the other from the groups this community watches.

Then, I bothered to read the signatory list (warning PDF).

The signers include the editor of Christianity Today, the National Association of Evangelicals' Vice President for Governmental Affairs, and the Executive Director of the NAE's chaplains program.

That led me to look at the list of groups the NAE represents, both denominations and organizations. The Southern Baptist Convention isn't represented, but the Assemblies of God, Campus Crusade for Christ, the Church of God, the Church of God (Holiness), at least the Great Lakes division of the Foursquare Gospel church, the Christian Broadcasting Network, Jews for Jesus, and the Salvation Army. That's just the names I recognized, and that's not mentioning most of the "Pentecostal", "Holiness", and "Church of God" permutations on the lists. (Interestingly, the NAE is on its own membership list.)

That's quite a list, and the confluence of this plus abusive practices inside some of these groups towards their own along with the "sanctity of life" phrase normally constrained to the abortion arguments might just lead to some interesting contortions once the responses start appearing. Later parts of the document do speak out about abortion, but sections next to those decry recent moves within the US government, including the habeas corpus issue (sections 5 and 6, referenced portions beginning around page 11).

I figured we might as well all have the heads-up to be watching for the reactions, with the knowledge of the more obvious interconnections at the very least.

Also, on the issue of the Executive Director of the chaplains: does anyone know if the member denominations' chaplains go through the NAE or through the individual denominations? If so, how much of a shake-up would occur if any of these groups removed themselves over this and the previous global warming 'creation care' brouhaha?

Actually, how much of a brouhaha would occur if any of the major groups pulled out, chaplain issues or no chaplain issues?

Edited to add, since I only found these this morning:
"Evangelicals Condemn Torture" from the Associated Press
"Evangelicals slam torture in war on terrorism"
(both links to Faith In Public Life, I wasn't sure of the link permanence of other sources for the same articles)

It appears, if these articles are correct, that the declaration has been endorsed by the NAE itself.