Ethics

Gary Bauer's Christian Values

By Ed Brayton

Politico has an absolutely staggering opinion piece by Gary Bauer, one of the most prominent leaders of the Christian right, in which he actually argues that allowing the detainees at Guantanamo Bay to practice their faith is turning them into terrorists.

After a January Pentagon report found that 61 former detainees had engaged in terrorist activities, several commentators concluded the answer was yes and suggested that conditions at the prison are to blame.

This may surprise you, but as a staunch proponent of the prison, I agree. But while many liberal commentators believe inhumane treatment and religious persecution transforms detainees into suicide bombers and high-level terrorists, I believe the opposite is true: that the unprecedented and extreme religious accommodation granted to Gitmo prisoners has created a culture of Islamic radicalization.

Full post as published by Dispatches from the Culture Wars on March 26, 2009 (boomark / email).