I’ve spent several hours this week saddened and horrified over the “Torture Report” issued by the Senate Intelligence Committee after its investigation of the CIA’s treatment of detainees following 9-11. I’m sure I’m not alone in this. I have also been paying attention to the nationwide protest over grand jury failures in NY and MO to indict police officers for the strangling death of Eric Garner and the shooting death of Michael Brown. As a nation we are reeling from these devastating glimpses of ourselves in the mirror. We hear some of our elected officials actually CONDONING gruesome methods of torture. We are forced to question the tactics and motives of law enforcement as well as the reliability of our justice system as we witness the underlying brutality born of hatred and fear. How do we as American Christians manage this information in these final days of our journey toward Christmas knowing what we know now? This horrific treatment of other human beings has been/is being done in our name under the rubric of community and homeland protection. How can we reconcile this? (more…)