Very often the punishment for sin is its consequences. If you pass off little white lies, you become untrustworthy. If you ignore the needs of your neighbor, you become blind. If you take moral shortcuts when the high road is uncomfortable, your strength of character decays. If you treat some people as disposable human beings you dehumanize yourself.

We build our character upon behavior habits. That’s why parents teach us moral principles like the Ten Commandments. It is a major jump into maturity when a person makes a deep, personal commitment to telling the truth, even when it is inconvenient. Compromising the fundamental moral principles that all great religions share is dangerous business.

Fundamental moral principles don’t get much more fundamental than “It’s wrong to torture another human being.” The Geneva Conventions are just the latest version of that ethical imperative. Christians might have reason to bear a particular sensitivity toward torture since we follow Jesus of Nazareth who was a victim of state authorized torture.

That is why we are seeing religious leaders from so many Christian denominations and various faith traditions speaking out against the U.S. administration’s objections to legislation banning “cruel, inhuman or degrading” treatment of prisoners in U.S. custody. Torture – cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment – is wrong. Period.

But more than that, torture is fruitless. Military strategists have long known that a person under extreme duress will say anything he thinks his captors want to hear. Intelligence secured under torture is usually suspect.

Newsweek magazine recently reported that the administration made much of its pre-war case charging that Saddam Hussein and al-Qaida were working together based on dubious information coerced out of an al-Qaida operative that the CIA sent to Egypt for “more fearsome” questioning. Apparently the sole basis for the claim that Iraq was training al-Qaida terrorists to use weapons of mass destruction comes from the Egyptian interrogation of a captured operative named Ibn al-Shaykh al-Libi.

The Defense Intelligence Agency concluded that Libi was probably lying, saying that he “may be describing scenarios to the debriefers that he knows will retain their interest.” Translation – it was bad intelligence secured through torture.

The Defense Intelligence Agency report was not shared with lawmakers. Instead, the President claimed more than once that “Iraq has provided al-Qaida with chemical and biological weapons training.” We now know that claim was not true. We also know the major justification for that claim was based on torture-induced intelligence of dubious value.

The consequences of these moral lapses are pretty profound. We have launched a war on slippery justification, and it has not gone well.

My brother-in-law is an Admiral working in the Pentagon. He tells me he knows of no one around the Pentagon who condones torture. Beside its doubtful reliability, the use of torture makes our troops more vulnerable. Captured American troops are endangered when we do not respect the Geneva Conventions and other rules of engagement when we capture or detain others.

The amendment that proposes to ban “cruel, inhuman or degrading” treatment of prisoners is supported by Republican Senator John McCain, a former POW. The Washington Post published a letter (9/27/05) to McCain commending his efforts on behalf of field soldiers. Captain Ian Fishback of the 82nd Airborne Division complained that he has been “unable to get clear, consistent answers from my leadership about what constitutes lawful and humane treatment of detainees.” He believes that lack of clarity has “contributed to a wide range of abuses including death threats, beatings, broken bones, murder, exposure to elements, extreme forced physical exertion, hostage-taking, stripping, sleep deprivation, and degrading treatment. I and troops under my command witnessed some of the abuses in both Afghanistan and Iraq.” A clear, unequivocal ban of torture, cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment is in the best interests of our troops. And it is the right thing to do.

I fear the decay of our nation’s moral fabric. The President and Vice President need to be moral leaders. If we are unable to live by such foundational principles such as “It is wrong to torture,” we are undermining our national character. The consequences are grave. “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.” (Romans 12:21) Beware of trying to slay the dragon, lest you become the dragon.