An Open Letter to Alberto R. Gonzales
January 4, 2005
Hon. Alberto R. Gonzales
Counsel to the President
The White House
1600 Pennsylvania Avenue
Washington, DC 20500
Dear Judge Gonzales:
We, the undersigned religious leaders, greet your nomination to be Attorney General of the United States with grave concern.
As a self-professed evangelical Christian, you surely know that all people are created in the image of God. You see it as a moral imperative to treat each human being with reverence and dignity. We invite you to affirm with us that we are all are made in the image of God – every human being. We invite you to acknowledge that no legal category created by mere mortals can revoke that status. You understand that torture – the deliberate effort to undermine human dignity – is a grave sin and affront to God. You would not deny that the systemic use of torture on prisoners at Abu Ghraib was fundamentally immoral, as is the deliberate rendering of any detainee to authorities likely to commit torture.
We urge you to declare that any attempt to undermine international standards on torture, renditions, or habeas corpus is not only wrong but sinful. We are concerned that as White House counsel you have shown a troubling disregard for international laws against torture, for the legal rights of suspected "enemy combatants," and for the adverse consequences your decisions have had at home and abroad.
How could you have written a series of legal memos that disrespected international law and invited these abuses? How could you have justified the use of torture and disavowed protections for prisoners of war? How could you have referred to the Geneva Conventions as “quaint” and “obsolete.” We fear that your legal judgments have paved the way to torture and abuse.
We therefore call upon you
• To denounce the use of torture under any circumstances;
• To affirm, with the Supreme Court, that it is unconstitutional to imprison anyone designated as an "enemy combatant" for months without access to lawyers or the right to challenge their detentions in court;
• To affirm the binding legality of the Geneva Conventions and the laws of war;
• And to reject the practice of "extraordinary rendition," at home and abroad, by which terrorist suspects are sent to countries that practice torture for interrogation.
We believe, as you do, that the United States must be an example of moral leadership in the world community. However, the events at Abu Ghraib have gravely compromised America's moral authority. We ask that you commit yourself as Attorney General to repairing that damage by articulating and enforcing legal policies that reject the use of torture, embrace and advance standards of international law, and honor the dignity of all of God's creation.
With prayers for wisdom and grace,
Over 225 Religious Leaders
(Affiliations listed for identification only)
Initial Endorsers:
Rev. Dr. George Hunsinger, Princeton Theological Seminary
Coordinator: Church Folks for a Better America
Dr. C. René Padilla, General Secretary for Latin America, IFES
Sr. Dianna Ortiz, director, Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International
Rabbi Arthur Waskow, The Shalom Center
Sr. Joan Chittister, OSB
Dr. Susan Thistlethwaite, President, Chicago Theological Seminary
Mr. Jim Wallis, Editor, Sojourners
Dr. Ron Sider, President, Evangelicals for Social Action
Dr. Anthony Campolo, Evangelical Association for the Promotion of Education
Dr. Rubén Rosario Rodríguez, St. Louis University
Dr. Juanita Jartu Jolly, Agape Christian Tabernacle
Rev. Victor Aloyo, Jr., Director of Vocations, Princeton Theological Seminary
Rev. Alexia Salvatierra, Executive Director, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice
Pastor Amaury Tañón-Santos, American Baptist Churches
The Rev. John E. Denaro, Episcopal Migration Ministries
Rabbi Michael Lerner, The TIKKUN Community
Dr. Stanley Hauerwas, The Divinity School of Duke University
Bishop Thomas J. Gumbleton, Aux. Bishop, Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Detroit
Bishop James H. Burch, Catholic Diocese of One Spirit
Rev. Dr. Joseph C. Hough, Jr., President, Union Theological Seminary
Rabbi Mordechai Liebling, The Shefa Fund
Rev. Dr. James H. Cone, Union Theological Seminary
Dr. Teresa Whitehurst, Jesus on the Family Institute
Dr. Glen Stassen, Fuller Theological Seminary
Rabbi Brian Walt, Rabbis for Human Rights North America
Rev. Romal Tune, African American Ministers Council
Rev. Dr. Therese M. Becker, Department of Spiritual Care, University of Chicago Hospitals
Rabbi Shirley Idelson, Hebrew Union College - Jewish Institute of Religion
Rev. Theophlus Caviness, Greater Abyssinia, Cleveland, OH
Rev. Violete Dease, Abyssinian Baptist, Harlem, NY
Dr. Paul H. Sherry, National Council of Churches of Christ
Iftekhar Hussain, Secretary General, American Muslim Society of the Tristate Area
Rev. Victoria J. Furio
The Rev. Julio Torres
Rev. Timothy McDonald, African Amer. Ministers Council & First Iconium Baptist
Dr. Tarunjit Singh, Secretary General World Sikh Council - America Region
Dr. William Werpehowski, Center for Peace and Justice Education, Villanova University
Mr. Dave Robinson, Executive Director, Pax Christi USA
Mahdi Bray, Executive Director Muslim American Society Freedom Foundation
Sheila Musaji, Editor, The American Muslim Magazine
Mohammed Kaiseruddin, President, Muslim Community Center, Chicago
Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf
Dr. A.S. Mahdi Ibn-Ziyad, Africana Islamic Institute
Imam Abdul Malik Mujahid, Sound Vision Foundation
Rabbi Steven B. Jacobs
Rev. Meg Riley, Unitarian Universalist Association
The Rev. Frank Morales, St. Marks Church
Rabbi Gerry Serotta, Temple Shalom
Rabbi Nancy Fuchs-Kreimer, Reconstructionist Rabbinical Assoc. (Past President)
Dr. E. Glenn Hinson, Professor Emeritus, Baptist Theological Seminary
The Rev. Robert Moore, Coalition for Peace Action & Peace Action Education Fund
Rev. Dr. Donald W. Shriver, President Emeritus, Union Theological Seminary, NYC
Sr. Betty Obal, SL, UN NGO Representative, Loretto Community
Rev. Dr. Frederick R. Trost, Wisconsin Conference of the United Church of Christ
Bishop Charles Wesley Jordan
Mr. Jason Byassee, Assistant Editor, Christian Century
David W. Reid, Publisher, Vital Theology
Richard V. Pierard, Stephen Phillips Professor of History, Gordon College
Dr. Barbara DeConcini, Executive Director, American Academy of Religion
Rev. Steven C. Baines, People For the American Way Foundation
Dr. Tarunjit Singh, Secretary General World Sikh Council - America Region
Bishop Marshall L. Meadors, Jr. Bishop in Residence Candler School of Theology Emory
The Very Rev. Tracey Lind, Dean Trinity Episcopal Cathedral
The Very Rev. Dr. Ann J. Broomell, Dean Trinity Episcopal Cathedral
Rev. Dr. Albert M. Pennybacker, Chair/CEO, Clergy and Laity Network
Rev. Vicky A. Fleming
The Reverend K. Dennis Winslow, St. Peter's Episcopal Church
Rev. Dr. James E. Fitzgerald, Minister for Mission and Social Justice, The Riverside Church
Dr. Sondra Wheeler, Martha Ashby Carr Professor of Christian Ethics, Wesley Theological Seminary
Rev. Brenda Bartella Peterson
Dr. George F. Regas, The Regas Institute
Dr. Charles Hunter, Presbyterian Minister, Parish Associate at the Oak Cliff Presbyterian Church in Dallas, Texas
Rev. Dr. Charles Raynal, Director of Advanced Studies, Columbia Theological Seminary
Mark A. Chancey, Religious Studies, Southern Methodist University
The Rev. Gary R. Weaver
Julie M. Hill
Scott R. Gansl, president, World Congress of GLBT Jewish Organisations: Keshet Ga'ava
Dr. S.M. Ghazanfar, Professor of Economics University of Idaho
Dana Regan, First Unitarian Church of Portland, OR
Rev. Dr. William G. Brockman
Bob Morris
Helga Scow Stern
Chuck Currie, United Church of Christ Seminarian, Central Pacific Conference UCC
Rev. Jay R. Newlin, OSL, Pastor Jenkintown United Methodist Church
Rev. Melody C. Porter, First United Methodist Church of Germantown
Ruth Messinger
Anne Ewing
The Rev. Meg A. Riley, Unitarian Universalist Association
Rabbi Nancy Flam, Institute for Jewish Spirituality
Rabbi Alana Suskin, Congregation Adas Israel
Rabbi Dr. Andrew Vogel Ettin, Wake Forest University and Temple Israel
Rev. David Wesley Brown
Dr. S. Huw Anwyl, Senior Minister & CEO Shepherd of the Hills Church
Rev. Dexter Lanctot
Rabbi Suzanne Griffel
Rabbi Laura Geller, Los Angeles
Rabbi Douglas E. Krantz
Rabbi Neil Kominsky, Temple Emanuel of the Merrimack Valley
The Rev. James F. McIntire, MDiv, JD, The United Methodist Church of Bala Cynwyd
Eric Mount, Centre College (Rodes Professor Religion Emeritus)
Rev. Robert G. Coombe Pastor: Union United Methodist Church
Elizabeth Memel, Ojai, CA
Haim Dov Beliak
Rev. Susan Cole
Rev. Michael Kinnamon The Allen and Dottie Miller Professor of Mission and Peace, Eden Theological Seminary
Rev. Charlene F. Gaspar, Gladwyne United Methodist Church
Rev. Al Krass, Philadelphia Area Interfaith Peace Network
Rev. Kaye Edwards Director of Family and Children's Ministries, Christian Church (Disciples of Christ)
The Rev. Patricia Pearce Tabernacle United Church, Philadelphia, PA
Rev. Linda M. Maloney, St. Matthew's Episcopal Church, Enosburg Falls, VT
Dr. Alicia Ostriker, Professor of English, Rutgers University
Rev. Dr. F. Mark Mealing, Kaslo, B.C., Canada
Wil Gafney, Assistant Professor of Hebrew Scripture and Homiletics, Lutheran Theological Seminary at Philadelphia
Phyllis T. Albritton, Blacksburg VA
Sidney Callahan, Ph.D
Gaile M. Pohlhaus, Ph.D., Villanova University
Dr. Malcolm Nazareth and Ms. Mariani Nazareth, St. Cloud, MN
Rabbi Avi Winokur, Society Hill Synagogue
Dr. Nan Gefen, President, Chochmat HaLev
Rabbi Jonathan Omer-Man, Berkeley, CA
Rabbi Ellen Lippmann, Kolot Chayeinu/Voices of Our Lives
Dorothea Dorenz
Rev. Peter Laarman, Progressive Christians Uniting
Dr. Mary E. Hunt, Women's Alliance for Theology, Ethics and Ritual
Dr. Rita Nakashima Brock, Director, Faith Voices Institute and Lift Every Voice!
Charles Rooney, Catholics for the Common Good
Rev. Dr. Elsie McKee, Ph.D., Archibald Alexander Professor of Reformation Studies and the History of Worship, Princeton Theological Seminary
Rev. Dr. Daniel Meeter, Pastor, Old First Reformed Church, Brooklyn, NY
Marilyn Chandler McEntyre, Westmont College
Reb ZalmanSchachter-Shalomi Rabbinic Chair, ALEPH: Alliance for Jewish Renewal;
Rabbi Hillel Cohn
Rabbi Zev-Hayyim Feyer, Claremont, California
Rabbi Howard A. Cohen, Congregation Beth El
Rabbi Dennis Beck-Berman Past President, OHALAH:Association of Rabbis for
Jewish Renewal
Dr. M. Douglas Meeks, The Divinity School, Vanderbilt University
The Rev. Dr. Christian T. Iosso, Scarborough Presbyterian Church
Rev. Kenneth Samual, Victory Church, Atlanta, GA
Rev. A.W. Howard, Baltimore, MD
Rabbi Roberto D. Graetz Temple Isaiah Lafayette, Ca
Rabbi Laurence L. Edwards Congregation Or Chadash
Rabbi Phyllis Berman, Riverside Language Center
Rabbi David Greenstein, The Academy for Jewish Religion, NY
Rev. Robert Shine, Baracha Baptist, Philadelphia, PA
Rev. Clarence Pemberton, New Hope Baptist, Philadelphia, PA
Rev. James Sampson, First Mount Zion, Jacksonville, FL
Rev. Michael Harrison, Union Baptist, Youngstown, OH
Rev. Michael Pfleger, St. Sabina, Chicago, IL
Rev. Olen Arrington, Second Baptist, Kenosha, WI
J. Ross Wagner, Princeton Theological Seminary
Mark Lewis Taylor, Princeton Theological Seminary
The Rev. Dr. John McEntyre, PCUSA
The Rev. C. Clifton Black, Dept. of Biblical Studies, Princeton Theological Seminary
Barbara Levatich
Dr. Geffrey B. Kelly, La Salle University
Dr. Robert DeFina, Villanova University
Prof. Ellen Charry Princeton Theological Seminary
Rev. Bryan Langlands, St. Luke UMC, Sanford, NC
Rev. Muriel Burrows, Witherspoon Street Presbyterian Church
Anne Gibbons, Associate Chaplain and Director of SERVE, Lynchburg College
The Rev. Robert L. Livingston. United Church of Christ
Rev. Patricia Daley
William Stacy Johnson, Princeton Theological Seminary
Rev. Douglas King
Dr. Alexander J. McKelway
Rev. James M. Collie, Presbytery of Santa Fe
Rev. Theresa F. Latini
The Rev. Fleming Rutledge
Rev. Todd Cioffi, Princeton Seminary
Dr. Jacqueline Lapsley, Princeton Seminary
Dr. Brian K. Blount, Princeton Theological Seminary
Rev. Dr. Deborah van Deusen Hunsinger, Princeton Theological Seminary
The Rev. Dr. Laura Delaplain (UMC)
Dr. Catherine Keller, Theological School of Drew University
The Rev. Dr. Gary Wehrwein
Ftr. Lawrence H. Kaiser
Rev. Gloria H. Albrecht, Ph.D. (Presbyterian Church, USA)
Rev. Sally Osmer, Director at The Crisis Ministry of Princeton and Trenton
Dr. Cherith Fee Nordling, Director of Christian Formation, Calvin College
Rev. Richard Broderick
Rev. Ann Marie Coleman, Co-Senior Minister of University Church
Rev. Don Coleman, Co-Senior Minister of University Church
The Rev. Lisa Keppeler
The Rev. Geo. Anthony Hoeltzel
The Rev. Dr. Frank J. Alagna
The Rev. Dr. Peregrine L. Murphy
The Rev. Elizabeth G. Maxwell, Church of the Holy Apostles
The Rev. Ralph E Fogg
The Rev. Carol R. Fox
Rabbi Chaim Leib Schneider, Santa Cruz, CA
Rabbi Steven B. Jacobs, Temple Kol Tikvah, Woodland Hills, CA
Rabbi Patricia Karlin-Neumann, Stanford University
Rabbi Neil Comess-Daniels, Beth Shir Sholom, Santa Monica, CA
The Rev. Chloe Breyer, St. Mary's Manhattanville
Rev. Dr. Lois Malcolm, Luther Seminary
The Reverend Canon Brady J. Vardemann, Episcopal Diocese of Montana
Dr. Mark S. Burrows, Andover Newton Theological School
Rev. Dr. Betty Jane Bailey
Rev. Dr. J. Martin Bailey
Dr. Kathryn L. Johnson, Louisville Presbyterian Theological Seminary
Rev. Joan LaLiberté, St. Andrew's Episcopal Church
The Rev. Barbara J. Haddon, Pastor First Presbyterian Church
Rev. Donald F. Hanchon
Rev. Paul Feuerstein
The Rev. Dr. Rebecca Parker, Starr King School for the Ministry
Dr. John Cobb, Claremont School of Theology (Emeritus)
Rev. Matthew Freeman, Assistant Minister, Asbury United Methodist Church
Rev. Jophn Soderberg
Rev. Dave Weissbard, Senior Minister, The Unitarian Universalist Church
Dr. Walter Lowe, Candler School of Theology, Emory University
Rev. Sarah Craig Freeman, Assistant Minister at Asbury United Methodist Church
Bonnie Jones Shinneman
The Rev. Prof. Harold R. Bronk, Jr., Grace Episcopal Church
The Rev. Chuck Kramer
Rev. Dawson Tunnell
Frank Kromkowski
Rabbi Michael Feinberg, Executive Director, Greater New York Labor-Religion
Coalition
Rabbi Sheila Peltz Weinberg, Institute for Jewish Spirituality
Rev. Bill Wylie-Kellermann, Graduate Theological Urban Studies, Seminary Consortium for Urban Pastoral Education
Rev. Dr. Daniel L. Migliore, Princeton Theological Seminary
Suzie Armstrong, Vice President, The Interfaith Alliance
Rev. Dr. Amy Laura Hall, Professor, Duke University Divinity School
Dr. Creston Davis, Fellow of Arts and Sciences, University of Virginia
Dr. Scott Bader-Saye, Dept. of Theology/Religious Studies, University of Scranton
Dr. Brigid Curtin Frein, Department of Theology, University of Scranton
Dr. Joel James Shuman, Department of Theology, King's College
Dr. R. David Kaylor, Davidson College (emeritus)
Dr. Deanna A. Thompson, Ph.D., Chair & Associate Professor of Religion, Hamline University
Re. Dr. Richard Fenn, Princeton Theological Seminary
The Rev. Joicy Becker-Richards, Director of Educational Media, Princeton Theological Seminary