This whole torture issue has really gotten to me. I am so outraged, I feel like I need to be doing something concrete about it. I’d write to my congressman, but it seems that it’s out of their hands.
Can someone please give me information about any protests that are being planned, tee shirts that are being sold, or anything that will make my concerns known to our elected representatives? So far I’ve seen a lot of editorials and a lot of talk on the internet, but nothing concrete.
Thank you
Writing to your elective representatives will carry a lot more weight than wearing a t-shirt. In the immediate term, that’s probably the best you can do. Lots of people wear t-shirts, and anyway, how are the people who matter going to find out you’re wearing it? In the longer term (say, this November, or in a couple of years) you can vote out any politicians you think are contributing to or allowing torture.
Unfortunately, our elected representatives have no control over this sort of thing. That’s why terrorists are called terrorists.
Don’t write only to your elected representatives, but to your local media outlets and ask them “This is an issue that challenges the fundamental beliefs and values of our culture. Why are stories about Anna Nicole and Steve Irwin getting more coverage than the perception by the rest of the world that America = Torturers?”
At some point, a major news outlet will discover that expressing an alternative viewpoint will translate into ratings, and therefore profit. Help them discover this.
I agree with Chronos. I’ve written to certain of my elected representatives in the past, and it has on occasion elicited response. Even if they’re just telling their undersecretary to reply to me, at least I know I, a voter, am there, and I’m pissed off.
Believe me, direct contact really has an effect on opinion. I obliquely work for the British government, and one well crafted letter has way more effect than a protest would.
Try to be factual, and let them know they could lose your vote because of the issue. And don’t write in green ink.
Sigh. Another typo: “at least they know I, a voter, am there, and I’m pissed off”.
I presume you’re mostly talking about torture in terms of what US persons have done to people in Iraq and elsewhere, but if you are interested in the issue more generally (as in, abusive prisons in China and elsewhere, including the US) you may be interested in joining Amnesty International. They organize lots of efforts on these types of issues, and although it is not without its critics, it is a generally respected organization.
I’m another letter writer. The big thing that I’ve found is to be well informed. What’s currently being discussed and voted upon that concerns your issue? Keep your letters formal and brief, but state which way you want your representative to vote and a short explanation why.
To expand on the letter writing form of activism, why not host a letter writing party? Pick three or four key issues that concern you the most, gather some information on them, get pens, paper, envelopes, stamps, etc, and invite some like minded friends over for dinner and activism.
Letters to the editor are also a great way to share a more emotional view of an issue. They should still contain mostly facts, but can also be slightly less formal. They’re great for rallying up others in your area.
If you’re looking for a protest to join, you’ll have to get a feel for the activist community in your area. There are national protests, like the annual SOA Watch one in Georgia, that you may want to consider as well. Before you join any protest, be aware of potential consequences and figure out for yourself how far you are willing to go.
I am not sure, but I don’t believe the OP is talking about terrorists conducting torture or terrorists in general. I believe what is meant is torture in general, conducted under the authority of legitimate governments.
I agree with everyone else that writing your local elected representatives might be a good start. Most of them do read the mail they receive, or at a minimum have someone from their staff read the mail.
Me personally, I always read the Letters to the Editor in my local papers and have had my mind opened up on more than one occasion by people who attempt to write unbiased letters. If you write one letter and it changes a few minds, it might be worth the effort. Perhaps in a letter you could encourage others to write to their local congressperson and create some form of mail-in campaign. I would guess that it would be more beneficial to do so aiming the campaign towards those who are in support of the ‘torture’ or who have not already actively talked against it.
I am still undecided whether I think there is any benefit to allowing some of the things happening to happen. Sometimes I think that it is a good way to get information from the bad guys, and perhaps some of them deserve what they got (sick evil side of me). But the recent situation with the Canadian citizen has me taking the side of the possible innocents and the argument that some of been making all along.
Personally, you can not torture anyone. You cannot hook battery cables to balls. You can’t hold someone in a cave and threaten to cut their head off.l You can’t have german shepards bite arab asses. Simply, hun, you can’t torture them. tshirts and emails lsits are a waste of time, sweeite.
Hee. It’s precious when sweetums goes to college. Well the first outrage usuallyu leads to real issues in 19 years time.
One way to personally prevent torture that has been used in the past is to carry a cyanide capsule with you at all times.
I am interested in personally eliminating world hunger and bringing about world peace, any suggestions?
This is the first thing I thought of.
Well I don’t think the president and the executive branch are causing world hunger however they are responsible for torture.
So the to answer the op help someone get elected who won’t torture, or run for office yourself if you’re the legal age.
Write to your elected representatives and tell them that you consider torture to be an important issue and one that you will be considering when you vote. If Congressional or Senatorial debates are coming ahead in your area, contact the organizers of the debates to ask that they include torture as a debate topic. Then vote your convictions.
All torture? I think not.
I’m assuming you are being snarky, but there are organizations that have done a hell of a lot to tackle world hunger. There are organizations like the Borlaug Foundation (and the Gates Foundation, too) that have funded efforts to bring higher yield, more draught resistant, and more hearty crops to areas vulnerable to famine. Dr. Borlaug is credited with setting in motion the program that nearly doubled food production in Pakistan and India, and he won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts in 1986.
If you wish to do something to help, you could make a contribution to another organization that is actually doing something to solve one of those problems. Otherwise, probably nobody will make fun you for dismissing efforts that have actually shown results in addressing human misery.
There is a relatively simple solution that you could personally bring about, but it involves eliminating over 90% of the human population on this planet. Did you want to have your world peace and to end world hunger without doing that?
There are a lot of people in our government and in many governments that could be considered being responsible for torture. Citizens of many countries consider the people of America to people responsible as we elected the officials. It all depends who you are talking to and what their views are. We could look at as the governments who control the land that the torture takes place in is responsible, or those who allowed flights of prisoners to fly over their airspace, and so on, and so on.
There are many responsible for the torture, to include those who are being tortured, quite possibly.