In A Democracy Some Are Guilty, but All Are Responsible: Executive Orders Start to Turn the Page On Torture & Detention

As promised and expected, President Obama acted quickly to revoke some of the most egregious and morally reprehensible acts of the previous administration by issuing a number of Executive Orders on Thursday 1/22/09.

In three Executive Orders, President Obama reversed American policy on interrogation/torture, started a review of detention options and policy, and decided to close the detention facilities at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and review the cases of all individuals detained there.

US Policy on interrogations/torture put a stain on us all and the detentions at Gitmo undermined our Constitution and its rights. Together, these actions darkened the ideals of our country and lowered our status in the world.

At the RHR-NA Conference in December, experts on these issues remarked that it was not the members of the Bush Administration who did these acts. Since they have been public knowledge for four or more years and the policies were not stopped by the public or elected officials, we all did these actions. It is just as Rabbi Abraham Joshua Heschel taught: in a democracy some are guilty but all are responsible.

With a sense that our nation may be starting to restore shlemut (wholeness),

Rabbi Bruce

PS. I sent a message to the White House to thank President Obama for these Executive Orders. You may want to do the same. The contact page had a nice comment about gifts: instead of sending items to the White House for the Obamas or Bidens, the White House encourages people to support local charitable organizations and needy individuals.