Said religious leaders from evangelical Christian, mainline Protestant, Jewish, Muslim, Roman Catholic and other communities, in an ad published today in the Des Moines Register. According to a press release, the full-page ad was produced by the National Religious Campaign Against Torture in partnership with Evangelicals for Human Rights and was signed by 48 prominent figures, including former President Jimmy Carter, former NJ governor Thomas Kean.

It reads:

• Torture violates the basic dignity of the human person that all religions, in their highest ideals, hold dear.
• It degrades everyone involved – policy-makers, perpetrators and victims.
• It contradicts our nation’s most cherished values.
• Any policies that permit torture and inhumane treatment are shocking and morally intolerable.
• Nothing less is at stake in the torture abuse crisis than the soul of our nation.
• What does it signify if torture is condemned in word but allowed in deed?
• Let America abolish torture now – without exceptions.