Peter Laarman at Religion Dispatches on torture denial and how it shows the U.S. flunking the religious acid test:
I believe that what most dismays international observers of today’s America—and I refer to people who want to admire our country more than they now do—is the absence of spiritual maturity in a country that claims to be close to God and where so many say religious belief is central in their lives.
Spiritual maturity allows individual persons and whole nations (Germany and South Africa, most notably) to pass through a necessary process of self-examination and repentance.
The photo of Peter Laarman is from the Justice Not Jails website.