Pertinent information, lively discussion, heartfelt prayer and strategic networking were the order of the day at the January 19–20 meeting in Los Angeles sponsored by No2Torture and the National Religious Coalition Against Torture (NRCAT). Speakers addressed the issue to a group of seventy from various angles, according to their expertise. The gathering was videotaped and will be turned into half-hour segments with study questions to be used by groups to widen the audience further. Stay tuned for the release date! Presenters and topics are listed and described below. In between each segment, the group had time to discuss, pray and strategize. Ms. Shannon Parks-Beck's wonderful, original music wove the gathering together spiritually, and Mr. Rick Ufford-Chase helped to catalyze discussion and reflections.

Our keynoter, Dr. Richard Mouw, President of Fuller Theological Seminary, offered a Presbyterian No! to Torture, grounding the group in the Calvinist understanding of the universal and human temptation to sin, as well our source of redemption in our sovereign God. Dr. George Hunsinger, Hazel Thompson McCord Professor of Systematic Theology at Princeton Theological Seminary, provided deep and disturbing insights into Torture as the Ticking Time Bomb, unpacking how torture fuels terrorism, and how legitimizing torture undermines the constitutional democracy which we claim as “our way of life.” We were very fortunate to have a performance of Nightwind by Mr. Hector Aristazabal, actor and author, and Mr. Ezno Fina, musician – both members of the Theatre of the Oppressed. This deeply affecting first-person performance of Hector's arrest, imprisonment and torture, and his brother's torture and death, grounded our gathering in empathy and resolve. Dr. Jose Quiroga, Medical Director of the Program for Torture Victims (PTV), followed the performance with information about the severe and lasting effects of torture and how those who wish to help may respond. Dr. Richard Abel, Michael J. Connell Professor of Law, UCLA, provided insight into the labyrinth and significance of the various judicial actions relating to treatment of detainees and the Military Commissions Act. Mr. Philip Carter spoke as a former Army officer who has served in Iraq, as well as an attorney and author, about the reasons many in the military oppose torture in policy and practice. Ms. Catherine Gordon, Associate for International Issues, Washington DC office of the PC(USA) helped the group to consider the political realities. Ms. Amanda Craft from the Peacemaking Program shared information about the General Assembly's stance, now available in a booklet, Human Rights in a Time of Terrorism and Torture. The Rev. Carol Wickersham, No2Torture Coordinator and sociologist from Beloit College, primed the group to strategize about how to take what they had learned back home.

Commitments were forged to initiate a variety of actions. These tended to fall into several categories. Ms. Catherine Gordon emphasized that educational efforts are key, so organizing classes or inviting speakers to congregational or community groups is essential. Letters to the editor, articles in newspapers and newsletters of all sorts can reach many. Everyone came to understand the importance of raising the profile in order to reverse the provisions of the Military Commissions Act. So far, this is not a priority of the new Congress. Visits, faxes, letters are all needed. In addition, we must begin thinking about ways to make this an issue in the '08 election. Campuses are another focus for our activities, both finding venues for academics working on these issues and mobilizing students.

Finally, no report of the meeting would be complete without thanks to the committee of local organizers whose enthusiastic and gracious hospitality set the tone: the congregation, pastor and staff of Covenant Presbyterian Church; the Rev. Howard Dotson of Palms Westminster Presbyterian Church; the Rev. Heidi Worthen-Gamble, Mission Advocate for Hunger, Poverty & Peacemaking Concerns, Pacific Presbytery; Ms. Shari Stump, elder of Covenant Presbyterian Church; the Rev. John McEntyre of Summerland Presbyterian Church; and the Rev. Barbara Haddon, Ms. Lisa Patriquin, Christian Educator, and Ms. Caren Lee of Sherman Oaks Presbyterian Church.