As colonists made their way to New England in the early seventeenth century; they hoped their efforts would stand as a "citty upon a hill." Living the godly life preached by John Winthrop would have proved difficult even had these puritans inhabited the colonies alone; but this was not the case: this new landscape included colonists from Europe; indigenous Americans; and enslaved Africans. In Race and Redemption in Puritan New England; Richard A. Bailey investigates the ways that colonial New Englanders used; constructed; and re-constructed their puritanism to make sense of their new realities. As they did so; they created more than a tenuous existence together. They also constructed race out of the spiritual freedom of puritanism.
#1431238 in Books 2014-05-08Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 6.40 x 1.00 x 9.40l; .0 #File Name: 0199336431240 pages
Review
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful. Well Worth ReadingBy NansierraThis is a very carefully-argued and thoughtful book about an extremely painful subject. I'm deeply impressed with the author's tenacity and courage in dealing with the topic of torture; certainly not the easiest subject to read about and in the ten years she apparently spent writing and researching it; undoubtedly not an easy topic to live with so intimately. The author does an exceptional job of describing the impact of torture on the victim which goes well beyond its immediate physical horrors and provides an arresting argument that torture is not an isolated incident but a "practice" that has become systematized in US policy. It is; she argues; not successful in achieving its purported aims of uncovering information but;in fact; serves the interest of the power structure. Her insightful answers to the question; "What is torture for?" are well worth reading and contemplating. The ethical stance she takes is grounded in a Western rationalistic perspective; and not one I fully share; but it provides a useful template for discussing the moral issues that torture and our "culpable ignorance" of it raise. She is able to make it abundantly clear that torture is not a loose thread in our political fabric; rather it is a practice that intertwines and tangles what we purport to hold as our deepest national values. I came away convinced her conclusion--that a full accounting and full accountability of the US role in torture--is both necessary and would be profoundly salutary in breaking down the Us and Them mentality that; as the book well describes; distorts our political consciousness. One of the merits of this book is that; though it appeals to an intellectual's palate; it is very clearly-written and accessible and; as such; a good catalyst in promoting this needed public discussion. The personal story at the end is a like a grace note that serves to root it in our everyday lives.4 of 4 people found the following review helpful. Important and necessary look at tortureBy ewaffleRebecca Gordon combines the fire and urgency of a long time political activist with the intellectual rigor of an academically trained moral philosopher. She shows that that torture done by and in the name of sovereign governments isn’t just aberrant actions by out of control members of the military or deranged intelligence officers but is an ongoing practice carried out over long periods of time. It is institutionalized state cruelty and degradation with its own traditions; histories and rules.The subtitle of “Mainstreaming Torture†shows Gordon’s method of attack. The question of torture as state policy seemed settled—we were the good guys and we didn’t do it. Torture was not only immoral but was also a felony and a treaty violation. Absolute prohibition of torture was one the key elements that set the United States apart from regimes that practiced it. We didn’t have death squads; we didn’t use poison gas against our citizens; we didn’t litter the streets with the bodies of those who suffered extra-judicial execution. “Disappear†wasn’t a transitive verb in American English—unlike the authorities in Argentina during the “Dirty Warâ€; Guatemala during the 30 year civil war or in Pinochet’s Chile; our police didn’t “disappear†people. We didn’t torture.This changed on 9/11/2001 according to the scoundrels who approved of torture; authorized it in the bureaucracy; justified it in the press and carried it out. Dick Cheney said "I have no problem as long as we achieve our objectiveâ€. His use of “our†as a modifier includes; as far as he is concerned; the American people and not just the band of evildoers responsible. Three former directors of the CIA wrote in the Wall Street Journal that “enhanced interrogation†which includes waterboarding the subject; confining him in a coffin sized box; as well as chaining him to the ceiling for days and locking him naked in a freezing cell; led to the capture of important Al Qaeda commanders; disrupted terrorist plots and saved thousands of lives. The three were the most senior members of the chain of command that led to torture. They made their claims without providing evidence; trusting that the confidence the American people had in intelligence agencies would be sufficient.Defenders of torture try to defend their objectively evil actions by referring to a ticking time bomb theory. It goes like this: there is a nuclear bomb hidden somewhere in New York City and the terrorist responsible for setting it has been captured. Only he knows the code to stop it from exploding. Would you torture him and save the lives of thousands if not millions? The ticking bomb scenario is a powerful hypothetical and one that the unindicted war criminals who authorize torture hope you accept.But it is only hypothetical. In; in real life you don’t get such clean scenarios—you don’t get Jack Bauer saving the world on “24â€. In real life you get equivocation and confusion; lack of clarity and the fog of war. You get incomplete information that conflicts with what you think you already know about the nature; magnitude; and timing of threats; and about the identity of those responsible. You get what has always been the result to questioning under torture: lies; half-truths; anything that the victim feels will make his tormentors stop. And; as Gordon points out; you don’t have a lone wolf but heroic government agent doing the dirty work. There must be a sophisticated infrastructure of evil including trained practitioners; doctors and psychologists willing to help inflict pain; isolated places where torture is carried out; like Guantanamo; Abu Ghraib and the prisons of compliant foreign governments plus lackeys and lickspittles prepared to justify it.Once we start justifying immoral actions based on their hoped for outcomes; there is no principled place to stop. “Mainstreaming Torture" is an important and necessary book that deserves a wide audience.7 of 8 people found the following review helpful. Torture - what our federal government does in our nameBy CustomerExtremely well-researched and plainly written; "Mainstreaming Torture" is an expose of what our government continues to do. Even under the Obama administration torture is routinely administered and; more often than not; just for the sake of torture. Most detainees in our prisons at Guantanamo and Abu Ghraib and elsewhere are people who were at the wrong place at the wrong time. They are innocent yet they have been tortured for (false) "intel". It's a very sobering read. Our upper echelon "leaders" -- especially those in the George W. Bush administration -- need to be held accountable for these crimes!
