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In another article, Sojourners head Jim Wallis says the crux of the matter isn't about the prison abuse. "Such abuse and atrocities are the consequence of war, and especially military occupation. They always have been, and they will continue to be," he says. "Here is the real issue: The Americans and the British do not belong in Iraq. The American-led occupation is leading to more suffering on all sides, and it will just get worse."

On the other side of the political spectrum, World magazine editor Marvin Olasky says there's not yet warrant to dismiss Rumsfeld. "Rumsfeld is not responsible for the perverse acts of a few: Given man's sinfulness multiplied by wartime pressures, every war brings out evil conduct, and only now are digital cameras and Internet advances throwing instant light on dark corners," he says. "Rumsfeld should be fired if he tried to hinder the investigation, and should otherwise be encouraged to take whatever vigorous action is needed to guard against future incidents."

World publisher Joel Belz will in the magazine's next issue say that criticizing Rumsfeld misses the point. In an excerpt posted on World's blog, Belz attacks political correctness, and says that as a woman, Lynndie England should have been nowhere near Abu Ghraib. He says the problem at the prison is symptomatic of our larger cultural problem:

There is room to criticize Mr. Rumsfeld and the Pentagon. But they are not primarily responsible for the coarsening of a culture that took place for a generation and more leading up to the unveiling of such wicked acts. Listen carefully just now. It's a bit too easy to charge all this to the account of those immediately responsible for the policies of the Iraq war. It's a whole lot harder but maybe more to the point right now to remember who has been opening the doors to all this cultural poison in the first place.

Cultural poison? What about original sin, asks Fuller Seminary president Richard Mouw in a Beliefnet article. "The images of American military personnel abusing and humiliating prisoners of war horrify me. And not just because I am shocked by the thought that seemingly 'civilized' people can commit such acts," he says. "I am horrified because those images make me confront the evil that lurks in the deep places of my own soul. … That kind of evil is all too familiar to me. I see it lurking inside me, and once again I cry out to God for mercy and forgivenness, on my own behalf as well as for people whose misdeeds right now have become a matter of public record."

Mouw also offers a prescription, and hands the disciplinary rods out quite broadly: "This is an important time for the American people to admit to the rest of the world that, though we often act like we are morally superior to the rest of the human race, we are as capable as anyone else of horrible acts of injustice. It is important, too, that we engage in a serious public dialogue about how we can set ourselves straight."

Campus Crusade for Christ's Vonette Bright similarly stated that it's time for national repentance, and says that, in an Associated Press paraphrase, "Any troops found guilty of abusing prisoners should go before cameras in Iraq to publicly confess, apologize, and ask for the Iraqi people's forgiveness."

While it's true that "human depravity should hardly come as a surprise to anyone with a Christian worldview," Prison Fellowship founder Charles Colson says, "the fact that we're all sinners, while it keeps us from being self-righteous, does not excuse these men and women. They need to be tried and, if guilty, punished quickly." Colson says the correct response from Americans should not be shame in their country, but pride that "these bad apples" are so rare. "Our armed forces have always been distinguished by a sense of decency and caring," he says. "There is a streak of decency in Americans. The reason is historic, rooted in the worldview of the founders of this country."

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May (Web-only) 2004, Vol. 48