Abstract:
In this presentation, I discuss how reports like Human Rights Watch, We Will
Teach You a Lesson: Sexual Violence against Tamils by Sri Lankan Security Forces
(2013), can inform a public theology of crucifixion as torture. I argue that theological
attention to torture reports can (1) deepen an informed understanding of the experiences
of contemporary political prisoners, and (2) offer insights into the historical experience
of Jesus. The report ‘We Will Teach You a Lesson’ is particularly confronting because
it focusses on testimonies of sexual violence (or ‘sexualised violence’) during the torture
of Tamil prisoners in detention from 2006-2012. In the open access book, The Crucifixion
of Jesus: Torture, Sexual Abuse, and the Scandal of the Cross (https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429289750), I examine the evidence for believing Jesus experienced
sexualised violence during his detention and crucifixion. Jesus’ historical experience of
torture provides a compelling theological reason for giving reports like We Will Teach
You a Lesson serious attention in public theology. I argue that torture reports can
contribute to a public theology of torture by offering important insight into Roman
crucifixion as a form of torture, an instrument of state terror, and an open opportunity
for sexualised violation. We Will Teach You a Lesson shows that sexual violation against
both male and female prisoners during torture was common. In addition, the report
notes that sexual violence is often highly stigmatised and information on sexual violation
is rarely volunteered by victims; when torture is mentioned, victims often use indirect
language or euphemisms. I argue that greater awareness of silence, reticence, and
indirect referencing, is therefore important when reading the biblical texts of Jesus’
torture.
