--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The alternative position to whether…" description: "\"The alternative position to whether torture is acceptable - that's not an alternative position, that's barbarism. The question here is not whether tort..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca8/henry-giroux-945_crime_the-alternative-position-to-whether-tort_507185.png" --- # The alternative position to whether torture is acceptable… ![“The alternative position to whether torture is acceptable - that's not an alternative position, that's barbarism. The question here is not whether torture is acceptable or whether it works. It should be simply seen as a war crime. There's no other position on torture.” quote by Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca8/henry-giroux-945_crime_the-alternative-position-to-whether-tort_507185.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca8/henry-giroux-945_crime_the-alternative-position-to-whether-tort_507185.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/ca8/henry-giroux-945_crime_the-alternative-position-to-whether-tort_507185.png) > “The alternative position to whether torture is acceptable - that's not an alternative position, that's barbarism. The question here is not whether torture is acceptable or whether it works. It should be simply seen as a war crime. There's no other position on torture.” [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Torture is unequivocally a war crime, not a matter of debate or effectiveness. **In simple terms:** Torture is barbaric and illegal. Key Takeaway Reject any justification for torture. Themes human rights war crimes ethics Mood serious determined Type ethical political When to use this quote - policy debates - military tribunals - humanitarian NGOs - legal education Key Concepts moral absolutism international law Questions to Reflect On - Can societies ever truly eliminate torture? - What mechanisms best enforce anti‑torture norms? A Different Perspective Some argue torture can be justified in emergencies, but such claims ignore legal and moral standards. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Barbarism Question](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/barbarism-question-4307122/) [Crime](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/crime/) [Position Barbarism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/position-barbarism-4307123/) [Position Torture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/position-torture-4307124/) [Question Torture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/question-torture-4307121/) [Torture](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/torture/) [Torture Acceptable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/torture-acceptable-4307120/) [War](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/war/) ## Related quotes > [If you back out of a convention... you can't dodge your obligation. Torture is still not acceptable.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-maurer/if-you-back-out-of-a-convention-you-can-t-dodge-your-obligation/) [Peter Maurer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-maurer/) > [I was on NPR's All Things Considered yesterday. The question was, 'You're on the torture rack, they're going to kill you, who are you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gary-johnson/i-was-on-npr-s-all-things-considered-yesterday-the-question-was-you/) [Gary Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gary-johnson/) > [Make no mistake: conversion therapy is not about 'praying away the gay.' It's an emotional torture against our most innocent citizens: our children.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gavin-newsom/make-no-mistake-conversion-therapy-is-not-about-praying-away-the-gay/) [Gavin Newsom](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gavin-newsom/) > [“But a punishment like forced labour or even imprisonment – mere loss of liberty – has never functioned without a certain additional element of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michel-foucault/but-a-punishment-like-forced-labour-or-even-imprisonment-mere-loss-of/) [Michel Foucault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michel-foucault/) > [I'm a Midwesterner! Not being able to have a cheeseburger once in a while would be torture!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jessica-capshaw/i-m-a-midwesterner-not-being-able-to-have-a-cheeseburger-once-in-a/) [Jessica Capshaw](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jessica-capshaw/) > [But love is different for every person. 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Man gets his through months and months of cruel torture; he will never get…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-twain/the-higher-animals-get-their-teeth-without-pain-or-inconvenience-man/) [Mark Twain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-twain/) > [“No matter what torture they inflict, don’t let them see you suffer.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sansa-rayne/no-matter-what-torture-they-inflict-don-t-let-them-see-you-suffer/) [Sansa Rayne](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sansa-rayne/) > [“Many governments employ torture but this was the first time that the element of Saturnalia and pornography in the process had been made so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hitchens/many-governments-employ-torture-but-this-was-the-first-time-that-the/) [Christopher Hitchens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/christopher-hitchens/) > [“The silkiness of his voice was a torturous caress that I could have endured for the rest of my life.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/melissa-andrea/the-silkiness-of-his-voice-was-a-torturous-caress-that-i-could-have/) [Melissa Andrea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/melissa-andrea/) > [From Augustine down, theologians have tried to compel people to accept their special interpretation of the Scripture, and the tortures of the inquisition, the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/matilda-joslyn-gage/from-augustine-down-theologians-have-tried-to-compel-people-to-accept/) [Matilda Joslyn Gage](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/matilda-joslyn-gage/) ## More by Henry Giroux > [Where I grew up, learning was a collective activity. But when I got to school and tried to share learning with other students that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/where-i-grew-up-learning-was-a-collective-activity-but-when-i-got-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [As politics is disconnected from its ethical and material moorings, it becomes easier to punish and imprison young people than to educate them.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/as-politics-is-disconnected-from-its-ethical-and-material-moorings-it/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [What must be addressed in the most immediate sense is the threat that the emerging police state in the United States poses not to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/what-must-be-addressed-in-the-most-immediate-sense-is-the-threat-that/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [Today's neoliberalism has a number of byproducts. 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When that happens, not only are young people…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/all-too-often-the-worst-thing-that-can-happen-to-the-young-is-to/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [The generation of youth in the early 21st century has no way of grasping if they will ever be free from the gnawing sense…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/the-generation-of-youth-in-the-early-21st-century-has-no-way-of/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [History remains an open horizon that cannot be dismissed through appeals to the end of history or end of ideology.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/history-remains-an-open-horizon-that-cannot-be-dismissed-through/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [I mean, we're not talking about simply racism, we're taking about white supremacy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/i-mean-we-re-not-talking-about-simply-racism-we-re-taking-about-white/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [Historical memory is a potent weapon in fighting against the desert of organized forgetting and implies a rethinking of the role that artists, intellectuals,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/historical-memory-is-a-potent-weapon-in-fighting-against-the-desert/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [The fight for education and justice is inseparable from the struggle for economic equality, human dignity and security, and the challenge of developing American…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/the-fight-for-education-and-justice-is-inseparable-from-the-struggle/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [If the ongoing struggles waged by young people are to matter, demonstrations and protests must give way to more sustainable organizations that develop alternative…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/if-the-ongoing-struggles-waged-by-young-people-are-to-matter/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [Many conservatives see higher education as a threat to their reactionary and corporate oriented interests and would like to defund higher education, privatize it,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/henry-giroux/many-conservatives-see-higher-education-as-a-threat-to-their/) [Henry Giroux](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/henry-giroux/) > [Everyone is now a customer or client, and every relationship is ultimately judged in bottom-line, cost-effective terms. 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I don't want to make the same mistakes the criminals do! ;)](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nishan-panwar/taking-notes-while-watching-forensic-files-and-snapped-i-don-t-want/) [Nishan Panwar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nishan-panwar/) > [A man could be a lover and defender of the wilderness without ever in his lifetime leaving the boundaries of asphalt, powerlines, and right-angled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/a-man-could-be-a-lover-and-defender-of-the-wilderness-without-ever-in/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [Nations sometimes flourish by denying the crimes that brought them into being. 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