Hazing Is Torture

In the past few weeks we’ve seen reports in the news about hazing.
I suppose it’s one thing if you voluntarily join a violent gang and pass through their initiation rituals. It’s like military basic training. You know what you’re getting into, and whatever camaraderie can be had is based on violence and willingness to be tough about it. It’s another thing when you don’t have any choice.
People with military assignments don’t get much choice where they serve. Military contractors serving with likes of KBR, children at schools and many others are pretty much steered into a situation where they are committed before they find out. When a person is subjected to degrading, repulsive or painful abuse without their permission, it’s defined as torture. Fully informed consent applies.
I’ve had a lot to say about torture itself, but I’ll recall my primary point is torture invokes exceptionally powerful demonic forces. Thus, those who engage in hazing are inviting demons to run some portion of their lives, as do those in authority who are derelict in refusing to stop hazing. It’s bad enough the victims are forced to face those demons unwillingly, but those who lead hazing are morally the same as the torturers.
God gave me a powerful protective instinct. It’s almost overwhelming at times, to the point I’ve engaged in some vicious violence myself to stop bullying, for example. I don’t like hurting anyone, but I’ve lost little sleep over those particular acts of violence. I’m at peace about it, and still feel it was an act of holiness. If anything, the resolve behind such is stronger than ever, though I’m probably more tactically careful about it. I don’t fly into an uncontrolled rage, but I’d still be willing to shed blood over it.
Edit: Insert paragraph — I am willing to engage in a lot of crazy stunts, as I am a risk-taking, thrill-seeking fool. Playful rough stuff is okay, too, but it’s up to each of us what we tolerate. Still, I don’t fear much.
I’m not averse to taking someone else’s beating, as it were. It’s something I evaluate every time I see it coming. I’m fully aware I don’t always have all the facts, so I tend to be cautious, and I’d rather err on the side of mercy. I suppose the one place where I would never give it a split second of thought would be if someone attempted hazing me. Since I don’t value this life very much, it’s not hard to for me to take the most radical action to prevent such abuse. It’s not about me, but the principle. At the point someone intends to use force to subject me to that, they’ve proven they cannot be trusted, that they are my enemies on some level. Their opinion on the matter no longer matters in the least, because if that’s the price for being included as an ally, it’s time to start killing. So I’m the kind of crazy fool who would pull a grenade and drop it in my own tent rather than endure senseless torture like that.
Let’s call it what it is: Hazing is morally equivalent to torture.