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cbayer

(146,218 posts)
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 12:48 PM Dec 2014

Christians More Supportive of Torture than Non-Religious Americans

http://religiondispatches.org/christians-more-supportive-of-torture-than-non-religious-americans/

BY SARAH POSNER DECEMBER 16, 2014

A new Washington Post/ABC News poll finds that Americans, by a 59-31% margin, believe that CIA “treatment of suspected terrorists” in detention was justified.

A plurality deemed that “treatment” to be “torture,” by a 49-38% margin.

Remarkably, the gap between torture supporters and opponents widens between voters who are Christian and those who are not religious. Just 39% of white evangelicals believe the CIA’s treatment of detainees amounted to torture, with 53% of white non-evangelical Protestants and 45% of white Catholics agreeing with that statement. Among the non-religious, though, 72% said the treatment amounted to torture. (The poll did not break down non-Christian religions in the results.)

Sixty nine percent of white evangelicals believe the CIA treatment was justified, compared to just 20% who said it was not. (Those numbers, incidentally, roughly mirror the breakdown of Republican versus Democratic voters among white evangelicals.) A full three-quarters (75%) of white non-evangelical Protestants outnumber the 22% of their brethren in saying CIA treatment was justified. White Catholics believe the treatment was justified by a 66-23% margin.

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Christians More Supportive of Torture than Non-Religious Americans (Original Post) cbayer Dec 2014 OP
Didn't the medieval church invent it? safeinOhio Dec 2014 #1
Oh, I think it's been around longer than that. cbayer Dec 2014 #2
OK, just improved on it with safeinOhio Dec 2014 #3
burning at the steak is a horrible crime. AtheistCrusader Dec 2014 #4
I think torture has been a component of warfare throughout history. cbayer Dec 2014 #13
If you are referring to the "Inquisition", the answer is "NO"! Johnny Rash Dec 2014 #6
I'm sure religion had nothing to do with this. AtheistCrusader Dec 2014 #5
I think the meme is inaccurate here. Promethean Dec 2014 #15
Appalling! hrmjustin Dec 2014 #7
If done by the government it must be OK. safeinOhio Dec 2014 #8
I beg your pardon? hrmjustin Dec 2014 #9
The author, Sara Posner, was equally surprised. cbayer Dec 2014 #10
Yes it might be the more conservative non-religious that support this. hrmjustin Dec 2014 #11
Yes, even the numbers coming from the non-religious are disturbing. cbayer Dec 2014 #12
Disturbing indeed. hrmjustin Dec 2014 #14

cbayer

(146,218 posts)
2. Oh, I think it's been around longer than that.
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 01:25 PM
Dec 2014


Assyrians skinning or flaying their prisoners alive

cbayer

(146,218 posts)
13. I think torture has been a component of warfare throughout history.
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 02:26 PM
Dec 2014

Sometimes that warfare was religious and at other times it was not.

 

Johnny Rash

(227 posts)
6. If you are referring to the "Inquisition", the answer is "NO"!
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 01:51 PM
Dec 2014
The Medieval churches duplicated the Torture Practices already in used everywhere, by all.

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I am not 100% sure about this, but a definition of a "Civilized Nation" is based on how a Nation justifies itself for using "Tortures".


The Medieval Churches always claimed to be more civilized than others: They were simply doing "God's Works"!



Promethean

(468 posts)
15. I think the meme is inaccurate here.
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 08:13 PM
Dec 2014

Even among the non-religious only 53% said the torture wasn't justified. Correlation isn't necessarily causation. In this case the numbers more closely match up to the religious make up of the political spectrum (which cbayer mentions downthread). It is more likely the causation is that the kind of people who are likely to be religious are also likely to be willing to overlook torture.

Incidentally Bob Altemeyer nailed this one in his book "The Authoritarians." In one chapter he talks about how easy it is to justify atrocity to authoritarian followers and even convince them to participate.

 

hrmjustin

(71,265 posts)
7. Appalling!
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 01:51 PM
Dec 2014

So sad that so many Christians think it is ok.

I was also surprised at the level of support for it by the non-religious as well.

cbayer

(146,218 posts)
10. The author, Sara Posner, was equally surprised.
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 02:18 PM
Dec 2014

It may have to do more with politics than religion, as she speculates.

There is not enough breakdown of the data to say that definitively, but similar kinds of findings have been found to be closely related to political ideology.

cbayer

(146,218 posts)
12. Yes, even the numbers coming from the non-religious are disturbing.
Wed Dec 17, 2014, 02:24 PM
Dec 2014

72% percent said that the treatment was torture, but only 53% said it was not justified.

This may well reflect individual concerns about national security.

I thought we had moved further than this, but I think I was wrong.

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